- Gastón Gaudio
Infobox Tennis player
nickname = "El Gato"
playername = Gastón Norberto Gaudio
country = ARG
residence =Buenos Aires ,Argentina
datebirth = birth date and age|1978|12|9
placebirth =Buenos Aires ,Argentina
height = height|m=1.75
weight = convert|70|kg|lb st|abbr=on
turnedpro = 1996
plays = Right-handed; one-handed backhand
careerprizemoney= $5,935,989
singlesrecord = 269–189
singlestitles = 8
highestsinglesranking = No. 5 (April 25, 2005)
AustralianOpenresult = 3rd round (2005, 2006)
FrenchOpenresult = W (2004)
Wimbledonresult = 2nd round (2002, 2006)
USOpenresult = 3rd round (2002, 2006)
doublesrecord = 26–38
doublestitles = 3
highestdoublesranking = No. 78 (June 14, 2004)
updated= February 1, 2008Gastón Norberto Gaudio (born December 9, 1978 in
Temperley , Buenos Aires), nicknamed "El Gato" ("The Cat" in Spanish), is a professionaltennis player fromArgentina . His career-high ATP Entry ranking was No. 5 in 2005. His most significant victory is when he won theFrench Open in 2004.Gaudio is one of the most unpredictable players in the modern game, as he is capable of spectacular shotmaking especially with his outstanding single-handed backhand and clever dropshots and within a short timeframe can self-destruct, which leaves himself and tennis fans in general frustrated with his inability to attain a level consistently enough and something that Gaudio acknowledges.
Tennis career
Gaudio started playing tennis at the age of 6 and was ranked one hundred forty-five in the
Argentine juniors behindMariano Zabaleta . He turned professional in 1996 and in 1998 he won two ATP Challenger event inSanta Cruz, Bolivia overLuis Adrián Morejón and finished year by winning in Santiago defeatingKarim Alami .1999
Gaudio won two consecutive Challengers in
Nice andEspinho defeatingJacobo Díaz andMarkus Hipfl respectively. Gaudio's first notable performance was when he reached the third round at theFrench Open as a qualifer, so he won 5 matches in total at the event, including coming back from two sets down to love in the second round againstBernd Karbacher to win 6–7(3) 4–6 6–3 6–1 6–4, then losing to world number 6Alex Corretja in the next round .2000
2000 saw Gaudio establish himself on the main tour and won his only challenger for the year in
Braunschweig over countrymanFranco Squillari 6–4 6–7(2) 6–4 .In addition to his Challenger title, Gaudio made semi finals inAuckland , Santiago and in his most impressive performance of the season was his semi final appearance in theMonte Carlo Masters where he defeatedMarat Safin ,Felix Mantilla ,Julien Boutter andJuan Carlos Ferrero without losing a set, before losing toDominik Hrbatý . Gaudio made the final of theStuttgart even losing in 5 sets toFranco Squillari and played in theOlympic Games losing toVladimir Voltchkov in the first round.2001
Gaudio made his
Davis Cup debut in and helpedArgentina return to theWorld Group after a 5–0 winning record in his singles matches which were all played at home onclay . While there was no debut title, he made the final inViña del Mar losing to bitter rivalGuillermo Coria , he would avenge that defeat to Coria in a hard fought contest in the quarter finals of the Buenos Aires Open, which involved both players making gestures and insulting each other at regular intervals after this victory he lost in the semi finals toJose Acasuso . On the hardcourts he made the quarter finals in theMiami Masters defeatingYevgeny Kafelnikov andJuan Carlos Ferrero along the way.2002
Continuing on from his successful
Davis Cup debut. In 2002 Gaudio defeatedIvo Karlovic in the fifth match to secure a semi final place forArgentina . Gaudio won first ATP tournament inBarcelona without losing a set where he defeated world #1Lleyton Hewitt in the semi finals and then trashedAlbert Costa 6–4 6–0 6–2 in the final, who later would become theFrench Open champion that year. Gaudio followed up the title inBarcelona by winningMajorca the next week where he defeated world #2Gustavo Kuerten in the semi finals before defeating the FinnJarkko Nieminen in the final 6–2 6–3.Gaudio made the fourth round of the
French Open losing toJuan Carlos Ferrero 6–7 6–1 6–7 6–2 6–4, while leading 4–1 in the final set and this inability to close out matches when in a winning position has been a constant fixture in his career. After Roland Garros Gaudio made the final inGstaad and the semi finals inKitzbühel losing on both occasions toAlex Corretja . In theDavis Cup semi final againstRussia Gaudio was leading 5–1 in the 5th set againstYevgeny Kafelnikov and had a match point which was overruled by umpireJorge Dias in Kafelnikov’s favour who then went on to take the set 8–6 and the match.2003
There were no titles for Gaudio in 2003, but he was involved in two controversies, the first of them involved
Guillermo Coria in theHamburg Masters , where they were part of an all-Argentine semi final line up the others beingDavid Nalbandian andAgustin Calleri . Gaudio and Coria played in one semi final and after Coria won the first set and then Gaudio won the second set. Coria took an injury timeout for cramps and then after the timeout, Coria, after breaking serve at the change of ends beats his left breast while staring at his opponent, which Gaudio took as an insult. Coria preceded to win the last 6–0 and was moving around the court without problems and there was allegedly a confrontation after the match in the locker room. cite news
title = Old insult gives final edge by Linda Pearce
url = http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/05/1086377184922.html
publisher =The Age
date =2004-06-06
accessdate =]The other was the
Davis Cup semi final againstSpain inMálaga , where the two top playersDavid Nalbandian andGuillermo Coria where unavailable due to injury. An out of form Gaudio was called up along withAgustín Calleri ,Mariano Zabaleta andLucas Arnold .Spain won 3–2, but Gaudio lost both of his matches easily toJuan Carlos Ferrero losing 14 games in a row in a 6–4 6–0 6–0 defeat and in the fifth match againstCarlos Moyà 6–1 6–4 6–2 and was roundly criticised back in Argentina for these performances. "When I returned to Buenos Aires after playing Davis Cup in Moscow and Malaga, you had the impression it was my fault and that hurt me," he said. cite news
title = Superbrat inspired French Open title miracle, says Gaudio
url = http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/s1126087.htm
publisher =ABC Australia
date =2004-06-07
accessdate =]2004
2004 started slowly for Gaudio and after reaching the final in
Barcelona losing toTommy Robredo in 5 sets and on the back of two victories in theWorld Team Cup overMartin Verkerk andLleyton Hewitt . Gaudio came into theFrench Open ranked 44th and was unseeded for the tournament after defeating compatriotGuillermo Cañas over 2 days in 5 sets, then he won another 5 set match againstJiří Novák , thenThomas Enqvist ,Igor Andreev andLleyton Hewitt were dismissed on route to the semi finals, where three out of four semi finalists wereArgentine and then defeated Nalbandian in 3 sets.In the all-Argentine final Gaudio defeated
Guillermo Coria 0–6 3–6 6–4 6–1 8–6 Gaudio became the first Argentine to win a Grand Slam sinceGuillermo Vilas , in 1977, the first man to win a Grand Slam after losing the first 6–0. He became the fifth lowest ranked player to win a Grand Slam, the first man in 70 years to win a Grand Slam saving match points in the final. Gaudio reached the top 10 in the ATP Entry rankings for the first time. Gaudio had achieved his childhood dream by winningRoland Garros cite news
title = Gaudio finds faith at death
url = http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/07/1086460239224.html?oneclick=true
publisher = SMH
date =2004-06-08
accessdate =] and likened the match to a movie and did not know what was going on [Source: [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/07/1086460239224.html?oneclick=true] ] . Gaudio did not play Wimbledon and returned to tour inBåstad losing in the final to friendMariano Zabaleta . He also made finals inStuttgart andKitzbühel and made his first appearance at theTennis Masters Cup where had 0–3 record.2005
Gaudio consolidated his top 10 ranking in 2005, by winning 5 tournaments and his 42-8 on clay only second to Nadal. Gaudio and Coria were at the centre of another dispute at the
World Team Cup where Gaudio said "Let's be truthful, this isn't a team, because there's someone who makes decisions choosing the best for himself. I can understand that a player gets tired and decides to rest before Paris. I also did so on Tuesday against the Czechs but not in the most important match of all. Coria and I were the best team and if we were a real team this wouldn't have happened." cite news
title = Argie Bargy
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/4447479.stm
publisher =BBC
date =2008-05-27
accessdate =]He lost in fourth round of Roland Garros to
David Ferrer after leading 4–0 in the 5th set and losing 6 consecutive games, when leading in the 5th set Gaudio said to Ferrer’s coach at one point."Don't worry; I'm not going to win today”. Gaudio also qualified again for theTennis Masters Cup where he made the semi finals defeatingMariano Puerta andFernando González and lost toNikolay Davydenko in the round robin, before losing toRoger Federer 6–0 6–0 in the semi finals.2006
Gaudio was not been able to keep up his level of play to the standards he set from mid 2004 to 2005. His best performances for 2006 have included semi finals in
Acapulco and theMonte Carlo Masters and he finished the year ranked at 34. Ranked in the top ten, Gaudio started 2006 off well at theFrench Open , where he lost in the fourth round in four sets toRussia 'sNikolay Davydenko . Gaudio lost at Wimbledon match toIrakli Labadze (a qualifier), and lost his 2006 US Open 3rd round match toMarc Gicquel .2007-2008
Gaudio started 2007 poorly and lost 8 consecutive matches stretching back to 2006 before recording a victory over
Luis Horna who retired from the match with a strainedhamstring , but Gaudio followed up with a conventional win againstJuan Pablo Guzman before losing toJuan Carlos Ferrero in the quarter finals ofAcapulco . At the French Open in 2007, he won his first round match againstMarc Gicquel (he lost to him last year) in five sets. He was to faceLleyton Hewitt , seeded 14, and won the first two sets 6–4, 6–3. However, Hewitt won the next three sets and thus the match 4–6, 3–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–2. As a result, Gaudio's rank dropped to 99. As of September 17, 2007, Gaudio's ATP ranking has fallen to 180 in the world. During the second part of the year, he started to play clay court challenger events in Europe to attempt to rebuild his career, but he suffered an ankle injury while playing in theNapoli challenger.Gaudio took the rest of the year off before coming back in January 2008 at a Challenger Series event in Miami, Florida. He lost in the opening round 6–0, 6–3 to Kei Nishikori of Japan. Later in the month Gaudio continued his comeback attempt at the Movistar Open in Vina del Mar, Chile. Granted a wild card into the main draw of the tournament, Gaudio lost to Santiago Ventura 6–0, 6–3 in the first round.
Miscellaneous
*Gaudio is a fan of
Club Atlético Independiente football team.
*Gaudio learnt the game at the Temperley Lawn Tennis Club and his first coach was Roberto Carruthers.cite news
title = Temperley vibró con la conquista
url = http://www.lanacion.com.ar/archivo/Nota.asp?nota_id=608264 (Spanish)
publisher =La Nacion
date =2004-06-07
accessdate =]*Gaudio played football and rugby as well as tennis as a child and chose tennis to help out his parents financially when their business ran into economic problems. cite news
title = Tennis Feuds by Paul Fein
url = http://www.sportsillustrated.co.za/static/tenner/story.php?id=1749
publisher =Sports Illustrated South Africa
date =2006-12-20
accessdate =]Quotes
*“"I always think that I am my worst opponent. I always play against myself first and then against the other one. So I'm playing against two guys during the match...It's like mentally I don't know what is going to happen in the next ten minutes. Maybe I get depressed in ten minutes. I don't know myself too much...Yeah, I was working with a psychiatrist (sic), and I still do.” [http://www.tennis-x.com/quotes.php?&disp=all A few interesting and funny tennis quotes from the tour - www.tennis-x.com] ]
*On his compatariots
David Nalbandian andGuillermo Coria . "They are the 'galácticos,' theReal Madrid team and I am Valencia". cite news
title = French Open tennis : Argentina keeps rewriting history
url = http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/06/03/tennis_ed3__1.php#
publisher =International Herald Tribune
date =2004-06-03
accessdate =]*
Mariano Zabaleta said this about Gaudio winning Roland Garros. “I have known Gastón since I was 10 years old. He is a friend like the friends I have of all my life. With him or Juan Chela, friendship goes far away from tennis. The truth is that what happened to him is unbelievable because winning Roland Garros is everyone of us' dream. When I saw him crying on TV, I cried too. And my mother dropped a lot of tears; she was deeply touched because she loves him like a son.” cite news
title = El Gato de Triumfo
url = http://www.clarin.com/diario/2004/06/08/deportes/d-05501.htm (Spanish)
publisher =Clarin
date =2004-06-14
accessdate =]*After losing to Massú in the US Open 2003: “Today I’d have lost even against my mother.”
*After the Porsche Cup in Stuttgart: “I want to come next year and win. If I don't get the car I'm going to steal it!”
*At the Roland Garros press conference after he won in 2004 "It is 100-percent satisfaction. When I returned to Buenos Aires after playing Davis Cup in Moscow and Málaga, you had the impression it was my fault and that hurt me," he said. "That's why I have enjoyed this moment twice as much because there are many people who have helped me through my difficult moments. Now it's like a revenge." [Source: [http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/s1126087.htm] ]
*When asked how one could stop Federer winning his third straight Masters Cup title: "I think maybe you should ask someone else. Don't ask me." cite news
title = Gaston Gaudio press conference losing to Roger Federer
url = http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=18619
publisher =ASAP Sports
date =2005-11-19
accessdate =]
*When asked on how frustrating was losing against Hewitt on Roland Garros 2007 after being up 2 sets to 0: "I'm used to it"cite news
title= An Interview with Gaston Gaudio
url= http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/interviews/2007-05-31/200705311180625256250.html
publisher= Roland Garros
date=2007-05-31
accessdate=]Grand Slam singles finals
Wins (1)
ingles finalist (8)
A = did not participate in the tournament.
1. The win total does not include walkovers.ee also
*
List of Grand Slam Men's Singles champions References
External links
*ATP|G374
*ITF male profile|number=10012931
*DavisCupplayerlink|id=10012931
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.