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When Gaston won Roland Garros, how did you react?

8K views 116 replies 49 participants last post by  Action Jackson 
#1 · (Edited)
I was reading through the old threads on another board, and reliving one of the most satisfying tennis moments for me as long as I have been following the game. There have been a few for sure Wilander, Borg, Muster coming back from his injury, but this one when Gaston Roland Garros will never be forgotten.

This is what I wrote about it at the time, so bear with me.

GWH tales from the non-journalist:

Well well what can I say about that fantastic result. Gaston Gaudio French Open champion definitely has a great sound to it, El Gato winning the title was one of my great sporting highlights, the match itself wasn't the greatest but the outcome was absolutely fantastic and put me in a great mood for the day.

The first 2 sets were strange, there was a guy that looked like Gaudio, I think it was an impostor. The impostor was incredibly nervous and had kidnapped El Gato, and was just making error after error and seemed that they shouldn't have been in the same court. Coria was at his miserly best within 2 sets and was playing intelligently, though he didn't have to do much except hit good length and let the errors flow from Gaudio, which was working.

It was becoming increasingly frustrating, but I thought come on Gaudio, lets get down and fight, you come this far and if he loses I wanted him to leave nothing out on the court and make the other guy win. The French crowd with wave which was great as it finally relaxed El Gato and that impostor is kicked to the street. Gaston improves his length of shot, and makes less unforced errors and starts showing some cojones, and is getting positive results. Then the key moment happens when El Gato hits a great dropshot, Coria runs for it, and then pulls up a bit sore, straight away I am thinking Hamburg all over again, but El Gato breaks at 5-4 and serves the set out and we have a match.

Coria calls for the trainer at 1-1, I think it was cramp and the commentators who I don't normally agree with said if he comes out in the 5th set and starts running everything down, Gaudio will be very angry and there might be more fights after the match. I have clear ideas about the cramping rule, no treatment and I don't care who it is, cramp is not an injury, it's a loss of condition. Coria threw away the 4th set 6-1.

Well into the 5th set and the nerves are everywhere. There were more breaks of serve than prostitutes in the world's busiest brothel. Coria is noticably moving better and running down dropshots easily and trying to dominate with his forehand. Gaudio is crippled by nerves as well, then finally the footfault judges wake up and start calling the blatant footfaults from Coria and Gaudio is footfaulting through nerves. They were playing better off each others service games, Gaudio is physically stronger, but can he win the mental battle as he has never been in the lead and Coria's improved movement must have played on his mind.

Coria broke at 5-4 to serve for the match, then was broken to love, but El Gato loses serve again and Coria is serving for it at 6-5 and he has 2 match points, which Gaudio saved and broke back again. The nerves are running wild, but El Gato manages to control his and holds serve and Coria has to hold to stay in the match.

Gaudio reaches 2 match points and Coria is trying to break down El Gato's forehand and then he went crosscourt, Coria went down the line and then the beautiful moment that classical backhand struck into the open court and then the realisation that Gaudio has lived out his dream and he has won the title that meant the most to him.

What a great moment, congrats must go to Gaudio, for finally taking a good look at himself and where he wanted to be with tennis and doing something to fix the problem. Franco Davin for handling him, the psychologist which was needed to help him overcome the lack of self-belief, the mental demons, the choking episodes, the poor set 5 record and the horrible DC experience in Malaga. Even in the match Coria was hitting the lines, the mishits, the net cords were mostly in Coria's favour, and rose above the cramping of his opponent.

No matter what happens Gaudio has his name on the trophy with some absolute greats of the clay court game Borg, Lendl, Vilas, Wilander, Laver, Guga, Muster, Bruguera and there Gaudio's name sits along with them and has everything to be proud of.

Ever since that day in 1999 when I watched him the FO qualies, then when I saw his other comeback from 2 sets down against Bernd Karbacher, FB and myself thought this guy is cool. It will be interesting to see all the bandwagon jumpers, but if they stay then that's cool, like anything following Gaudio has never been easy and that 5th set summed up why, he should have it easily, but couldn't and he showed such cojones and that's why I am mainly proud of his achievement.
 
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#28 ·
Good idea GWH and we have Melu who can deliver these message personally.
 
#29 ·
I was still enjoying his virtuoso performance against Hewitt, when he beat Nalbandian I was very happy that he made the final, but wasn't really ready to celebrate.

I watched it with a friend who hates Coria even more than I do. We hoped that he wouldn't be too tight when he came out for the final, but it was horrible how wound he was on the court.

We just hung in and hoped and hoped for a turnaround, and then we noticed that Gaston was playing better and the French crowd got involved as well and helped him along.

Then when I saw Coria cramping, I was very suspicious about his antics especially since his past form with faking injuries, then that surreal 5th set. I don't think I'll ever see a 5th set of a major final like that, it seemed none of them were going to win, and no one could hold serve at all.

Head in hands during Coria's mps but those shots missed and we said fight like a gladiator and taste of victory was so close, and then when I saw the backhand go into the open court. Then we both screamed and danced like little kids and just enjoyed the moment and it will never be forgotten.
 
#30 ·
I don't post here too often, but as some of you know I adore Gaston to pieces, even if Mariano Z. is still my favourite tennis player.

Well, I spent that very special June afternoon alone in front of my tv. Sadly my family isn't very interested in watching tennis. But my best friend is a tennis freak like me, so we decided to call each other after each set. The first two sets were horrible to watch. I really suffered for Gaston. I just felt so sorry for him that he wasn't able to show his enormous talent in this most important match of his life, followed by millions of tv viewers. Then during the third set as Gaston started to win some games and find his shots again, I relaxed. Fourth set was totally crazy... I didn't know what to think. Did Coria really have some serious crampes or was he acting again?? But Gaston did what he had to do, he played his game and tried not to be impressed by Coria. Fith set was a nightmare to watch... I couldn't sit quiet, I was just screaming and jumping around! And then GG saving Coria's matchpoints... it was just too much, all this ups and downs! I don't know how I managed to watch the match to the end, but I did.

When everything was over the first thing I did was calling my friend. We both cried of joy. It was just so overwhelming to see Gaston with the RG trophy! I have always believed Gaston could win the big thing, but seeing it happening was still unbelievable! Gaston showed at this moment that every dream can come true if you work hard enough for it. It was a very special day I will ALWAYS remember!

Gaston, if you read this, THANK YOU for winning Roland Garros this year. 2004 was not my best year. I failed some very important university exams and went through a difficult time for a long time because of this. But looking back at 2004, it was still a good year because YOU, Gaston Gaudio, won the ROLAND GARROS title :)!!! So, thanks for bringing happiness and joy in my life when I really needed it :)!

Corina, Switzerland
 
#31 ·
Hoi Corina

Thanks for posting your story here, as you may have noticed I came up with the idea of putting these together and then getting Melu to give them to Gaston, so he can se his effect on us.

If that doesn't work, then I will give them to him at the Aus Open the full versions.
 
#32 ·
Hi GWH

Yes, I read that you or Melu are planning to collect the msgs and give them to GG - this is why I wrote that last paragraph... Really great idea :)!
 
#33 ·
That special day when Gaston won Roland Garros is something that won't be forgotten and neither will that match.

I was watching the match by myself at home and very happy about that as I figured to keep the tradition alive, as I needed to enjoy or get disappointed by whatever result.

Our commentators were definitely on Gaston's side being the underdog and all, but the way those first 2 sets went. I thought horrible thoughts of that smiling midget getting the trophy and that pissed me off no end, and that was as bad as Gaston freezing on the big stage and not producing his best form.

Then when he joined the wave, yes I did the wave as well and his improved play started to worry the midget into cramping. I thought Gaston has to be tough and seize the moment right here and now. Once it went to the 5th I knew the evil one would be running a lot better than in the 4th.

I was screaming at the TV at all the missed chances and I am not the most expressive guy, but Gaston of course doesn't do things the conventional way and that is what added to the drama. Neither could hold serve and when I saw midget have the 2 match points I couldn't sit down and was pacing and cursing.

Then when he held serve for 7-6, then I could almost allow myself to think really positive thoughts and then that backhand which is one of the best one handers in the game, went crosscourt into the open court and the fact that Gaston Gaudio was the French Open champion was so fantastic and I agree with Sjeng that the celebration was great running around and shaking hands with everyone in the crowd.

It does different things to people, and the best thing is Gaston is still Gaston. What I mean is he hasn't changed and doesn't think he's the huge star and the laughing in the 5th set, will never be forgotten.
 
#34 · (Edited)
Wow, I'm loving this thread! I think it's time to post mine now (and because I'm not sleepy, hehe)

I woke up early that day with a feeling. I had been following his results all through the tournament, and was more that ecstatic to see him in the final. It was just like I had dreamed it, so seeing it happen in front of me was almost unbelievable. I knew almost everything was in favour of Coria, so to me it wasn't surprising to see him in the final and wouldn't be surprising to see him win. As much as I don't really like him, I had to admit he had the biggest determination to win that tournament since the beginning. But there was Gaston, also with a chance...

It was horrible for me to witness the reults of the 1st 2 sets. I said to myself "Well, I think it's over... no surprise... unless something happens NOW". And we all know what happened. To me it was actually a movie. And on the 5th set I really felt like killing someone because one was cramped, the other was desperate and neither of the 2 could hold their serves! Hahaha... To tell you the truth I just wanted it to be over, it was too much. I screamed to the TV "It's your chance now, Gaston, come on DO IT!" I was so agitated I felt I could come up with something; everyone at home was telling me to calm down. But I couldn't! When that magic backhand happened, I just got up from my bed and screamed really loud "HE WON!!!" My mom came running, my dog started barking, and I just stood there in awe. I was so happy... I didn't want to cry because my family would make fun of me, but I was screaming in joy [still as I write this, I get the chills!] Hahahaha! I was floating in air the rest of the day, screaming randomly "GANÓ MI GATO!!!" ["my gato won" ;)].

I felt as if I was there, cheering, doing the wave, etc. I was also very proud of all he accomplished, because even if people say that the final was too emotional and the circumstances helped him, you also need to take into consideration all he had done, how he got there, fighting his demons and winning the most important tournament of his life.

Sorry if my story doesn't make much sense, I had so many feelings I don't know how to put them into words ;)!

The idea of giving all our stories to Gaston is great of course! I hope you get to do it... Thanks GWH for starting this thread! :worship:
 
#35 ·
These are all great stories and no one should apologise for anything, it was a very special moment and each one of us had our own reactions to the same result.

Keep them coming.
 
#36 ·
I kept thinking I'm going to post here but kept delaying coz I'm so lazy in putting feelings into words but I should coz this is one of the nicest thread to read in MTF :D

I r'bered after the 1st 2 sets, all I could think of horribly was how that will dampen Gaudio's self belief even more in future, then the magical waves came. His spirit was lifted. When he won the 3rd set, I was thrilled and so happy for him, couldn't stop thinking well done, well done, almost as though he had won the match. Then came the drama, my commentators were skeptical saying they won't be surprise if Coria starts to run in the last set.

True enough, he did. That last few games were truly painful to watch. When I saw how he laughed and looked at his stand at times, all I could think of was gosh...he's gonna lose. I was convinced in those match points of Coria, that's it, game over and started to console myself, it's ok, at least he came close. Unbelievably, I was so wrong. Seeing him lifting the trophy, with the same smile but this time with a huge belief and relief was heart warming.

I hardly followed Gaudio for long but his win and Rogi defeating Andy, also almost coming back from brink of defeat were definitely the happiest winning moment for me this year.
 
#37 ·
All these responses have been fascinating to read, so I will try and express it in my words.

When I saw the draw I was hoping for a fastcourter in the first round to ease him into the tournament and then I see the name of Canas. My first reaction was 'fuck" not him, then I was running around and said to my friend this will go 5 sets and Canas will win, then when it was 2 sets all and they suspended play I was like woohoo. Then I found out the result of last set and danced a little jig, obviously this was nothing compared what was to come.

Then Novak and another tough match as Novak doesn't give anything away, and then Gaston won in 5 sets and thought to myself it has to get easier from here.

Enqvist and Andreev weren't too much of a problem, then the Hewitt match. I felt very calm as if this wasn't going to be difficult and it's one of the few times I put money on the match, and the way he owned Hewitt was great and then I thought he's made the semis that's great.

When he beat David and made the semis my friend was confident and said Gaston was going to win. I wanted to think that outright but I would be lying, of course he had a chance and if he played his best, then why not.

He came around to the unit and we were either stunned or cursing at how bad Gaston was in the first 2 sets, he really seemed scared out there and I thought he has come too far to fall at this moment. Then when he started playing better I could sense worry in the evil Midget's eyes that Gaston was surging.

Then our despair was changing and there was never any chance of turning it off, the theory was we had to watch every point, no matter the result. Then the 5th set man that was so dramatic, we could hardly sit still I was always fiddling with something, and with all the breaks of serve it was getting hectic.

The thought of Coria beating Gaudio to win RG was making me sick, but he saved the match points ourselves and the commentators were very happy about that. When he held serve for 7-6, it was a massive relief, then when he got to the match points, he was biting the nails and I was like he can see the top of Mt. Everest.

Then the backhand cross court and I hugged and high-fived my friend and the rest of the day was great, the wave, the celebration and the speech and you could see how much it meant to him, and here is the guy who had the talent, but the mental strength wasn't his strongest point, triumphing to win the title that meant the most to him and just seeing that was something I will never forget.
 
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#39 ·
You know, I thought Gaston was ,0,1, and done myself-until the third set. I was just so shocked at the result and how predictable it looked, that I left. I was so sure that Coria won that match, as predicted, that I didn't bother to turn the TV back on to that match.

Imagine my surprise when I returned some hours later, and learned that Gaudio did indeed win that match. I was like "What". Then, I was like "How". I was immensely thrilled with the result, for Gaston finally proved the naysayers wrong. And, don't get mad at me, I loved reading the vitriol coming out of the Coria group. They were just pathetic. I LMAO when I saw some of the comments, and had the pleasure of telling three of 'em to "kiss off".
 
#40 ·
Well in a couple of words, amazement, relief, joy (yay the midget lost ;) ). I realy enjoyed the trophy ceremony, and hearing Gaston speak as well. I do thank the French crowd in that match. When he was down 2 sets to none, and a couple of games from defeat, I loved how the crowd supported Gaston 100%, and really helped him out of the massive hole he was in. :)
 
#41 ·
Yes, the vitriol and the garbage coming out of the mouth of some of the Coria fans made it even more worthwhile to revel in the moment afterwards.
 
#42 ·
GeorgeWHitler said:
Yes, the vitriol and the garbage coming out of the mouth of some of the Coria fans made it even more worthwhile to revel in the moment afterwards.
Trouble is - they're still doing it - must have very sad, empty lives or very bitter little minds - or both :angel:
 
#43 ·
Rosie said:
Trouble is - they're still doing it - must have very sad, empty lives or very bitter little minds - or both :angel:
I have noticed that and FB's thread about the excuses was a masterpiece.
 
#44 ·
sigmagirl91 said:
You know, I thought Gaston was ,0,1, and done myself-until the third set. I was just so shocked at the result and how predictable it looked, that I left. I was so sure that Coria won that match, as predicted, that I didn't bother to turn the TV back on to that match.
It's good that surprises can still happen in sport, you can always the Eurosport videos again. :)
 
#46 ·
I wanted to write my story in this thread already since a longer time, but never had time, so today I will finally do it.

In the beginning I have to say that I did not take much notice of Gaston for many years (I really wonder why, now afterwards...), but when I saw him playing in Hamburg and Duesseldorf this year, everything changed and now he is one of my absolute favourite players.
As I said, I saw Gaston the whole week in Duesseldorf, which was only some very few days before the French Open!
When the French Open started we had some discussions, because one of my tennis friends is a big Guillermo Canas fan and as the 2 had to play eachother in the 1st round, it was very much teasing and, in fact, I was quite sure that Gaston will loose against Willy.
Well, as everybody knows, he didn´t and he won one match after the other.
I could not believe it, and when he reached the final, it was just unbelievable great!

I watched the final all by myself at home, but had very intensive SMS contact with 2 good friends (the Canas fan I mentionned before and another friend who was in the US during the final and is definitely one of the biggest Gaston fans I know), so we discussed everything that happened in the match.
After the first 2 sets, I was sure everything will be over quite soon and I already called a friend to meet very shortly.
But then Gato won the 3rd set and the 4th and in the 5th set I was so nervous, so I could not really follow the match because of this.
After the 4th set, I was so sure, Gato will win, but already in the beginning of the 5th I did not know what to think.
When Coria had matchballs some games later, I was almost dying because I wanted Gaston so much to win this. I was sure that he will not get such a chance so soon again and he just had to win!
After Gaston won the matchpoint, I was so overwhelmed and started crying, because first of all I was so happy for Gaston and everything came out after this nervous tennis match!
Of course, I wrote to my friend in the States and we both could not believe it!!!

Everything after this matchpoint was unbelievable, the shake-hands, when he went to Franco & Co, his speech and the best for me was when Gaston said to the crowd "I was so scared, you know..." and then his laughter :lol:
So typical Gaston and so unforgetable and saved in my mind for the rest of my life!

Thank you so much Gaston for winning Roland Garros, muchas gracias ;)
 
#47 ·
Bump for all the people who can't be here at the moment due to certain circumstances.
 
#49 ·
After half a year has gone by, I can look back at that final more objectively. It was one of the important moments in my life, and I´ll try to explain why.

I´d seen very little of Gastón´s RG matches because of my work schedule, and I couldn´t even follow the live-scoring, so my husband, who was at home during those hours, would watch the tennis and call me at the office with the latest news.
Every morning I´d say to him “Today we won´t win. I´ve already accepted it”, and every day he´d call me several times during the match saying “We´re still fighting”. The results up till then seemed more than I could ever have wished for, and before the Nalbandian semifinal I was completely resigned to losing. Lack of faith, you could say, but just like a million others! And then when my husband called me and said “We won. Gaudio burst into tears and it was an incredible moment, I was very moved” I couldn´t believe what I was hearing, because he had always rather made fun of my being such a fan, and now we were in this together! I felt completely fulfilled then, and more than proud of Gastón.

We were four of us to watch the final, and we settled down with coffee and croissants prepared to enjoy a thrilling match, in which we assumed Coria would win but that Gastón would show the incredible tennis he´d been playing and make him work for it. Who were we kidding? It seemed we´d been living in cuckoo-land, all the wonderful tennis of the previous two weeks was just in our imagination, Gastón wasn´t “cured” after all, fairy tales don´t happen. There was a deathly silence in our sitting-room, we felt quite sick. After those first two sets all I wanted was for it to be over soon, and I prayed that this horrible experience wouldn´t set Gastón back even worse than Málaga. The gods had tempted him to think things could be different only to make the fall even greater.

But I think it was in the 8th game of the third set, when something happened. Gastón changed, he seemed to recover his self-esteem. The public saw he wasn´t dead yet, and encouraged him with the most fantastic moment I´ve seen in a spectator sport: with the wave they actually influenced the outcome!
From that moment on we all breathed sighs of relief; I truly think he had the mind-set then to put up a heroic fight and that he could have won the match without the benefit of the other´s cramps. Also, Coria seemed to be tiring, and Gastón was in great physical shape.
I hoped the other one wouldn´t concede the match, I didn´t want Gastón to win that way. But it was obviously disconcerting for him to play against a ghost, specially if you don´t trust said ghost.

We all know what happened in the fifth set! Gastón was tired, the nasty one had recovered, Gastón´s nerves came back when he saw he was playing for the match. The others at home left me alone, they couldn´t watch, and I was feeling physically ill. How could our beautiful dream finish like this?
In the end, two match points overcome, Gastón hanging-in there, 40-15, and then that magical back-hand that opened the gates of Heaven for him!

But it wasn´t only Gastón Gaudio that won. We all won, the crowd watching him there in Paris, his fans, his fans´ families and friends, the people in Argentina who followed his results, everybody who saw him win the final on TV, and the countless millions who read about it in the papers. All of us anonymous people who lead ordinary lives, who once, perhaps in our adolescence, had a dream of achieving something extraordinary. Then life taught us that that was just daydreaming, that we had to set our aims lower, that we would never become film stars or millionaires or presidents or famous sports stars. The truth was that the plain wouldn´t become miraculously handsome, the timid wouldn´t win popularity polls, the depressed wouldn´t suddenly be happy. Gaudio´s triumph was the revindication of all those childhood dreams. To all of us who dared to dream sometime that we could overcome our failings, it was a message of hope. To all of us who left fairy tales behind with our childhood, it said: Don´t give up your dreams, fairy tales can happen!

I think the lives of many millions throughout the world must have been touched by Gastón´s win that day.
 
#50 ·
I felt Gaudio had the game to win this match. He was more of an aggressive clay courter player than Coria so therefore he could control the match vs. being reactive. A tennis pal said to me Gaudio will lose because he left all of his emotions on the court after beating David. That kind of worried me because it made me think that maybe the final was more than enough for Gaudio. I like everyone else gave up after the first two sets but I was happy Guadio was fighting hard and playing cleaner in the 3rd set. When he won it my first thought was "Well at least he took a set, no shame in losing now" then when I saw Coria was cramping and Gaudio easily won the 4th set I thought ok he can do this as long he plays as he should. I was going nuts during all the serves breaks in the 5th but even when Coria was serving it out I thought Gaudio could still break him and win it. When he broke back I had a feeling it would be over if Guadio could just finally hold. Sure enough I was right, Gaudio took advantage of Coria's weak serving and pounced all over him. That crosscourt backhand service box winner for match point was perfect and I loved how Gaudio ran around the court and clapped everyone's hands. Makes me think they will forever love him and push him hard during RG this year.
 
#51 ·
Thanks for the contributions everyone they have been a pleasure to read.
 
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