The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Gaston Gaudio wins the battle of nerves

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Monday, Jun 07, 2004

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Sport - Tennis

Gaston Gaudio wins the battle of nerves

PARIS, JUNE 6. Unseeded Gaston Gaudio fought back from two sets down and saved two match points to beat fellow-Argentine Guillermo Coria 0-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 8-6 and win the French Open.

Coria had dominated the opening two sets of the first all-Argentine final in Grand Slam history until cramps allowed his opponent back into the match on Sunday.

The fifth set was a tense battle of nerves but Gaudio had the final say after three hours and 31 minutes.

Gaudio, ranked 44th in the world, became the second Argentine to win at Roland Garros, 27 years after Guillermo Vilas. Gaudio is only the third unseeded champion at Roland Garros in the Open era.

Vilas, after whom Coria had been named, was the last Argentine men's winner of a Grand Slam tournament, at the Australian Open in 1979.

Coria, the third seed, was a clear favourite after winning 37 out of 38 matches on the surface following his surprise defeat to Dutchman Martin Verkerk at the Roland Garros semifinals last year.

Coria won the first eight games but required treatment from a trainer for a left leg injury at 1-all in the fourth set. He offered only token resistance the rest of the set, hitting meek, flat-footed serves and declining to run after shots.

But following another visit from the trainer before the fifth set, Coria was sprinting again.

The No. 3-seeded Coria still served weakly but broke four times in the final set, including for a 6-5 lead. He twice reached championship point in the next game but hit groundstrokes barely wide on both points.

Gaudio broke on another error by Coria, and then grinned as the crowd cheered the latest twist in the strange match.

Gaudio held serve and broke in the final game. Holding his first championship point, he whipped a backhand winner, and then happily flung his racket.

Suarez-Pascual lift women's crown

Argentine Paola Suarez and Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual won their third French Open women's doubles title when they thrashed Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Likhovtseva 6-0, 6-3.

Champions in 2001 and 2002, Suarez and Ruano Pascual repeated their Australian Open victory over the Russians in January to win their third consecutive grand slam title.

It was the top seeds' fifth successive final at Roland Garros and ninth consecutive grand slam final.

``We didn't expect to win so easily,'' Ruano Pascual said. ``We have complimentary games and when one of us is not at the top, the other compensates.

``I think the other players don't like to play against us because we don't have a typical game,'' Suarez added.

``They know we will fight to the end.''

The only title to elude the pair is Wimbledon, where they have finished runners-up in each of the past two years. Ruano Pascual said she had a double aim for the rest of this year.

``First (to win) Wimbledon, with Paola, and after that the Olympics. It is a pity we cannot play together.''

Suarez reached the semi-finals in the singles this year, losing to Russian Elena Dementieva. In 2001, she reached the mixed doubles final with Jaime Oncins, losing to Ruano Pascual who was playing with Thomas Carbonell.

Malisse-Rochus duo wins

Belgians Xavier Malisse and Olivier Rochus, pairing up for the first time at the top level, won the French Open men's doubles final on Saturday. The first Belgian duo to win at Roland Garros, they beat local favourites Fabrice Santoro and Michael Llodra 7-5, 7-5.

Malisse and Rochus had entered the tournament hoping to reach the quarterfinals, the barrier fixed by their federation to be eligible for the Athens Olympics. They won in one hour, 48 minutes.

``We only started to play here to see if we could do well and we won. It's a great pleasure to win here, especially with Olivier,'' said Malisse, who has known his new doubles partner since childhood. ``They had a great fortnight, beating some of the best pairs in the world. Bravo,'' said Santoro, who has continued to play with Llodra on the circuit despite being ousted from France's Davis Cup team. — Agencies

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