PARIS -- When Albert Costa lost the first two sets to fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo in their Wednesday quarterfinal, an air of heavy of resignation settled in around half-empty Court Philippe Chatrier.

	'I'm very motivated,' Albert Costa says.

Costa had already overcome two-set deficits twice and had spent more than 15 hours on the court in four previous matches. At 27, he was six years older than Robredo and, frankly, he looked a little stiff. Robredo, rising with a bullet, had already taken out No. 1-ranked Lleyton Hewitt and three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten and now the defending French Open champion was falling into line.

Costa couldn't possibly do it again. Could he?

"You start to think when you are two sets down -- especially today because Robredo was killing me, he was hitting so hard," Costa said. "But still I had something to show."

With an almost sickening inevitability, Costa reeled in Robredo. Once he got to the fifth and final set. He was swinging easily, with confidence, and suddenly Robredo was the stiff.

Costa won 2-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 to become only the second man to rally from an 0-2 deficit three times in a Grand Slam tournament. In 1998, Frenchman Nicolas Escude performed three such escapes, but he did not escape the semifinals. The way Costa is playing, he could go all the way -- again.

"I don't know if I'm making history," Costa said. "I realize that I'm fighting all the time and I go two sets down and still try to win the match.

"Sometimes you have it and sometimes you don't, so is not easy to say why. I think because this tournament is very big, the biggest one for me, and that's why. I'm very motivated and I want to try to win again."

Said Robredo: "What he did today, it's difficult, no? I play the first two sets, playing great, and it was a lot of difference between me and him. I never was expecting this change, no?"

Costa will play Juan Carlos Ferrero next in a rematch of last year's final. Ferrero defeated Fernando Gonzalez 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.

It was the fourth five-set victory here for Costa in five matches, something that has never been done in a single Grand Slam tournament. Last year, he logged 19 hours and 17 minutes in his seven successful matches here. Through five, his meter is already at 18 hours and 31 minutes. If he makes the final, he could easily eclipse the 24-hour mark. Imagine, a full day of banging balls on the red clay at Roland Garros.

	When it came down to it, Tommy Robredo didn't have the legs to win.

Although they are friends and practice often, Costa and Robredo had never met each other in a sanctioned professional event. With Costa playing two or three yards behind the baseline and hitting a lot of short balls, Robredo took the early initiative. Costa adjusted by stepping inside the baseline and picking up his pace. When he started coming on in the third set, no alarms went off -- a comeback against the hard-hitting Robredo still seemed unlikely -- but the late-arriving crowd started to perk up. At 4-all, Robredo began to tighten up. He double-faulted at 15-all, then pounded an unforced forehand into the net, handing Costa two break points and, ultimately, the game. Costa, looking very much like the defending champion, held and earned his first set.

Costa broke Robredo at 5-all in the fourth set and when it was all even Robredo winced as he sat down during the changeover. He, of all people, knew where this was going.

It would be nice to report that the fifth set was marked by scintillating tennis, but it wasn't. With Robredo, the youngest man left in the tournament, unraveling -- he threw his racket at a clever lob that Costa surprised him with -- Costa won easily. He screamed and fell back into the red clay in a routine that is becoming a regular feature on Philippe Chatrier.

Costa has insisted after each brutal, five-set match, that there is no pressure on him. The way he's playing, you have to take him at his word.

"It's completely true," he said. "Of course I want to win again, but I think is worse when you never won because you are very anxious. Sometimes you can do something strange in the court and lose your mind a little bit.

"Now, I still -- I know that when I'm in the court, I think 'Well, I still won once, so don't get pressure, don't get nervous, don't get anxious.' "

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.