There’s a Good Chance That Spain Will Reign

The surest sign Spain was about to win a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona was when King Juan Carlos showed up on the scene.

Now with three Spaniards in the men’s semifinals at French Open--a historic occasion for Spain--there are rumors the king will show up at Roland Garros. He has been here before, most notably when Sergi Bruguera and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario won the French Open in 1994.

Now, Frenchman Cedric Pioline is the only obstacle in the way of an All-Armada men’s final. Twelfth-seeded Carlos Moya will play 15th-seeded Felix Mantilla in the first semifinal today, followed by 14th-seeded Alex Corretja against Pioline. The final match of the day is the mixed doubles final: Serena Williams and Luis Lobo of Argentina against Venus Williams and Justin Gimelstob.

Moya knocked off third-seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile in the quarterfinals and has more Grand Slam experience than the surviving Spaniards, having lost in the 1997 Australian Open final.

Mantilla, a running mate of Moya’s, has followed the lead of several of the French players in deciding to change his hair color from brown to blond. The blond hair might not stay for long, however.

Thursday, Mantilla challenged NBC’s Bud Collins, asking him if he would dye his hair the same color if Mantilla wins. Collins is mulling it over.

“Now I’m in semifinals,” Mantilla said. “I said before if I win, I don’t know what I’m going to do. But something, I’m going to do something for sure. A different color. You will see if that happens.”

Mantilla and Moya have played seven times, with Moya leading the series, 4-3. Corretja leads Pioline, 2-1. Pioline is more experienced at this stage of a Grand Slam, having lost in the 1997 Wimbledon final and 1993 U.S. Open final.

Corretja has never reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam event and is best known by Americans for double-faulting on match point against a visibly ill Pete Sampras at the 1996 U.S. Open. He called it his “best match of my career and it is probably the worst one.”

The relationship between Corretja, Moya and Mantilla and the other top Spanish players is unusual in professional sports.

“We make a good team,” Corretja said. “I think we’re not jealous of each other. We’re just trying to support each other.”