PARIS -- For the past five French Opens, Spain's Alex Corretja has been unerringly true; he has reached at least the quarterfinals every single time. No one else in tennis -- man or woman -- can say that.

	The Spaniards often all spend time together off the courts, Alex Corretja says.

On Monday, he found himself opposite countryman Galo Blanco, who spent time with him growing up in the same house in Barcelona. They had practiced together for thousands of hours, eaten hundreds of meals together on the road and met five previous times (Corretja won three of five), but this was their first meeting in a Grand Slam event.

When Blanco, a qualifier at the French Open, defeated Corretja 5-7, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5 they hugged warmly at the net. Blanco admitted he was thrilled for himself.

"Of course I am happy," Blanco said, "I cannot deny it. I'm only sad that it was I who eliminated him in the first round because we're such good friends.

"He was a bit down, as anybody who loses a match is. This is a bit surprising. This is a bit hard for him. It's rather new to lose on the first round."

Said Corretja: "I think about myself, it's a tough loss. Thinking about him, it's a great win. At least one of us is going back to the hotel happy. The other one is going back sad. But at least I'm going home."

There were no fewer than five matches between players from the same country on Monday:

American James Blake defeated countryman Taylor Dent 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (3); Amelie Mauresmo of France beat Virginie Razzano 6-3, 7-5; Laura Granville of the United States survived Meilen Tu 1-6, 6-1, 6-4; Russian Anastasia Myskina defeated Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-2. This kind of concentrated competition is difficult on everyone.

Blake, who could become a top 10 player, according to U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe, said he can relate to Dent.

"He's actually done a very good job dealing with all the pressure, dealing with the media, expectations and things," Blake said. "He's very good at blocking all that out, just doing what he's comfortable with, staying by himself, making sure he gets to bed early. He does all the right things. He's got a lot of maturity for someone his age, which is great. He's going to learn.

"It's an awe-inspiring event to play in your first French Open. I was pretty amazed the first time I got to play. I'm sure he is, as well."

Blake, 23, and Dent, 22, are likely to see each other for a number of years. There will not be many more matches between Corretja and Blanco, 29 and 26 respectively.

	Galo Blanco is torn between feeling happy he won and sorry his friend lost.

Corretja, who has struggled through the clay-court season, wasn't surprised by his result.

"I mean, I'm a human being," he said. "It's nothing that I'm a machine and I'm going home to connect my body to some system and the next day I'm back with energy. It's something I have to fight for it. I've been fighting for the last probably, I don't know, 18, 20 years on the tennis court.

"Tennis game is still there. I think I play better than four years ago. But before I used to be four hours on the court concentrate, and now it's difficult for me to stay focused. Somehow, I distract myself and came down and lost 13 games in a row, which is pretty amazing for a player that used to be consistent. Doesn't matter who you're playing against -- it could have been Boris Becker, it doesn't make any difference -- it shouldn't happen."

There was one lovely moment of gamesmanship. Trailing 5-6 in the final set, Corretja was serving to stay in it when he used his intimate knowledge of Blanco's game. Pinned in his forehand alley, Corretja feinted toward his left to cover the open court, but even as Blanco was turning on the ball to drive it back down the line, he dived back to the right. He chipped a lob over the onrushing Blanco, dropping it neatly just inside the baseline. Even Blanco had to applaud.

Before the match, Corretja had described his relationship with Blanco.

"He's a Spanish guy," Corretja said. "He used to be at my house practicing with me. He and me and Albert Costa and Alberto Berasategui, we always go together in the same places. We go to dinner in Barcelona, we play golf together, go out at night together, discotheque, dance, have fun. We even have dinner together."

Last year, Corretja had dinner every single night with Costa at the French Open -- and then they found themselves facing each other in the semifinals. On the eve of one of the most important matches in their careers, they ordered room service from Corretja's hotel room.

"People are like, 'How come you're really good friends?' " Corretja said. "We have to separate things. I mean, once you're on the court, you try to beat him, trying to kill him, whatever. But it's no reason to feel like you're fighting with guys before the matches start. I feel like I (am) always open with my friends. I don't have any problems with that.

"With Costa, we have a relationship where we really know everything of each other. We had dinner last night (Saturday), room service. We were watching Eurovision. We're usually with our wives in Barcelona and he has two daughters, and I'm waiting for one. It's nice for us. I think we have something more than tennis life."

Seven days after their semifinal meeting -- won by Costa in four sets -- six days after Costa broke through with his first Grand Slam singles victory, Corretja served as Costa's best man in a ceremony outside Barcelona.

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.