PARIS, June 2: In a French Open where reputations have been scattered to all corners of Roland Garros, Sergi Bruguera chose today to bury the theory that his days as a Grand Slam threat are already behind him.

The Spaniard's 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 victory over Michael Chang continued this year's Parisian trend in favour of the underdog but, more significantly, re-established the 26-year-old from Barcelona as a potential major title winner.

He now faces the poetry-loving Hicham Arazi, who became the first Moroccan ever to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final when he upset Chilean seventh seed Marcelo Rios.

Arazi, ranked 55th in the world, won 6-2, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7/4).

On a day when Spanish prospects were also dramatically revived by 111th-ranked Galo Blanco, a 1-6 6-1 7-5 6-4 victor over 1992 finalist Petr Korda, Bruguera's 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 success over world number two Chang provided the 26-year-old's most satisfying result in Paris since his last title in 1994.

It means Bruguera and Yevgeny Kafelnikov are the only players left in the tournament who have tasted Grand Slam success in men's singles and guarantees Europeans will provide six quarter-final representatives on Wednesday.

There have never been fewer seeds in the last eight at Roland Garros in the Open era and a new record for any Grand Slam event was established when Rios went down to Arazi.

Arguably the biggest shock of the day, though, was provided by the colourful Gustavo Kuerten who became the first Brazilian for 29 years to reach the French Open last eight by completing a 5-7 6-1 6-2 1-6 7-5 win over Andrei Medvedev spread over two days.

Kuerten, dressed from head to toe in blue and yellow, now encounters defending champion Kafelnikov, hoping to add the Russian to a growing list of victims which already includes 1995 champion Thomas Muster.No-one, though, has a better pedigree on Parisian clay than Bruguera, even though he started 1997 down in 81st place on the ATP computer after suffering from a hip injury last year.

He started extremely slowly against Chang, dropping the first set in 38 minutes, but made the most of his opponent's fatal number of unforced errors in a contest punctuated by numerous disputed line-calls.

In the women's singles, three-times champion Monica Seles stormed into the quarter-finals today when she out slogged France's Mary Pierce 6-4 7-5 in a thrilling all-action 1hr 43min baseline duel on the centre-court.

She now plays the winner of the all-American fourth-round clash between 12th seed Mary Joe Fernandez and Lisa Raymond.

Both players went for their shots in a match which reached a giddy climax in a marathon seventh game of the second set, during which Pierce failed to hold serve after copping a warning for time-wasting.

MEN'S SINGLES

Norman vs Dewulf

Kafelnikov vs Kuerten

Rafter vs Blanco

Arazi vs Bruguera

WOMEN'S SINGLES

Hingis vs Vicario

Seles vs Fernandez

Majoli vs Dragomir o Coetzer vs Graf

Seedings in prefix

MEN'S SINGLES: Hicham Arazi (Mor) bt 7-Marcelo Rios (Chi) 6-2 6-1 5-7 7-6 (7-4); 16-Sergi Bruguera (Spa) bt 2-Michael Chang (US) 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-4; Galo Blanco (Spa) bt Petr Korda (Cze Rep) 1-6 6-1 7-5 6-4; Gustavo Kuerten (Bra) bt Andrei Medvedev (Ukr) 5-7 6-1 6-2 1-6 7-5; Patrick rafter (Aus) bt Mark Woodforde (Aus) 6-2 5-7 6-1 6-2

WOMEN'S SINGLES: 3-Monica Seles (US) bt 10-Mary Pierce (Fra) 6-4 7-5

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.