PARIS -- The most exciting match of the day was Martin Verkerk's straight sets defeat of Guillermo Coria because of the outstanding story that is Martin Verkerk. Absolutely no one -- including himself -- could have predicted what has happened over the last 12 days.

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

A lot of people predicted that the man, who had never won a major match before this fortnight, would go down. But he continues to play the best tennis of his life and maybe the best tennis of anyone at the tournament. It's just surprising that he has lasted this long.

With Verkerk's big game, he can be successful on any surface. He'll face his toughest opponent in the finals in Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Ferrero did exactly what I predicted. He was the better player, who had fresher legs, and it would have been a small miracle for Albert Costa to beat Ferrero on Friday.

A player never knows what he has inside until he plays a major. Albert Costa showed us what he had inside last year and even with his loss in the semifinals, he showed us this year that he has so much more. What he was able to accomplish is remarkable. And though he didn't defend his title, he can walk away knowing he left everything he had on the court and accomplished things mere mortals don't accomplish.

In the final match Sunday, common sense would tell you to pick Ferrero, but common sense wouldn't have picked Verkerk to get past the second round. Seeing how I predicted he would lose his last three matches, I feel as though I should predict that he'll win the final. But I'm sure if I make that prediction, he'll lose.

So I'm sticking with my original pick from the start of the tournament and saying that Ferrero will win in four sets. For Ferrero's sake, I hope Verkerk has an off day with his serve. This match by no means is a shoo-in for Ferrero even though I feel it's his destiny to win Roland Garros someday.