Players retiring in 2012: Gaston Gaudio – Tennis Special (Part – III)
Do you remember the Roland Garros French Open final of the 2004 season? If you do then you will know the Argentine tennis ace, Gaston Gaudio, who stunned the world by marching to the courts with immense willpower and courage to
take on the superior ranked compatriot, Guillermo Coria, who was almost unmatchable with his speed and guile at the red dirt.
No one fancied the chances for the 25-year-old Gaudio in the final of the French Open 2004. However, the sunny afternoon commenced in a dramatic fashion. Coria started to suffer from leg cramps and his movement at the courts was
limited. However, he still dominated the show; lead the scores by two sets to nil at one stage. However, the motivated Gaudio rallied back to equalize the scores at 2-2. The match entered the fifth set and the cramps were troubling the superior ranked Argentine.
Gaudio was ranked 44 in the world at that time. He saved two match points at the scores of 5-6 in the final set and carried on to clinch the maiden Grand Slam victory of his career. The jubilation and excitement was clearly visible
on his face; tears ran down his face. Yes, it was an accomplishment that took three hours and 31 minutes. Moreover, it was a record breaking performance; no one in the past 7 years was able to win the final of the French Open after saving a match point.
In the post-match press conference, he said, “When I was match point down, I was thinking, 'This is done, it's over.' I was fighting, but without much belief.'” The 2004 French Open Champion turned pro in 1996 and grabbed eight
tour-level clay-court titles. On 25th April 2005, Gaudio rose to the fifth rank in the world. His nick name was “Gato” (The Cat); not so tall with a height of just 5’9, the Argentine had to capitalize on his slick and quick movement. However, he
decided to put mass on the arm muscles and developed such a classy single-handed backhand shot that was the deadly weapon especially at the clay courts. The deft touch of his backhand returns yielded a lot of victories for the 34-year-old Argentine.
Gaudio suffered a terrible injury in 2008 and stayed out of action for the entire season; played just two matches. He came back to action in the following season but struggled to retain momentum and registered a meagre record of
24-22. The following season was also struck with on and off injuries that forced the Argentine former world number five to stay out of action for the most part of the season.
He didn’t play any professional tennis since May 2010. He was out of the Top-100 players by the end of the 2007 season so always concentrated in the Challenger Tour events but his performance was absolutely pathetic in the lower
tier tournaments as well. On 30 August 2012, Gaudio announced his retirement from the world of tennis at the age of 34. It was a treat to have such a classy single-handed player onboard for so many years.
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