There may never be another player like the three-time French Open champion who sambaed his way to titles in 1997, 2000 and 2001 behind long, colourful and devastating strokes. He stunned the world back in 1997 when he came into the tournament as a virtual unknown ranked No.66, flew past Austrian strongman and 1995 champion Tomas Muster, 1996 Roland Garros winner Yevgeny Kafelnikov and two-time winner Sergi Bruguera. Kuerten repeated in 2000 by pummeling upstart Juan Carlos Ferrero in the semis and the tough Magnus Norman in the final and became the first South American to end the year at No.1.
In 2001, Kuerten came back from the jaws of defeat when he saved a match point against the ambitious qualifier Michael Russell. Then Kafelnikov predicted he would push him, but the Russian went down 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4...followed by a final round defeat of Spaniard Alex Corretja. The win meant that Guga joined legends Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl and Mats Wilander as the only players to win three singles French titles in the Open era (until Rafael Nadal).
Sadly, Kuerten never raised the trophy again as he was hit by one significant injury after another, most specifically to his hip, for which he underwent surgery twice, His many comeback attempts were mostly aborted and this year, he announced that 2008 Roland Garros would be his last Grand Slam appearance. Even though it might have been a more reasonable idea for him to retire a couple of years ago, he truly loved his sport. "It's what I like," he said. "It's enthusiasm. It's danger. It's the nerves of out there. It's everything I want it to be when I am on court."
Mathew Cronin
RolandGarros.com
Photo Credit: Rubens Chaves, Guga.com
