There's nothing like Paris in the springtime, they say. As these 10 epics—the 10 most memorable French Open matches of the Open Era—show, there's also nothing quite as stirring or sensation as tennis in Paris at this time of year.
From the distance of 14 years, the 2004 men’s final at Roland Garros feels like a match from another era, another century, another world.
In part, that’s because it really was played in a different time period. The all-Argentine affair would be the last of the pre-Golden Era major finals. Starting the following month, Roger Federer would win his second Wimbledon and begin his record-setting streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearances. The next year in Paris, Rafael Nadal would play and win the first of his 10 (and counting) French Open titles.
Over the next decade, Federer and Nadal would accustom us to Olympian mastery at the top of the men’s game. So it’s jarring now to look back and witness the gut-wrenching, cringe-inducing chaos that Gaudio and Coria, each of whom was contesting his first and last major final, served up in Court Philippe Chatrier. As the Argentine journalist Sebastian Fest told Doug Robson for Tennis Magazine in 2010, that final "was an open air psychologist session shown on TV around the world.” If any Grand Slam final could be said to have been cursed, it was this one.
Coria, nicknamed El Mago ("The Magician"), was the heavy favorite. He was the king of clay in the spring of 2004, and his official coronation in Paris nothing more than a formality. Post-Gustavo Kuerten and pre-Rafa, Coria’s mix of deceptive speed and delicate shotmaking was the state of the art on dirt. He was a little, light 23-year-old who walked on his toes, danced across the court, and put the ball on a string.
Coria had announced himself in Paris the previous year by upsetting Andre Agassi, and in 2004 he came to Roland Garros ranked a career-high No. 3. He was motivated by a desire to prove himself after being, in his mind, unfairly suspended for seven months in 2001 after testing positive for nandrolone.
“Lots of people insulted me in the face,” Coria told Robson, “and called me ‘doper’ for a stupid, contaminated vitamin pill. It’s maybe the reason I was a bit nervous [in the final]. I really wanted to win this tournament, to try to forget everything I have deep inside.”
With the 44th-ranked Gaudio across the net, surely Coria would have his moment of vindication. Not only was he the superior clay-courter, he also didn’t like Gaudio, and Gaudio didn’t like him. Their fellow Argentine, Juan Monaco, said they “were like cat and dog.”
After two sets, it looked more like cat and mouse. Coria won the first 6-0, the second 6-3, and showed no signs of relinquishing command through the early games of the third. TV commentators lamented having to bore us with this “mismatch.”
WATCH—Highlights from the 2004 French Open final between Gaudio and Coria: