PARIS -- Once again, Albert Costa defied common sense and showed us the heart of a champion on Tuesday. For the third time this championship, he has been down 2 sets to love, with his heart exposed. Three opponents had every opportunity to rip his heart out, but he found a way to survive and advance.

	Mal's Picks
	Washington Former ATP Tour pro MaliVai Washington is providing ESPN.com with analysis during the French Open.

How long can he last? Physically, a man can only take so much punishment. The longer his semifinal match with fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero on Thursday goes, the more of an advantage goes to Ferrero.

Ferrero will certainly play a cleaner match than he did in the quarterfinals against Fernando Gonzalez. Costa's going to give him so much more rhythm, and when Ferrero has his rhythm sometimes he's virtually unstoppable. Of the two semifinals, I think this matchup will be the best. It might even turn out to be the best match of the championship. Look for Ferrero to win in five sets.

The other semifinal between Guillermo Coria of Argentina and Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands is also compelling. The tallest guy in the tournament vs. the shortest guy in the tournament for a spot in the final.

If Verkerk, continues to play the way he has been playing, he has the potential to blow Coria off the court in three sets.

It's been nothing short of amazing, the tennis Verkerk has produced under such pressure, round after round. He's 24 years old and never won a match in a major before this week. A person in his position would normally have a good tournament and maybe win two or three rounds in a major. He's won five rounds and has a great shot at the final.

Coria, on the other hand, has one shot in his match and that is to hope that Verkerk does not serve the match of his life. The longer the point goes, the bigger advantage Coria has. His entire goal in this match should be to keep the points long.

Their styles are so different it's almost impossible to really pick a favorite and justify it. Coria is a player who depends on his legs to keep him in points and he's one of the best groundstrokers in the game whereas Martin Verkerk is one of the biggest servers in the game and relies on his serve and backhand to end points quickly.

So given that, when it comes down to it, go with the man with the experience: Coria in five sets.