PARIS, June 1: Not many people at Roland Garros were afraid of Filip Dewulf before this French Open and even the Belgian never dreamt he would be snapping at the heels of John McEnroe by the end of the first week.The qualifier's days of catching opponents unawares, though, are probably over after a stunning 5-7 6-1 6-4 7-5 win over clay specialist Alex Corretja which guaranteed Belgium their first player in a Grand Slam quarter-final in the Open era.

If Dewulf can go one better in the last eight against Sweden's Magnus Norman, he will emulate McEnroe's famous achievement in 1977 when the American burst out of the Rose Gardens at the Wimbledon qualifying tournament in Roehampton to reach the semi-finals at the All England Club.No qualifier has managed it at any Grand Slam since, but the 25-year-old son of a Belgian pharmacist has already gone a long way towards remedying a sketchy record at major events where he has never previously ventured beyond the second round.

As the blissful sunshine of the opening week gave way to chilly winds and swirling clouds of dust today, the big, bad forehand which Dewulf is not shy about using proved fatal for a harassed Corretja, seeded eighth but regarded as a leading contender for the French title.

Dewolfe's next round opponent, Norman, who stunned top-ranked Pete Sampras in the third round staged another upset Sunday when he ousted 15th-seeded Marc Rosset of Switzerland 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.

Defending champion and third-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov cruised into the quarter-finals, defeating Marc Philippoussis 6-2 6-3 7-5.

The women's top seed, Martina Hingis, had a lapse in the second set but reached the last eight by beating Barbara Paulus 6-3 0-6 6-0.

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the sixth-seeded two-time champion and runner-up the last two years, also went through, beating Natasha Zvereva 6-4 6-2.Defending champion Steffi Graf struggled again but prevailed over 13th-seeded Irina Spirlea of Romania 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-2.

Amanda coetzer, the 11th-seeded South African, caused another upset when she knocked out No 7 Conchita Martinez, a semi-finalist the last three years, 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-3. Coetzer had never beaten martinez in 11 previous matches.Two of the five remaining American women were also knocked out today.

Fifth-seeded Lindsay Davenport lost to No 9 Iva Majoli of Croatia 5-7 6-4 6-2 while Nicole Arendt was beaten 6-1 6-1 by Romania's Ruxandra Dragomir.PAES-DRAGOMIR BOW OUT

Indian Davis Cupper and Olympic bronze medallist Leander Paes pairing Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania lost in the third round of the mixed doubles at the French Open today.

Paes-Dragomir gave a walk over to opponent Brenda Schultz-McCarthy of Netherlands and Piet Norval of South Africa in today's match.

The pair had yesterday defeated Jeff Tarango of United States and Elena Likhovtseva of Russia in the second round.

With this Paes is out of the French Open as he had earlier lost the singles and doubles events.

However, his compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi, who had won the second round yesterday pairing with Rika Hiraki of Japan, was yet to play his third round match.FOURTH ROUND RESULTS

Seedings in prefix

MEN'S SINGLES: 3-Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Rus) bt Marc Philippoussis (Aus) 6-2 6-3 7-5; Filip Dewulf (Belgium) bt 8-Alex Corretja (Spa) 5-7 6-1 6-4 7-5; Magnus Norman (Swe) bt 15-Marc Rosset (Swi) 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 6-3WOMEN'S SINGLES: 1-Martina Hingis (Swi) bt 16-Barbara Paulus (Austria) 6-3 0-6 6-0; 2-Steffi Graf (Ger) bt 13-Irina Spirlea (Rom) 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-2; 6-Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Spa) bt Natasha Zvereva (Bls) 6-4 6-2; 9-Iva Majoli (Cro) bt 5-Lindsay Davenport (US) 5-7 6-4 6-2; 11-Amanda Coetzer (SA) bt 7-Conchita Martinez (Spa) 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-3; Ruxandra Dragomir (Rom) bt Nicole Arendt (US) 6-1 6-1

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