Courier’s Victory Is Automatic : French Open: Defending champion beats Agassi easily, will face Korda in final.

Jim Courier played rock-’em sock-’em tennis Friday in the French Open semifinals, proving again that image is nothing in a Grand Slam tournament.

Courier advanced to Sunday’s final at Roland Garros Stadium by beating Andre Agassi, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, in a two-hour match that was as much proclamation as demolition.

The top-ranked Courier next will face No. 7 Petr Korda of Czechoslovakia, who ended the hopes of France’s native son by defeating Henri Leconte on Center Court, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

Much has been made of Courier’s “automated” game, which has also been described as being as lifeless as a machine. When the subject was broached Friday, Courier was eager to respond.

“I’ve been reading a little bit about how I don’t have too much talent,” Courier said. “There are many different talents besides hitting a tennis ball. There is a lot of talent about having guts on the court, having desire, having courage to go for a shot when you are love-40.

“I’m not the cleanest of anybody out there in the world, but I have got a few talents that are just as good.”

The argument is as difficult to counter as Courier’s two-fisted ground strokes. Courier has made few mistakes in two weeks of efficient tennis. He came here wanting to repeat his 1991 victory and reached Sunday’s final by losing only one set in six matches, then running after his matches.

How far does he run?

“I don’t know, 10 or 15 minutes, whatever is comfortable,” he said. “Depends how many transvestites there are out there (on the boulevard near the stadium).”

By defeating Agassi in Friday’s semifinal, Courier ran his streak to 22 victories, the most of any player this year. He has accomplished this mostly by outworking the other pros.

But he is no working-class hero, and perhaps that is why his image is hurting.

Agassi, who came to Paris with an image as bright as the flashing lights of the Las Vegas strip, is a crowd pleaser. He has never won a Grand Slam event, but arrived here with a vastly improved game and looked razor sharp in five matches.

Friday, though, he was merely another faceless victim in Courier’s path, a sad French ending for the world’s No. 12 player.

Last year here, Courier edged Agassi in a five-set final, leaving the Las Vegas player doubting his ability. Agassi said it took him almost a year to recover from the devastating loss, the third time he had failed in a Grand Slam final.

This time, however, he was more accepting in defeat.

“He just won it,” Agassi said. “And that is a lot easier (to take).”

Agassi was reduced to such posturing because, well, what else could he do? Courier, who also won the Australian Open in January, changed the tempo of the match when he broke Agassi in the eighth game of the first set and took a 5-3 lead. Until the break, Agassi was trading baseline winners with the kind of confidence Courier had not seen this year at Roland Garros.

Courier closed the set by winning his serve, then applied the pressure that left Agassi searching for a shot, any shot, that might force the machine to malfunction. With Agassi serving in the first game of the second set, Courier reeled off three consecutive points to break Agassi. The game-winning shot was a forehand pass as Agassi approached the net.

Agassi began to panic. When he stayed at the baseline, Courier handled his powerful ground strokes. When he approached the net, Courier casually returned unreachable lobs or winners down the line. Still, Agassi said he felt his game was strong and he was in command of his stroke.

In the first set, perhaps. Agassi had chances to break Courier, which could have changed the match’s texture. He missed them all.

“When you get your chances to break, you’ve really got to score,” Agassi said. “If you don’t, you’re in trouble.”

When Agassi, 22, failed, his confidence evaporated. Even Courier was surprised at how quickly it happened.

“I was prepared to stay out there as long as it took,” he said.

Not long at all, as it turned out. Courier won his serve with ease, Agassi struggled to avoid break after break on another cold and windy day on Center Court. The Americans were not out there long enough for the stadium to fill, although tickets for the event had been sold out for almost a year.

“He is not giving up any careless errors,” Agassi said. “He is serving well. He is moving well. Jim has become a much better defensive player.”

Now, it is Korda’s turn to devise a game that Courier cannot handle.

Korda overwhelmed Leconte, who returned to Center Court two days after a remarkable quarterfinal rally during which he defeated Nicklas Kulti of Sweden after losing the first two sets.

Korda had never advanced past the third round of a Grand Slam tournament and many thought he would wilt on the red clay with 16,500 screaming French fans against him.

Korda remained calm through the match, ending Leconte’s string of upsets.

Playing No. 200 Leconte with passion and intelligence is one thing, but Korda has a formidable challenge ahead. He said he will prepare for Courier by watching the NBA finals, as he did for the Leconte semifinal.

“I’ll start to think about Courier a few minutes before we play,” he said.

That might be a few minutes too late.