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Guga and Roland Garros, born for each other

13K views 60 replies 17 participants last post by  Hagar 
#1 ·
I have a book I bought about Guga and his three wins in Roland Garros. It was written by a reporter from one of our newspapers, and its really cool, since its a compilation of the reports the guy wrote for the daily paper.
As it brings a lot of cool stuff and I would like to share with his fans world wide, Im gonna try to do the translation of the whole thing. Its really big, so it might take a long time.
But I will be posting it in here, in parts as a diary, as soon as I finish each one of them.
I hope its as good a read for you as it was for me, and I also hope I can have enough energy to reach the end. :D

So, good luck to all of us.
And enjoy! :wavey:
 
#27 ·
Tommyboy,

The book Im translating is about ALL the three French Open crown runs. :p
Its longer than you think. ;)

But yes, I was kidding about 2005. :eek:

I just bought a new book with hundreds of big color pictures, which has comments from ALL of Guga´s Roland Garros, from 1996 to 2002. Very beautiful... :D
 
#28 ·
Hi, Hitman,

I haven't been back in Guga's forum for a while now. This is great reading, what you've translated. I've been admiring Guga since i saw him in RG '97 (nowadays i support the guy on my avatar) and has been won by his good nature & his warm character which just radiates on court. I'll never forget how he won that year playing three 5 setters and defeating 3 former champions to win the title. I'll also never forget how he bowed to Vilas (i'm not worthy!) during the presentation. It was an endearing gesture. I also had the privilege & pleasure of seeing him play live in Gstaad in '98.

Anyway, i'm looking forward to reading further, obrigado for sharing it here...
 
#29 ·
hitman said:
I just bought a new book with hundreds of big color pictures, which has comments from ALL of Guga´s Roland Garros, from 1996 to 2002. Very beautiful... :D
Jealous, jealous, jealous, jealous . . .

They don't sell many books about tennis or players here, much less such a magnificent find as you mention here! :(
 
#30 ·
06/02/1997
ALLEZ, GUGA!

Four more games for Guga to tie it with Thomas Koch (in 1968) and reach the quarterfinals of Roland Garros. Four games that are expected to be dramatic, and that because if they are won by the ukranian Andrei Medvedev, he as well could be there – leaving the brazilian behind. Guga will serve first, what is not certain win, since just in the fifth set we had a break a piece. It´s gonna be nervous!

Worse: if we have a tie in 6-6, there´s no tiebreak. They play on, untill one of the two get a two game gap. Summarizing: it can be fast as a blink of an eye, or long and hard as a marathon. Let´s get the hearts prepared.


For what he´s been playing in this tournament, Guga deserves a spot among the eight best in Roland Garros. During the match suspended yesterday (in a tied 2 sets a piece, 2 games a piece situation), he was yet again surprising one of the best tennis player in the world – this time the ukranian Andrei Medvedev, placed as world number 20 in the rankings, but who is a former number 4 and has over US$ 4 million in prize money for his carreer.
Many times during the match, Medvedev looked lost facing the powerful forehands and backhands from Guga – always from the baseline. In three ocasions he threw his racquet to the clay, irritated for being kicked by another winner.
Just as what happened to Muster, the ukranian could breath again as he could lead the match to the fifth set and as he could break the brazilian in the first game of the last set. Illusion: Guga gave the break back, and the match is tied once again, on 2-2.
It´s possible that Medvedev ousts Guga. But, certainly, he won´t ever forget this day, in which he suffered for 2 hours and 16 minutes facing a brazilian boy about whom he had never heard before untill he knew he´d just beaten Thomas Muster in the previews round.
- Where did you take this kid from? What the hell was he doing untill last year?
In all the languages, the question is always the same. Journalists from all around the globe, tennis specialists or not, show their enchantment with Gustavo Kuerten:
- What a player! Medvedev is crazy. He doesn´t know what to do – a russian was saying, after the first three sets.
The requests for interviews are repeated. As the time of the players is limited, the way to solve it is running after the brazilian coleagues, who, before anything else, have to teach them how to write Guga – very strange to them:
- Cu-ca? Cu-co? Cu-ga?
Whatever it sounds like, the word Guga is being repeated everywhere. Henri Leconte, former tennis players, is one of them. He had many good words to say:
- This brazilian kid plays to good. He has it all to reach the finals.
Amen, Henri...


As soon as the match was suspended, Larri Passos locked the locker room, and half an hour later got out asking the reporters to not interview Guga yesterday:
- Please, we are having a special work in mentalizing the best shots. Guga is doing very well in the match, and I would appreciate if you could not talk to him so his focus does not get lost. The match is very tight and both players are doing similar things – and playing very well. They are both attacking in the second serves, and hitting hard and with angles from the baseline. The more focused of them will win when they come back tomorrow. That´s why I´m asking you to not interrupt Guga´s concentration.
His request was respected.


The bad news of the day came from Marc Rosset. Facing the swed Magnus Norman – who took Pete Sampras out – he had a terrible mistake, and threw his racquet to the sky with all his power.
It came back into the crowd, almost hitting a kid and a lady. Completely embarassed, Rosset got down on his knees and, hands to the sky, asked for forgiveness. The crowd accepted his request. Magnus, though, didn´t forgive him and defeated him in four sets.
Another one to go home was the north-american Lindsay Davenport. She was leading the croatian Iva Majoli 7/5 4/1 and 40-15 on her own serve, and lost it. Majoli won 5/7 6/4 and 6/2.


Martina Hingis won again, but played shaky again. She even lost the second set 6/0. In the fifth, though, she gave the bagel back to win it. She will have to play a lot more to get to the finals. Arantxa and Seles are on her way still.


Aussie Mark Philippoussis was demolished by the russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov, but left the Center Court with the tournament´s fastest speed serve. He hit a “Scud” at 221 kmph! The second in speed is Kafelnikov himself, 213 kmph. Sampras comes next, 211, and then Marc Rosset, 208. Goran Ivanisevic is the fifth, with 206 kmph.


Do you know who is Roland Garros´ biggest winner ever?
You are wrong if you said Bjorn Borg. The ice swede won 6 singles championships (74, 75, 79, 80 and 81), but the north-american Chris Evert won the women´s singles 7 times (74, 75, 79, 80, 83, 85 and 86). Next, tied with 5, two other women: Margareth Court (62, 64, 69, 70 and 73) and Steffi Graf (87, 88, 93, 95 and 96).


The brazilian Alexandre Simoni started with a win in the Boy´s singles draw. He defeated the russian Marat Safin, 7/6 7/5. Today Carla Tiene goes to the court. She is the only brazilian in the girl´s tournament.
 
#31 ·
hitman said:

The brazilian Alexandre Simoni started with a win in the Boy´s singles draw. He defeated the russian Marat Safin, 7/6 7/5. Today Carla Tiene goes to the court. She is the only brazilian in the girl´s tournament.
We find some obscure names we will hear from a lot more . :p ;)
 
#32 ·
Hitman-I think it's great what you are doing. Especially for those who didn't get to see all of the magic in '97. Keep up the good work!!! :wavey:

I heard Guga has 2 books in Brasil. Too bad they don't sell them here...would you know how to order them from outside the country??? :confused:

Again, I'm loving this epic!! I hope you are considering to do more!

Love,
Liz :kiss:
 
#33 ·
Yes Liz, there are two books from Guga here. That I know, at least. I have both. :p

The one Im translating is the older one, from last year.
The new one is a lot bigger, with huge pictures and stuff. Both are from Roland Garros.

Im not sure how you can but them out of Brazil, but if I discover anything Ill let you know. :)
 
#34 ·
06/03/1997
A 29-MINUTE DRAMA

The score was 4-4, fifth and last set. 0-40, Kuerten serving. In the opposite side of the court, the ukranian Andrei Medvedev didn´t even try to dissimulate his smile. Everything seemed to be lost for the brazilian, who had resumed the match (suspended on Sunday) very well, scored a 4-2, but then allowed the opponent´s come back and was about to lose his serve in a key moment.

- What did I think in that moment? I just didn´t. Just got loosen and played – he would let us know later in the press conference.

Gustavo, in fact, cursed himself, very loud, and took all the risks. On 15/40, he forced the serve and approached the net. Medvedev tried a lob and missed. On 30/40, a very big serve and a bad return. The deuce came on another net play and another error from Medvedev. The confidence was back and the serve worked it out: one was an ace, in the other the ukranian could hardly touch the ball. Score was 5/4 and a way leading to the victory once again, in a score of 5/7 6/1 6/2 1/6 7/5, over 2 hours and 45 minutes in two days. Interrupted on 2-2 fifth set, it only finished yesterday, after 29 dramatic minutes.

In the quarter-finals, Kuerten will face defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, from Russia – third in the world ranking, and the last top ten standing in the tournament. The match will be on Center Court, and will start around 10am Brazil time.

- Sincerely, I´m not afraid of him. All of us who reached the quarters can win the title. He is a great champion, but I´m playing very well too. From now on, anything can happen – he said.

To reach this, which is already the best result from a brazilian in Roland Garros´ men´s tournament (tied with Thomas Koch in 1968), Guga was a giant again. He entered the court very focused, and even missing an easy ball on 15/0, he closed his first serving game (actually the fifth of the last set) with three serve points and an error from Medvedev.

- I started very focused. I knew that winning that first game was crucial – he explained.

In the ukranian´s serve, another show. With cross-court perfect angles, very close to the lines, Kuerten led his way to 15-40 after a long rally. Brazilian party on court Suzanne Lenglen, and the start of a new drama: Gustavo started serving well, but Medvedev answered with perfection, scoring 15-40 and closing the break on another long rally, in which Guga missed the ball.

Rolling, the ukranian held his serve to love (leveling it all at 4-4), and won the next three points on Kuerten´s serve. He looked like the king of the match, when he brazilian started to play on high risk and, whether serving wildly or approaching the net, managed to turn it around and score the 5-4 lead.

Guga had the first match point in the tenth game, but Medvedev saved it with a huge serve: 5-5. Despite the oportunity missed, Guga didn´t give up. Held his serve to love (with three service points) and led his way to win the match.

- I have a simple thought to not get down when I miss a match-point. Well, if I got to it, I can do it again. It´s simple, I just need to fight! – he said.

A ball on the line, a double-fault from the ukranian, a forehand down the line winner and it was 15-40, two more match points for Guga. Those were still not the ones: The first was lost as the ukranian sent a ball on the line. The second on an error from Guga. Deuce again, but not for long. Kuerten got another advantage, and this time it was fatal: Medvedev served hard, Guga returned, a fast rally happened, the ukranian approached the net and hit a drop volley, but the brazilian got to it and hit a passing shot, with a lob. Medvedev ran to the ball, but couldnt put it in. It was his finish in Roland Garros, and the start of another brazilian party.

- I played against Kafelnikov only once. He won 6/4 6/1, last year, in Stuttgart, but since then my game is a lot better – said Guga.
 
#35 ·
hitman said:
- I played against Kafelnikov only once. He won 6/4 6/1, last year, in Stuttgart, but since then my game is a lot better – said Guga.
This would have been a great match, I'm sure :) I've only seen one of the three Zhenya-Guga RG quarterfinal matches, and it was thrilling.

Can't wait to read about it! ;) Keep up the good work, hitman :)
 
#38 ·
Oh please, tommy... :eek: take it easy.
Thanks anyway, Im flattered.

The analysis are posted here too, in The Masters Cup forum. ;)
 
#39 ·
Thanks hitman! Yes, please, if you find anything out about oredering books, keep me posted! Guga is such a wonderful person, as are all of his fans! I love everyone!

Love,
Liz
 
#40 ·
I was thinking of reviving this...
 
#41 ·
06/03/1997
FACING THE CHAMPION

Gustavo Kuerten can even lose today for the defending champion of Roland Garros, Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Even in that case, he leaves Paris as a great winner. His wins over Thomas Muster and Andrei Medvedev give us the impression that Brazilian tennis can, finally, dream of a happy future. We now have a great tennis player.

Luís Felipe Tavares, one of the people who most understand about tennis in Brazil, joined the Brazilian cheering team for Guga in Paris and speaks out of a lot of enthusiasm and authority:

- This kid is the best we ever had. He has all the shots. And what shots! He is gonna be among the top 20 naturally, easy. If his head is good, will be among the 10 too. And then Brazilian tennis goes up.


Guga says that the night before the end of his match yesterday was calm:

- I have had a similar experience here playing against Jim Grabb in the qualifying. In that occasion, the interruption was during the third set, with 4-2 in my advantage. That was a good experience. Even like that, I dreamed a lot about the match now and, in my dream, I lost. Anyhow, I woke up feeling good, and stepped in the court feeling 100%. That was what mattered.


Guga’s coach Larri Passos is certain that today’s match, against Kafelnikov, will be very similar to the one Guga had with Medvedev:

- Both have similar fundamentals and games: stepping over the baseline, hitting the ball on the rise and dispatching flat rockets down the line and crosscourt.

Larri admits, though, that Kafelnikov is on a better moment:

- Medvedev beat Kafelnikov more than once in the past. But right now, the Russian is obviously in better shape. Me and Guga saw his last match and we could notice that the guy is hitting some amazing shots.

Frightened? Larri guarantees not:

- Guga is also hitting some spectacular shots. It’s gonna be a tough and even match.


With the end of the fourth round, Spain is the country with the most players still alive: Galo Blanco and Sergi Bruguera among the men, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario among the women.

From there, each country has one player representing it:

Women: Martina Hingis (Switzerland), Monica Seles (Serbia), Mary-Joe Fernandez (USA), Iva Majoli (Croatia), Ruxandra Dragomir (Romania), Amanda Coetzer (South Africa), and Steffi Graf (Germany).

Men: Magnus Norman (Sweden), Filip Dewulf (Belgium), Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia), Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil), Patrick Rafter (Australia) and Hicham Arazi (Morocco).



Frenchie Caroline Dhemin is the author, until now, of the fastest serve in the women’s draw in Roland Garros. Her ball hit 182 kmph. Second place came to Czech Jana Novotna, 181 kmph. Steffi Graf is the fifth, 171 kmph. Monica Seles, ranked eighth, hit a 166 kmph serve, and Martina Hingis hits it at 161 kmph (18th).



Among the men (Mark Philippousis leads them with 222 kmph), Gustavo Kuerten hits the 29th place with 187 kmph.



Speaking of heavy balls, we could take in consideration a little story told by Marc Rosset, who was needing a partner to hit some balls before his match against Magnus Norman and then asked Steffi Graf to hit with him:

- I was impressed. Her forehand is a cannon shot. It’s got more velocity than many of the men’s drives on tour. And that backhand? What a slice! I don’t know any player who can hit a slice like Steffi.



Brazilian tennis is rocking here. Besides Gustavo Kuerten, two junior players are also winning their matches. Alexandre Simoni got his second win yesterday, defeating the Slovakian Mika Gregorc in loud 6-1 6-1. Claudia Tiene, the one Brazilian girl, won her first match against the French Karolina Jagieniak: 7-5 6-1.
 
#42 ·
“Not in my sweetest dreams I ever thought of getting to the semis.”
Guga after winning the match.

“Man, this russian plays too good! It’s good I did play better.”
Gustavo Kuerten, astonished by Kafelnikov’s play.

06/04/1997
‘AU REVOIR’, KAFELNIKOV

This time, one match point was enough. Serving on 5-4 on the 5th and last set, Gustavo Kuerten had his serve threatened (30/40), but he reverted the situation with two excelent serves and grabbed his first chance to conquer the win that is already part of the brazilian tennis history.

Defeating the russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov, reigning champion of the tournament and world number 3, Guga is the first Brazilian to go as far as the semifinals of the parisien Grand Slam. On Friday, he plays one of the semifinals against Filip Dewulf (the belgian who defeated Fernando Meligeni in the second round).

- Man, if, before the tournament, someone had told me I would be in the semis, I would have said “you are crazy”. Now I have to say that I am crazy myself.

Irreverent, always in a good mood and playing around, Gustavo Kuerten keeps on captivating Paris on and off court. Roland Garros’ main stadium – absolutely packed – had all its crowd standing and clapping Guga’s newest spectacular win, conquered in the match which is considered by the specialists as the best in tennis this year.

- Man, this russian plays too good! It’s good that I played even better” said Guga.

It was a devastating start for the Brazilian. And it was a fight of giants, to last 5 sets and two and a half hours.

Kafelnikov started serving and, for massive perplexion, being broken: the young Brazilian didn’t respect the fame nor the title of the russian. One – zero Guga, with a play that was barely humiliating. Known by the precision of his dropshots, Kafelnikov saw Guga get to his short sliced ball easily. Even worse, the come back was in the form of a new dropshot, in the opposite angle, to win the point. The terraces gone wild.

Kuerten looked indeed “enchanted”. Despite the resistance from the champion, who got back to 40-all, the Brazilian closed the game with a perfect backhand crosscourt, after a long rally: 2-0.

Kafelnikov held his serve following, but Gustavo kept his strongly (3-1), imposing his opponent to another humiliating (and hell-spawn) dropshot.

Fifth and sixth games were fast and easy for the servers. The problems came back for the russian when he was serving on 2-4 and Guga, ruling all the long rallies, broke him again to lead 5-2.

With the crowd shouting “Guga, Guga”, between the points, the set was over with another outstanting play from the Brazilian, as he won the point with a backhand down the line winner.

Kafelnikov came back into the second set seeking for revenge. And, although they kept on serve untill 2-2, it was already noticeable that the russian’s game had gone up some notches. Resulting of that, Guga was broken in the sixth game, and Kafelnikov went up 4-2, a comfortable lead grown bigger as he served and held to 5-2.

For the first time in the match, the russian breathed in relief. A prove that he didn’t know Gustavo Kuerten. Keeping the focus, he served to trail 3-5 and, in a game of hell-made plays (with long and enthusiastic rallies), he broke Kafelnikov back, 4-5. He then proceeded to hold his serve at love, and it was 5 a piece.

The crowd driven crazy, Kafelnikov driven crazy as well. Guga got to a 15/40 on the russian’s serve:

- That was the first big mental moment of the match. Had I broken him there, I would probably have won in straight sets – Guga would comment later.

The problem was that on the other side of the net stood a tremendous champion. And Kafelnikov played as one, serving with precision, approaching the net when necessary, and destroying the disatvantage until he had the game to lead 6/5. And the rain starting pooring slowly over Roland Garros.

Full of confidence, Kafelnikov attacked Guga’s served as a lion. And he got what he wanted: the break and the second set win. It was all square.

On the third set, the situation seemed to be the same. The russian opened a 3/1 advantage breaking Guga’s serve in the fourth game and soon had the set on a 6/2 with a new break in the eighth game of the series. Two sets to one for the champion:

- This was the second big mental moment of the match – Kuerten would explain – For the first time in the tournament I was down (2-1 in sets). I had to focus a lot to start the 4th set strong.

And did he! Kafelnikov had hardly left his chair it was already 15/40 on his serve (another drop over drop play by Guga). Following, Guga would hold to start a sequence of 4 consecutive games won. After that, Kafelnikov obviously tanked the set to save energy for the final set: result was an astounting bagel for Guga.

- I fought as hard as I could until 0/4. After that, it was obvious we were going to a 5th, and I chose to save energy. Kuerten was perfect by then – were the words of the russian after the match.

The H Hour had finally come. And Guga shined once more, breaking Kafelnikov in the first game, even though the russian served like the devil, including two aces (one to save a break point). One love Kuerten.

Hurting with aces, hurt with aces. And Guga payed those two back with two of his own, holding his serve to lead 2/0.

From this moment on, it was painfully nervous. Both the players were playing out of this world – points were decided in long, intense and thrilling rallies – and serves were held (the russian would always have more trouble, though, as Guga had 4 break point in the 3rd game and two more in the 5th).

Finally we got to 5/4 Guga, when he serves for the match. He loses the first point (0/15), but hits an ace right after (15/15). Another point from the serve (30/15), followed by an abnormal passing shot from Kafelnikov (30/30). An error on Guga’s backhand (30/40) left the Brazilian crowd on the edge of their seats and the russian had a breakpoint. Another big serve from Guga brings us back to deuce, and another one puts him on advantage. It’s the match point.Serve, and point. The champion is fallen. Kuerten is on to the semifinals. The crowd on center court stand on their feet to applaud the new sensation of tennis. Allez, Guga!
 
#47 ·
06/04/1997
GRANNY KNOWS IT ALL.

Believe it if you can: the Kuerten who knows more about tennis is Granny Olga. Guga himself told this story, saying that the sweet lady, on her 75 years old, has the “Player Guide” on the side of her bed and knows by heart the goods and bads of most of the tour players. Previous to playing Dewulf, Guga promises he will talk to Granny...

Granny Olga is a hot subject at the Roland Garros Press Center for some time now. Ever since Guga beat Muster and the european reporters discovered he is of German ascendancy (from her grandmother) and has a german passport, someone always asks about her. Yesterday, Gustavo had fun about her passion for tennis:

- It’s true. She knows everything about the players. Ever since I joined the tour and took one of those guides home, she grabbed it and read it all. Before each match, she studies all the characteristics of my opponents and gives me advice like: watch out, he has a tremendous forehand, or, pay attention to his serve! She is the real expert back home.


Gustavo Kuerten’s mother, Alice, is thinking about coming over to Paris to see her son’s last two matches. One thing, though, still keeps the doubt on her:

- Mom is really supersticious. As I won all these matches without her here, I don’t know if she will want to change it now. But she is crazy to come see me play, that’s for sure. And I would like it a lot if she could come. Especially if I get to the final.


Guga is also supersticious. He revealed yesterday that he never steps over the lines, for “nothing in this world”:

- Only if it’s unporposedly, during a point. If I can manage to, I jump them.


During the press conference, someone introduced the subject of Guga’s father’s death, of a heart attack during a match. For the first time, Guga spoke openly about the subject:

- Daddy was an umpire for tennis matches, and he was working on a kid’s tournament in Florianopolis. He felt ill on court and died at the hospital. I was very young (9 years old) and my memories are obscure.

A journalist then asked if Guga would dedicate the Roland Garros title to his father. The answer came from his wet eyes:

- My whole life is dedicated to his memory. Winning Roland Garros has nothing to do with it.


Larri Passos was extremely unhappy with the question and the memories of Aldo Kuerten. Explanation: Larri is a follower of the neurolinguistics, which condemns any unhappy or negative thought at all. All of Passos’ work with Kuerten in on the basis of valorizing the right and positive things. He avoids even discussing the errors after each match. He prefers to talk about the good points and correct the mistakes during the practice sessions, without the player even noticing it.


Larri Passos is showing to the world that he is a very efficient coach. He sees what happens during the matches as few people, and yesterday he gave Guga a key tip during the 4th set:

- Kafelnikov was starting to hit slice serves, complicating Guga’s returns. I told Guga to move a bit to the right to return the serve, and hit the first shot with a big angle on his forehand, almost a winner. It worked well. Guga had many points out of this, and the russian had to change his serve eventualy.


For Larri, the match against Kafelnikov was the best performance from Guga, but not the most important match:

- You know what was really important? That bagel on Slava Dosedel, first set of the first match. By then, Guga got full of confidence and started hitting with all his power. The first match of a big tournament as Roland Garros is always the most complicated for every coach – he said.


Reaching the semifinals of Roland Garros made Gustavo Kurten the most succesfull Brazilian player in terms of Grand Slam results. Among the men, of course. Maria Ester Bueno won Wimbledon three times and the US Open four times. Here in Roland Garros, she got to a final once, but lost.


Luís Felipe Tavares was reminding us all that another Brazilian once reached a Grand Slam semifinal:

- It was Roland Barnes, Grandad (as he was called in the Country) in 1963, US Open which was played in Forest Hills.


Interviewed by networks from all over the world, Guga heard the most difficult question from Eurosport:

- If you had to chose between this title here or the 5 timer for the football team (France 1998), which one would you chose?

Guga scratched his volumous hair and answered:

- Let’s do the following: the football team is the favorite to win, they don’t need this kind of “help”. But Guga here was a tremendous darkhorse. Let’s garantee mine first, okay?


Amanda Coetzer sent Steffi Graf home. The so dreamed confrontation with Hingis has to wait until Wimbledon.
 
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