Michael Chang was in no mood for melodrama.

Across the net from him was a great storyline - a 20-year-old Romanian ranked 128th in the world, bidding to emulate John McEnroe and become only the third qualifier to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.

Adrian Voinea tried to thicken the plot, taking a 5-4 first-set lead, and two break points for the set. That was enough for Chang, who saved both points and reeled off 13 straight games Wednesday to dominate the French Open quarterfinal, 7-5, 6-0, 6-1.

“When the first set was over, it was tough to start again,” Voinea said. “It seemed to me like a wall I couldn’t go over. It seemed he was too tough to win a game against.”

Chang is back in the semifinals at Stade Roland Garros for the first time since 1989, when at 17 he won his first and only Grand Slam title - the youngest player to do so.

To reach the final again, he must dethrone the two-time defending champion, Sergi Bruguera, who defeated unseeded Italian Renzo Furlan 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 in a 99-minute quarterfinal that matched the dank, uninspiring weather.

Furlan needed second-set treatment for leg and back problems, but stoically blamed his defeat on Bruguera’s knack for winning the crucial points.

In a tournament punctuated by upsets, Voinea was the last unknown still in the competition - one victory away from matching the feat of McEnroe and Bob Giltinan, qualifiers who made Grand Slam semifinals in 1977.

Voinea stunned Boris Becker in the third round and outplayed veteran Andrei Chesnokov in the fourth, so there was no chance the sixth-seeded Chang would be caught off guard.

“I didn’t want to get in a situation where, OK, he’s a qualifier; he shouldn’t be that tough,” Chang said. “If a player is capable of beating guys like Becker and Chesnokov in a Grand Slam tournament, he’s got to be playing tough tennis.”

Voinea battled Chang evenly until those missed break points in the 10th game, then admitted he lost his poise.

“I felt mentally down,” he said. “It was a feeling I couldn’t play my tennis any more. My legs I couldn’t move well. I couldn’t find the right solution any more.”

Chang had a lot to do with Voinea’s dismay, displaying his unrelenting style even when it was clear the underdog was finished.

Chang spurned an offer of a handshake during a changeover at 4-1 in the final set, saying later he didn’t want to get sidetracked from his focus on winning. Even at match point, as a light rain started, he was demanding - and obtaining - a reversal of a line call.

“If I see a ball that is out, it doesn’t make sense to give my opponent anything,” he said.

Chang received some derisive whistles at the end of the match, and there were few cheers earlier for Bruguera’s victory.

The seventh-seeded Spaniard had drawn boos Monday for a 5-minute sitdown strike over a line call, and he was booed again Wednesday for attempting a drop shot immediately after Furlan’s leg was treated.

“It was a sort of test,” Bruguera said. “I wanted to see if he was able to run.”

The first set was sloppily played, but Bruguera won it easily and jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second. But Furlan, aided by two aspirins to ease the pain in his leg, broke back to level at 3-3, forcing Bruguera to play more intensely.

“I saw he was hurt and I thought he couldn’t run any more,” Bruguera said. “I relaxed myself too much. I though he was going to default, so I stopped my legs, and he started playing well.”

Chang predicted “a lot of long, tough points” in his semifinal Friday against Bruguera, whom he has never played before on clay. The other semifinal pits fifthseeded Thomas Muster, winner of 33 straight matches on clay, against No. 9 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, fourth-round victor over top-seeded Andre Agassi.

In the women’s semifinals today, it’s top-seeded Aranxta Sanchez Vicaro against No. 9 Kimiko Date and No. 2 Steffi Graf against No. 4 Conchita Martinez. Graf is unbeaten in 23 matches this year, while Martinez has won 26 in a row.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: French Open Winners: Two-time defending champion Sergi Bruguera beat Italy’s Renzo Furlan to advance to the semifinals with sixth-seeded Michael Chang, who beat Romanian qualifier Adrian Voinea. A look ahead: In women’s semifinals, topseeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario continues the defense of her crown against Japan’s Kimiko Date. Three-time champion Steffi Graf meets fourth-seeded Conchita Martinez.