Gaudio’s victory one for the ages

PARIS – Even one point from defeat, Gaston Gaudio just kept telling himself to enjoy the moment, to cherish the chance to play in a French Open final.

If he could get through years of struggle, of borrowing money to travel to tournaments, of losing more big matches than he won, then certainly he could conquer this obstacle, too.

The unseeded Gaudio provided an apt ending to two wild weeks at Roland Garros by winning his first Grand Slam title, coming from way down to upset a cramping Guillermo Coria 0-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 8-6 Sunday in a back-and-forth thriller.

Gaudio is the first man in 70 years to win a French Open final after facing match point, saving two when Coria served for the championship at 6-5 in the last set.

“I don’t know how, but I won,” said Gaudio, who’s ranked No. 44, the fourth-lowest for a major champion. “Until now, I never believed that I can win a Grand Slam. Until the last point, I was not even thinking that I’m going to win this tournament.”

The first all-Argentine major final was guaranteed to produce the country’s first Slam champion since Guillermo Vilas in 1979, but that was about the only given in a 3 1/2 -hour match that veered in so many directions.

Here’s how close it was: Gaudio had one more unforced error (55-54) and two fewer winners (36-38); each player was broken 11 times.

But it didn’t start that way. Through 2 1/2 sets, the third-seeded Coria played superbly, Gaudio terribly, and 15,639 spectators were fed up.

Fans began applauding Coria’s mistakes, a breach of tennis etiquette but perfectly understandable, given the lackluster play over the previous few days, including Anastasia Myskina’s 6-1, 6-2 victory over Elena Dementieva in an all-Russian women’s final Saturday.

And during a changeover with Coria ahead 4-3 in the third set, just two games from victory, the crowd did the wave, trying to will Gaudio to play better.

After winning points, which he suddenly did with frequency, Gaudio would turn to the crowd and raise his arms in a V, or gesture for more cheering. He closed that set in three straight games.

The match’s complexion changed yet again at 1-1 in the fourth, when Coria needed his cramping left calf massaged.

In the fifth set, Coria’s fighting spirit returned and, helped by two double-faults, he broke Gaudio in the first game.

At 6-5, Coria wasted his match points by missing a backhand, then a forehand. A long backhand made it 6-all. When Gaudio held for 7-6, he jogged to his chair laughing, perhaps incredulous he was four points from a Grand Slam title.

Now he’s the 11th first-time Slam champion in the past 16 years at the anyone-can-be-a-star French Open.

“Maybe, from now on,” Gaudio said, “I’m going to believe in myself more.”