Tennis: French Open

Cedric Pioline reached the French Open semi-finals for the first time in 10 attempts by beating Moroccan Hicham Arazi in a five-set marathon yesterday.

Local player Pioline paid tribute to the centre-court crowd who gave him a standing ovation and produced Mexican waves and non-stop chanting during his 3hr 42min. 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 6-3 victory.

''They were marvellous. They really helped me,'' he said. ''I don't know what to say except that they really helped me win,'' added the Frenchman, who also had kind words for his opponent.

''He's a great guy and always very sporting. It was tough for me. He played so well and didn't make many errors.''

The French No.1, who will be 29 in two weeks, now plays No.14 seed Alex Corretja, of Spain, for a place in Sunday's final. Corretja eliminated Belgian Filip Dewulf 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 to become the third Spaniard to reach the last four.

Pioline, whose best previous performance at Roland Garros was to reach the quarter-finals two years ago, will be bidding to reach his third Grand Slam final when he plays Corretja. He was runner-up at the 1993 US Open and at last year's Wimbledon.

Arazi, meanwhile, playing in the quarter-finals for the second year running, believes he knows where he went wrong. ''I was much too passive. I ought to have attacked more and gone to the net. I had my chances but I didn't take them,'' said the 24-year-old left-hander.

Corretja's victory over Dewulf to join Carlos Moya and Felix Mantilla in the semi-finals was sweet revenge for his defeat by the Belgian in the fourth round last year.

Barcelona-based Corretja did not display much emotion after his straightforward win, saying simply: ''I'm taking things match by match and I don't care about my opponents - I just focus on my game.''

Corretja, who has won seven Tour singles titles to date, said results at this year's tournament are a big boost to Spanish tennis. ''We have good coaches; we work really hard, and we are all good friends. It's great - unbelievable. It's really good for our tennis.''

Corretja took time to find his bearings, and unseeded 26-year-old Dewulf went 3-1 and 5-3 clear in the first set before he was pegged back, the Spaniard then rattling off five straight games.

''I tried to enjoy the tremendous atmosphere but by the third set I no longer believed in myself,'' Dewulf admitted.

''I was more relaxed than last year when I played Gustavo Kuerten, because I knew what it was all about from last time. I played well here generally but today I was beaten by a better player.''

Kuerten, disqualified for throwing his racket at an umpire during a men's doubles quarter-finals on Tuesday, has been fined #4400 for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The 21-year-old Brazilian was playing alongside compatriot Fernando Meligeni when he threw his racket towards French umpire Bruno Rebeuh after he lost a tense first-set tie-break to Australia's Pat Rafter and Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman.

Rebeuh, the official involved in the disqualification of Jeff Tarango at Wimbledon three years ago, immediately awarded the match to Rafter and Bjorkman.

Tournament referee Gilbert Ysern backed Rebeuh's decision and confirmed that Kuerten would be fined, even though he apologised for the incident.

Kuerten said: ''I am sorry for what happened and I regret what I did. The place for my racket is in my hand. After the mistakes the umpire made, I tried to relieve my tension by throwing my racket in the direction of my chair. It escaped and went towards the umpire. I knew I would be disqualified.''