The best tennis that Gaudio ever played was probably in the lead-up to the 2002 French Open, when he won back-to-back titles at Barcelona and Mallorca in successive weeks. At Barcelona he won 13 sets out of 13, brushing aside Moya and the world no. 1 Hewitt along the way, before thrashing Costa who would win the title at RG a few weeks later in the final.
The next week at the Mallorca bullring he beat Kuerten and Calleri en-route to the title, in the final edition of that tournament before it relocated to Valencia the next year.
Had he won the French Open title in 2002 instead it would have been much less of a surprise.
In 2004 his win-loss record on clay going into RG was 12-9, with just one good run finishing as the runner-up at Barcelona. He had lost in the 2nd round in Monte-Carlo and the 1st round at both Rome and Hamburg.
Still you can't argue with the draw he came through to win his RG title, Canas, Jiri Novak, Enqvist, Andreev, Hewitt, Nalbandian and Coria. That's a very tough draw from start to finish.
During the summer-clay court season that year he finished as the runner-up at 3 successive tournaments in as many weeks, at Bastad, Stuttgart and Kitzbuhel, which must have been frustrating.
He did brilliantly in 2005 to win 5 clay court titles at Vina Del Mar, Buenos Aires (a huge goal for all Argentinian players of course), Estoril, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel.
He was very disappointed to finish as the runner-up at Stuttgart 3 times, being beaten by Squillari in 5 sets in the 2000 final, Canas in 5 sets in the 2004 final and Nadal in straight sets in the 2005 final. He joked that the only way for him to get his hands on that Mercedes was to steal it.
The next week at the Mallorca bullring he beat Kuerten and Calleri en-route to the title, in the final edition of that tournament before it relocated to Valencia the next year.
Had he won the French Open title in 2002 instead it would have been much less of a surprise.
In 2004 his win-loss record on clay going into RG was 12-9, with just one good run finishing as the runner-up at Barcelona. He had lost in the 2nd round in Monte-Carlo and the 1st round at both Rome and Hamburg.
Still you can't argue with the draw he came through to win his RG title, Canas, Jiri Novak, Enqvist, Andreev, Hewitt, Nalbandian and Coria. That's a very tough draw from start to finish.
During the summer-clay court season that year he finished as the runner-up at 3 successive tournaments in as many weeks, at Bastad, Stuttgart and Kitzbuhel, which must have been frustrating.
He did brilliantly in 2005 to win 5 clay court titles at Vina Del Mar, Buenos Aires (a huge goal for all Argentinian players of course), Estoril, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel.
He was very disappointed to finish as the runner-up at Stuttgart 3 times, being beaten by Squillari in 5 sets in the 2000 final, Canas in 5 sets in the 2004 final and Nadal in straight sets in the 2005 final. He joked that the only way for him to get his hands on that Mercedes was to steal it.
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