French twist

LONDON -- You like long shots? Wimbledon is your tournament, and Marion Bartoli -- Marion who? -- is your lady. If you've heard of Marion Bartoli, you're either a French sportswriter or a tennis junkie.

After a muddled monsoon of almost two super-moist weeks, the Big W suddenly sprang to life yesterday. Explosively. It became Vive la France Day, starring a pair of overlooked Gallic youngsters -- Bartoli and Richard Gasquet -- as well as a storybook character named James Bond.

Even Bond would have been hard pressed to pull off the twin killing executed by Bartoli and Gasquet, she incredibly guillotining the planetary No. 1, Justine Henin, and he doing likewise to the last American male hope, No. 3 Andy Roddick, on a spectacular rebound.

Drab, damp, and derailed had been the theme until late yesterday afternoon as this edition of the original tournament struggled to make something of itself before it was too late. Then numerous plotlines fused to set it apart as one of the memorable matinees in Wimbledon history. You could have had Bartoli at 100-1 and Gasquet at 40-1 with any local bookmaker as the tournament got under way. They were supposed to be merely way stations -- on Henin's route to today's final, and Roddick's long-awaited semi against Roger Federer. But Henin and Roddick got waylaid despite taking big leads. The other upset was the absence of rain.

At first, France didn't need Bartoli, whose rank is 19th. Amelie Mauresmo, No. 4, was defending the title, and Tatiana Golo vin, No. 17, was wowing crowds. They didn't last long. But chubby Bartoli, with her awkward style, both hands on both sides, is now part of the all-time long shot title bout against Venus Williams. Resurrected Venus, ranked 31st, had her hand in the fun, showing the bright Serbian kid, No. 6 Ana Ivanovic, a thing or three, 6-2, 6-4. Lodged in her sixth final here, Venus is looking for a fourth crown.

Bartoli lost to Henin, 6-1, 6-1, at the Eastbourne tuneup and started in the same way again. However, she shed Centre Court debut nerves, defied the gusts, and began to shovel back everything Henin could hit to win, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1. Looking up at the Royal Box, Bartoli spotted her hero, James Bond. Well, actually actor Pierce Brosnan, who has played Bond from time to time.

"This was my dream," she said -- to play against No. 1 on Centre, and for 007. Her appearance was deceptive. She ran down Henin's best stuff, as she had in beating No. 3 Jelena Jankovic in the fourth round.

Coached by her physician father, Walter Bartoli, she recalls learning the game in the small town of Retournac in central France. After Papa saw Monica Seles, the both-ways double-handed champ, he thought that would be good for Marion -- "if it was legal. He checked," she said with a laugh. "He put targets on the court and I got candy when I hit one."

Nothing as sweet as what she did in cracking French Open champ Henin's 16-match streak. "I don't really realize what happened," Henin said. "I didn't know what to do at certain points. It was hard today."

Hard times were what the 14th-ranked Gasquet was having at the hands of Roddick, until he sensationally turned it around, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3), 8-6, in three hours.

Roddick was devastated. "Another lost opportunity at Wimbledon. One of my hardest losses. I had my opportunities," he said. Roddick had won 18 consecutive tiebreakers, a tribute to his huge serve, but the two overtimes getting away from him were costly.

"I didn't have much hope when I was down a break in the third set," Gasquet said. "But I got into the tiebreaker, won it, and saw it was possible. I was relaxed, nothing to lose, and started using my backhand more, coming to the net."

He has a superb one-handed backhand that struck often for winners, ending the match with one that stymied Roddick at the net. Twelve years ago, at age 9, Gasquet was considered a prodigy, getting a lot of ink. "Too much press, too much pressure," he said, "but I'm working out of it. This is my first [major] semi -- and now I get Federer."

Yes, there was a Federer sighting after his absence of almost a week. But he was upstaged by the French pair, Venus, and a five-hour shot-making smorgasbord won by the other Serbian kid, Novak Djokovic, over the bearded Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (11-9), 6-7 (3-7), 4-6, 7-5. Djokovic, a four-hour victor over Lleyton Hewitt Thursday, has made a name at parties singing, "I Will Survive."

"Now you know what I'm singing," he said, "but I'm exhausted. Saturday I try again," against Rafael Nadal, whom he beat at Key Biscayne, Fla. "With all the rain, we've had to play every day, so we'll see what happens."

Federer, pleased to be rejoining the fray, lost a set to Juan Carlos Ferrero, but was still recognized as Roger Federer, the main man, never a long shot. But as good a shot with a racket as the spectator of the day, James Bond, with a gun.