FRENCH OPEN / MEN : Courier, Agassi to Play It Again

PARIS — Jim Courier and Andre Agassi will take their rivalry back to Roland Garros Stadium today.

This time, the one-time tennis prodigies will meet in the semifinals, with the winner emerging as the favorite in Sunday’s final. Courier beat Agassi in a five-set final last year.

In the other semifinal, wild card Henri Leconte of France--ranked No. 200--will play No. 7 Petr Korda of Czechoslovakia, the only seeded player in the lower half of the bracket who survived the third round. Korda advanced Thursday by eliminating Andrei Cherkasov of Russia, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-4, in a match that was suspended Wednesday because of darkness.

Whereas the Leconte-Korda semifinal, which will be televised by ESPN, delayed, at 10 a.m. PDT, will draw the most interest in France, the rest of the world will key on the All-American semifinal (NBC, 9 a.m., delayed).

Agassi, 22, has yet to win a major tournament, and has fallen out of the top 10 this year because of his mediocre play until now.

Courier, 21, won the French Open last year, then won the 1992 Australian Open and has become the world’s top-ranked player by crushing opponents with devastating ground strokes.

“It’s going to be a battle,” Agassi said. “I don’t think either of us expects anything less.”

Agassi has reached the French semifinals three other times, and has lost in the last two finals. He also was runner-up to Pete Sampras in the 1990 U.S. Open.

Agassi, who tried strict diets, serious training, even weightlifting, to improve his game, has come to Paris with a laissez-faire approach. So far, it has worked.

“It’s very important for him to enjoy himself again,” said Agassi’s coach, Nick Bollettieri, who has also coached Courier. “We’ve tried to take the pressure off. We told him, ‘Play to your talent.’ If he’s enjoying it, you will see some outstanding tennis.”

Agassi says he has been enjoying himself by taking tennis a little more seriously.

When asked, for instance, if he would continue wearing a white baseball cap--the kind Courier wears--Agassi replied: “I have other things on my mind than what I’m going to wear.”

The same could be said of Courier, who won his 21st consecutive match in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. Courier uses a relentless attack that puts his opponent on the defensive. Whether Agassi can control the pace as he did against Sampras is questionable.

The two have split eight matches, but Courier has won the last three, one of them the 1991 Assn. of Tennis Professionals final in San Francisco, 6-3, 7-5. The last time Agassi defeated Courier was here in 1990 in the fourth round.

Leconte, who will turn 29 in July, is not the same player he was a few weeks ago, when he almost refused to accept a wild-card entry into the tournament. He has the uncanny ability to respond to difficult challenges.

His opponents fear him most because of his unpredictable approach to the game. Michael Stich, the Wimbledon champion who was upset by Leconte last Saturday, said he never knows what to expect.

But this time, Leconte surprised even himself.

“It’s difficult to explain because it is fabulous,” he said of his rally from two sets down in the quarterfinals against Nicklas Kulti of Sweden.

Leconte demoralized Pete Sampras six months ago in helping France defeat the United States for the Davis Cup title. The match was played in Lyon, France, and the noisy atmosphere motivated Leconte.

That gives him a big advantage on Center Court against Korda, who has never advanced past the third round of a Grand Slam tournament. Korda said he would not be worried about today’s match after he eliminated Cherkasov.

But he had one promise: “I’m going to enjoy my tennis, to try to make the people happy.”

The only way the fans at Roland Garros will be happy is if he goes quickly.