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5/4/09 1:43 AM | Ricky Dimon
It was a good week for Gaston Gaudio, whose return to tennis continued with a Challenger title in Tunisia and a wild card into the upcoming Estoril Open.
In the same week Guillermo Coria retired from tennis, Gaston Gaudio enjoyed one of the best weeks he has had in years.
So have the paths of the two 2004 French Open finalists diverged since that fateful day five years ago. Coria, beset by myriad physical problems and dismal results, called it a career earlier this week. As Coria left the tennis scene, fellow Argentine Gaudio is just now getting back into it.
Earlier last week, Gaudio won his first main-draw match at the ATP level in over a year when he defeated Diego Junqueira in the first round of Barcelona's Open Banco Sabadell. Although he lost to Tommy Robredo in the next round, Gaudio's lone victory set the stage for bigger and better things to come.
And they came sooner rather than later. Gaudio won the Tunis Open, a Challenger level event in Tunisia, on Sunday afternoon. He defeated formidable clay-court opponent Frederico Gil 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 to take the title. On his way to the final, Gaudio ousted Daniel Brands, third-seeded Bjorn Phau, Alexandre Sidorenko, and No. 1 seed Jarkko Nieminen. Gaudio led Nieminen 6-2, 1-0 in their semifinal clash when the Finn retired with a potentially-serious wrist injury.
Gaudio's comeback story will continue--win or lose--next week in Estoril, Portugal with the Estoril Open, an ATP 250 tournament. With his ranking almost non-existent due to inactivity, Gaudio needs wild cards to get into any events. He got one for Estoril, where he will meet Italian Fabio Fognini in the first round. A victory could pit Gaudio against top-seeded Gilles Simon in round two.
In the 2004 Roland Garros final, heavily-favored Coria--who had been the dominant clay-courter of the past few seasons--led unseeded Gaudio two sets to love, including a 6-0 humiliation in the first. The rest, of course, is history. As Coria melted down under the Grand Slam pressure, Gaudio stormed back and saved two match points before eventually prevailing 8-6 in the fifth.
Coria was never the same thereafter, while Gaudio continued to be a force--especially on clay--for almost two more full seasons before almost disappearing until now. The former world No. 5 even appeared in two consecutive year-end Masters Cups, reaching the semifinals of the prestigious event in 2005.
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Very nice read, thanks Ricky!!!
thefanchild , 5/4/09 2:23 AM
Molto bene fatto- I love it. :D
Curious if he will bow out of Bordeaux in place of Madrid?
Kelli , 5/4/09 2:37 AM
OH MY GOSH. Gaudio climbed 362 spots in the rankings in a single week. That's right. Three hundred and sixty-two.
RickyDimon , 5/4/09 5:12 AM
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Vamos Gato !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Emiliano55 , 5/4/09 1:52 AM