Kuerten Turning French Victories Into an Art Form

Gustavo Kuerten refers to himself as Guga, wearing a cap with the nickname, along with the usual commercial logos, during interviews.

Ordinarily, speaking about yourself in third person, much less using your nickname, appears overly pretentious, sounding, well, almost American.

Kuerten isn’t.

He is from Brazil, and the words “arrogant” and “Brazilian” are rarely used in the same sentence. Still, there was more evidence unveiled Friday at the French Open.

Just after dispatching up-and-coming 21-year-old Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain in straight sets, Kuerten skipped a couple of times on his way to the net to shake hands.

Later, he spoke about running into American qualifier Michael Russell on Thursday and seemed relieved to hear that he hadn’t pondered throwing himself into the Seine. Russell had match point against Kuerten in the third set during their fourth-round match and ultimately lost in five sets.

“I think he deserves a real Van Gogh or anything from me as a present,” Kuerten said, smiling.

Well, Kuerten has made a habit of doing the improbable in Paris. The defending champion and top-seeded player defeated No. 4 Ferrero, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, in the semifinals and will take a shot at winning his third French Open title.

His opponent in Sunday’s final will be No. 13 Alex Corretja of Spain. Corretja, a finalist in 1998, took the wind out of the Center Court crowd by defeating No. 10 Sebastien Grosjean of France, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4.

Grosjean’s sharpness against No. 3 Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals seemed to disappear against Corretja. And there was no chance his good-luck charm, former President Clinton, would show at a key moment the way he did in the Agassi match.

“Maybe if he would have won the first set, he would have felt more confidence,” Corretja said. “I felt like I had control of the situation.”

Few expected him to be the final Spaniard standing. Ferrero had a 16-match winning streak on clay this year, including a victory over Kuerten in the Rome final. Ferrero had lost twice on clay in 29 matches in 2001.

The usually stoic Ferrero was visibly annoyed, knocking the ball into the air after missed shots and admonishing himself.

“There was a time when you want to go and the body doesn’t want to follow,” said Ferrero, who converted only two of 16 break points and was 0 for 8 in the third set.

“Generally speaking, Guga likes playing here and he enjoys it. He’s more motivated here.”

Kuerten explained it more succinctly.

“There was one Guga before that match point and a different Guga after that match point,” he said.

This was the third time Kuerten and Ferrero played and it was the first time the outcome was decided in straight sets. Kuerten won their first match here last year in the semifinals in five sets.

Kuerten felt as though he received a reprieve after the Russell match, which is why he drew a heart on the court with his racket afterward in tribute to the crowd.

“The heart was pretty much sensitive and emotional for everybody as well as for me,” he said. “Today I tried to believe in what [Yevgeny] Kafelnikov said, that I’m the Picasso in the court. I tried to believe in his words. Maybe I can get some Van Gogh influence to even design my game better.

“It’s like I had been out and they gave me another chance to play the tournament. I feel myself with nothing to lose anymore. I shouldn’t have won that match and right now I’m in the finals.”

The last player to win three French Open titles was Mats Wilander, who completed the hat trick in 1988. Kuerten has one more match before he goes on vacation, saying he most likely will not play Wimbledon.

“I never expected this to happen to me,” he said. “I don’t try to compare myself with other guys. Not even in my best dreams was I able to win here three times.”