1 Response to rg04gaudio_coria

1. Voo de Mar says:

   March 14, 2024 at 11:42 am

   Points won by each set: [ 11-27, 22-28, 34-25, 26-12, 55-45 ]
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   17 % Gaudio – 26 of 149
   14 % Coria – 20 of 136

   One of the most amazing Grand Slam finals in the entire history! One year before Nadal began his “never-ending” reign in Paris. The 18-year-old Spaniard had to skip the event due to injury. There were 9 breaks (out of 14 games) in the final set; [3] Coria led 4:3* in the 3rd set when the crowd started to cheer for Gaudio [44] with “Mexican wave” changing the tone of the final. Coria began struggling with cramps in the 4th set, anyway he was serving twice to win the championships. At *6:5 he held two match points – made BH & FH errors. The previous major final in which the runner-up wasted a match point occurred at the Aussie Open 1960 (Rod Laver d. Neale Fraser 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 8-6, 8-6). “I never saw anything like that in a tennis match,” said Vilas – the greatest Argentinian player in history who awarded trophies to his three decade younger compatriots. Coria tried to explain his downfall: “I hope to be back next year and take my revenge. He made me move. He made me play, and I was exhausted.” Gaudio stated: “After the wave, the people started to help me, and I relaxed a little bit.”

   Gaudio’s route to his 3rd title:
   1 Guillermo Canas 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 ☆
   2 Jiri Novak 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
   3 Thomas Enqvist 6-0, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4
   4 Igor Andreev 6-4, 7-5, 6-3
   Q Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
   S David Nalbandian 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-0
   W Guillermo Coria 0-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 8-6 – 2 m.p.

   ☆ Gaudio had had abysmal 1-9 record in five-setters prior to French Open ’04,
   yet he managed to win 3 five-set matches en route to the title (3:39h, 3:32h, 3:31h respectively)

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