PARIS -- Andre Agassi appeared to be on his way out of the French Open. Then he staged his greatest comeback since winning the tournament three years ago.

Agassi's comebacks

The four matches over Andre Agassi's 16-year pro career in which he rallied to win after losing the first two sets: beat Jim Courier 6-7 (7), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, in 1996 Australian Open quarterfinals. beat Jan Siemerink 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in 1997 Davis Cup. beat Andrei Medvedev 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in 1999 French Open final. beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in 2002 French Open fourth round.

Trailing by two sets and down a break in the third, Agassi rallied Monday and beat 20-year-old French wild-card entry Paul-Henri Mathieu 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to make the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.

"I dug a big hole for myself and a lot of it had to do with the way he was playing. Down two sets and a break, the good news is that it can't get any worse,'' Agassi said after the 3-hour, 1-minute match. "I just tried to make it a better match by getting a little more depth on my shots, making him play well through to the end.''

Agassi will meet Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarterfinals. Ferrero, a semifinalist at Roland Garros the past two years, also needed five sets and nearly four hours to beat Gaston Gaudio, 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4.

No. 10 Sebastien Grosjean, also a semifinalist last year, advanced to the quarters by beating Xavier Malisse, 6-2, 7-5, 6-3. He'll meet No. 2 Marat Safin, who downed Arnaud Di Pasquale 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 for the final spot in the quarters.

After falling behind 2-0 in the third set, Agassi won 11 of 12 games and tied the match at two sets each.

Agassi had back-to-back double faults while losing his serve as he fell behind 3-1 in the final set, then erased two break points in the fifth game.

From there, he won the final five games, marking the fourth time in his career the seven-time Grand Slam champion had lost the first two sets and rallied to win.

The last time he did it was in the 1999 French Open final, when he beat Andrei Medvedev 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

"I felt like I was just hanging on. Then once that turned a little bit, I just kind of ran with that momentum,'' Agassi said.

Agassi used an effective drop shot to win eight points, including three in the final set.

"You can be assured if I'm hitting a lot of drop shots, there's not a lot feeling great out there,'' Agassi said.

Immediately after Mathieu captured the second set, the match was delayed 15 minutes by rain. Once play resumed, Agassi was broken in the first game of the third and his chances of winning appeared slim.

But his comeback began when he converted his fifth break point on a Mathieu forehand error to get to 2-2.

"If it was not Agassi across from me, I think I would have won,'' said Mathieu, who had 21 unforced errors in the fifth to only seven for Agassi. "It's true I lacked experience at the crucial moments of the match.''

On Sunday, Guillermo Canas ousted top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt.

"I think this is one of the most important moments of my tennis life,'' Canas said after a 6-7 (1), 7-6 (13), 6-4, 6-3 win that sent him to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Hewitt's ouster came a mere 30 minutes before two-time defending champion Gustavo Kuerten also was knocked out, beaten 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 by Albert Costa.

Still feeling his way back from hip February surgery, No. 7 Kuerten couldn't produce the shots to overcome the steady clay-court specialist Costa, even as the fans at center court showered him with familiar cries of "Guga! Guga!''

So now, instead of a marquee Hewitt-Kuerten quarterfinal, it's 15th-seeded Canas against No. 20 Costa in the final eight.

Another quarterfinal will have two-time runner-up Alex Corretja, who beat Mariano Zabaleta 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 Sunday, against No. 22 Andrei Pavel, who upset No. 3 Tommy Haas 6-1, 7-6 (9), 6-4.

Clarisa Fernandez became the first unseeded women's semifinalist at Roland Garros since Jennifer Capriati in 1990 when she rallied and beat fellow Argentinean Paola Suarez 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1 in Tuesday's first quarterfinal.

Their friendship was evident when Fernandez's ace to win a second-set tiebreaker was initially called out but Suarez conceded it was good and walked off the court.

Other women's quarterfinals Tuesday: top-seeded Capriati vs. No. 7 Jelena Dokic; No. 2 Venus Williams vs. No. 6 Monica Seles; and No. 3 Serena Williams vs. 2000 champion Mary Pierce.