PARIS -- It was a glorious sun-splashed Sunday at Roland Garros and another glorious time for all the Argentinian expatriates in France -- which would add up to, maybe, five?

	Guillermo Canas outlasted Lleyton Hewitt 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (15-13), 6-4, 6-3.

Practically before anybody had awakened, PPT (Paris Party Time), Argentina had already overwhelmed Nigeria in the World Cup, 1-0. And over at the tennis, not only did the three-time men's champion (Gustavo 'Guga' Kuerten from bitter rival Brazil) lose, but two more Argie players pulled off big surprises -- this time on the women's side of the draw, as Paola Suarez and Clarisa Fernandez advanced to play each other in the quarterfinals.

Oh yeah, and Willy finally got sweet revenge -- Willy being Guillermo Canas, who ultimately rescued the top-seed Lleyton Hewitt from the verbal abuse of a thoroughly unappreciative audience. Canas ground him down into into the pitted red dirt in a contest filled with extraordinary passion and escorted Hewitt all the way out of the French Open.

It took wily Willy into the fifth hour of the contest, including an astounding 15-13 tiebreaker at the end of the second set, which lasted 91 minutes. It took him smashing his racquets into the dust, spitting at Hewitt's winners, withstanding some of the world No. 1's screeching entreaties, demeaning gestures and swatting the courtside flower boxes on the other side of the net. For that, Hewitt received his loudest boos and whistles of the afternoon from the horticulturally-correct locals.

In effect, it took Canas nine sets over two different years at Roland Garros to beat Hewitt -- the Aussie having come from two sets to love behind to beat Canas in this same round at the 2001 French -- before Canas finally fell flat on his back following his third match point and emerged with the 6-7 (7-1), 7-6 (15-13), 6-4, 6-3 epic victory.

"Most emotional moment of my life? Yeah, maybe," said the relieved Canas afterward. "It very tough to 'splain. I feel like this (is) sensation."

"He's pretty strong," said Hewitt, not for nothing known as the most spirited fighter in the sport. "There are times he looks tired. He goes a bit foxy like that. Then he seems to bounce back. If he hasn't wasted too much energy, he has a good chance to win the tournament."

Well now, at least, Canas won't have to play Kuerten -- who, recovering from his hip surgery in February, was never that confident nor sharp here and not surprisingly lost to Spain's Albert Costa in straight sets. But turn back the calendar. After Hewitt and Canas exhausted each other in Paris last year, the Aussie had little left for Juan Carlos Ferrero in the next round.

Similarly, after Hewitt took a 3-0 lead in the fourth set on Sunday, Canas somehow gathered himself, raised his level and made an enormous push to rip off six straight games to end the match just after 8 p.m. Could he possibly recover from playing nearly nine hours of tennis over the past two rounds to beat a guy (Costa) in the quarterfinals who's won more clay court events than any active player except Kuerten?

Though it sounds like a promo for another NBC late night gimmick, Costa-Canas may take 12 hours by itself.

Not that Canas isn't used to everlasting struggles. Since he lost to Hewitt last spring in Paris, he's played four five-set matches and won all four, including two at Wimbledon and one in the previous round here, when he took his 100th career victory by whipping another favored player, Carlos Moya, in another 4 hour, 28 minute mud wrestle.

American fans can be forgiven if they can't quite place Canas, a square-jawed 24-year-old with dark, close-cropped hair and a silver earring glistening in the hot sun. He usually lasts at the U.S. Open about one round -- although he did upset the sixth seed, Tim Henman, at the '99 Open (we all know about Argies and Brits). And in his three U.S. events this year -- Scottsdale, Indian Wells and Miami -- he won but a single match. But even Canas' ability on clay might have been questioned this spring when at the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf, Germany, he managed to lose to none other than Pete Sampras. Now that's a claycourt failure that Willy might have some 'splainin' to do.

But hold it. In 2001, Canas proved his all-court mettle by beating Yevgeny Kafelnikov on the way to the fourth round at Wimbledon -- the first Argentine to get that far in over two decades. He did well on the indoor circuit as well, finishing the season ranked 14th in the world.

And now he has led the Argentine Army -- the girls have enlisted, too; unknown Fernandez (ranked 87th) upset Elena Dementieva and veteran Suarez (No. 47) surprised homegirl Amelie Mauresmo -- as it marches across the ramparts at Roland Garros.

As much as the score indicates Canas may have been in control for much of the match on Sunday, he wasn't. Until the end. Moreover, the second set tiebreak -- accompanied by memories of the pulsating 1980 Borg-McEnroe Wimbledon final and it's monumental 18-16 tiebreak -- had enough unforgettable points wafting through it for an entire fortnight. The set contained 15 different set points, Hewitt holding five (for a two-set lead, remember) and Canas not winning until his 10th, as both men took turns slapping their weapons into the grimy shale.

"This second set is becoming a way of life," joked the former tour player, John Alexander, on Australian TV.

Canas took a 5-2 lead in that thing, but Hewitt (who overcame a 5-love deficit to win a set against Andrei Stoliarov in the second round), was hardly finished, even though he would double fault seven times in the set. The Aussie -- the youngest man ever to be ranked No. 1 -- kept charging, kept forcing Canas beyond the baseline. But the Argie is as comfortable there as his great idol, Guillermo Vilas, used to be. He passed Hewitt time and again.

Came the tiebreak and Hewitt held the first two set points. But he whaled the ball completely out of court on one and Canas unleashed a stunningly brave crosscourt forehand to the apex of the far corner on the second..

"I know if I lose this second set, it (would) be tough," said Canas , who has now lost the opening set of every one of his four matches. The Argentine held five set points even before the tiebreaker began. After Hewitt blew those first two, Canas grabbed three more. Then Hewitt had three more himself, Canas fighting the last one off on the most exciting point of the match wherein the Argentine -- always vulnerable at net -- smacked two awkward overheads and then watched helplessly as Hewitt's own off-balance backhand floated wide.

On Canas' ninth set point, he plopped a give-up defensive forehand into the net, then motioned to his coach that he was, uh, "OK." Right. It was 13-all and now Canas paused to shout something to the crowd. His rhythm broken perhaps, Hewitt double faulted again. Finally, Canas ripped another lightning bolt forehand out of his opponent's amazing range.

"I have blister in the toe, three nails black. But I always have this in five set match. Is my problem, the feet," said Canas later, smiling through his exhaustion. But for Sunday, at least -- even though it was only a four-setter -- there were hardly any other problems for Argentina.

As a newly minted Argie spokesman from Buenos Aires, Canas just the other day downplayed the cause-and-effect his country's socioeconomic meltdown had on the explosion of talented and hungry young tennis players there. But he would certainly agree that their successes --Argentine racqueteers earn and, obviously, invest most of their money abroad -- would be encouraging to the masses back home.

It was left to the homeland's bright new star on the distaff side, the 20-year old, left-handed Fernandez from Cordoba, to put it best. "We all know Argentina is not going through it's best possible phase," she said. "But my country will come through quickly enough. I think it would be beautiful to take home some degree of happiness."

Taking home one of those Roland Garros trophies would be fairly cool, too.

Curry Kirkpatrick is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at curry.kirkpatrick@espnmag.com.