Agassi shown the door

The appearance of former U.S. President Bill Clinton signalled the end of third seed Andre Agassi's French Open dreams in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Clinton threw his support behind Agassi after arriving on Centre Court at the end of the opening set, with the American leading home favourite Sebastien Grosjean 6-1.

But Agassi gave the former president few reasons to cheer as he lost the match 1-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.

"I do know Andre Agassi, I've known him for years and I consider him a friend he's been a supporter," said Clinton, in an interview with French television. "He's a very good man.

"But I must say his young opponent has very fast feet, his last two sets are about as good as I've seen anybody play in a long time."

A relaxed Clinton, wearing dark blazer and an orange polo shirt, received a rousing ovation from the crowd when he arrived, slightly delaying the start of the second set as he acknowledged the applause.

Clinton is in Paris to give a speech on the escalating Middle East crisis and for a private meeting with French president Jacques Chirac.

Grosjean will meet Spanish claycourt specialist Alex Corretja, who beat Switzerland's Roger Federer 7-5, 6-4, 7-5 in Wednesday's other quarter-final, to reach the semi-finals for the second time in four years.

The 13th seed, who needed five sets to defeat Argentine Mariano Zabaleta in the first round, has played almost perfect tennis since, not dropping a set in his last four matches.

Even a brief rain delay in the third set could not distract Corretja, who was broken when serving for the match at 5-4 but held his nerve to complete victory over the unseeded Federer in two hours and 41 minutes.

Corretja, runner-up at Roland Garros to compatriot Carlos Moya in 1998, will next meet Grosjean.

Top seed Gustavo Kuerten plays number four Juan Carlos Ferrero in the other semifinal.