Table Is Set for Moya, Corretja, and They Have a Major Appetite

You might say these Spaniards are the new Aussies, the throwbacks to the days when players fought hard against one another on the court and socialized together off it.

Sometimes, the parties would come the night before the match, not afterward. But there’s a key difference between the old-time Aussies and the new breed of Spanish players.

Now, the Spaniards’ pre-match recreation seems to consist of pints of ice cream, not pints of beer. Who’s buying the next round of helado?

Today, 12th-seeded Carlos Moya and his countryman and dinner partner, 14th-seeded Alex Corretja, will compete for something beyond bragging rights in Barcelona, or in Spain, for that matter. Each is attempting a Grand Slam breakthrough in the men’s singles final at the French Open.

Moya, 21, has come close, losing in straight sets to Pete Sampras in the 1997 Australian Open final. Corretja, 24, is best known for being on the court when Sampras got sick in their 1996 U.S. Open quarterfinal. For years, Corretja has lived with the memory of double-faulting on his own match point against Sampras.

A win at Roland Garros might mean the end of those questions for Corretja. This will be the third meeting between Moya and Corretja, and though Corretja leads, 2-1, Moya won their most recent match, 6-3, 6-2, in the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo in April.

Corretja’s biggest test came in a historic confrontation--in terms of the longest singles match on record in a Grand Slam event--his five-set victory against Hernan Gumy of Argentina in a five-hour 31-minute, third-round match.

Moya has not needed to go five sets. Though his most impressive performance was a quarterfinal victory against the tournament favorite, third-seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile, he showed great fortitude and creativity in rallying against another Spaniard, Felix Mantilla, in the semifinals.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Corretja said. “[Moya] is moving really well. He’s finding his forehand quite easily and he’s serving great.

“I’m going to try to play deep, move him. Of course, I’m going to fight as hard as hell.”

Said Moya: “Alex is a close friend of mine. When you get on the court, you fight like crazy, you run, you do everything. You try to step on him, if necessary. It’s tough to play against a friend, but also because we know each other so much. We know our games, what he is going to do, what I’m going to do. It is difficult to surprise him.”

Having played in a Grand Slam final, Moya has at least one advantage--dealing with big-event pressures and expectations.

“I don’t want to lose in the final again,” Moya said. “I just want to be the winner. Something else is not good for me. . . . Maybe to play in one Grand Slam final is a coincidence, but I don’t think two times is a coincidence.”

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French Open

* WHAT: Men’s final.

* WHO: 12th-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain vs. 14th-seeded Alex Corretja of Spain.

* WHEN: 6 a.m. today.

* TV: Channel 4.