Gustavo Kuerten bids farewell!

It was an absolute treat to witness live, the great Gustavo Kuerten bidding farewell to tennis on Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros.

It was Sunday, May 25th, 2008 and his opponent was the brilliant Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu who is coached by another Roland Garros favourite, Mats Willander. The outcome was an expected 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win for Mathieu and due to continued physical problems, this was understandably not the invincible ‘Guga’ we have seen dominating this court for many years. Nevertheless, there were enough glimpses of the old magic to keep a capacity crowd ecstatic. The match was played in the most friendly atmosphere imaginable and credit for that must go to both players and a highly charged and passionate crowd.

It was wonderful to see the tournament make such an effort to send ‘Guga’ away with all the fuss he deserved. After a presention by tournament officials to show their gratitude and respect for such a loyal and popular campaigner, the crowd were treated to film clips on the big screen of all the ‘Guga’ French Open victories. To top it all, the man himself struggled to keep his emotions under control as he made his goodbye speech.

No doubt we will still see Gustavo Kuerten from time to time as he endorses his clothing range and promotes his institute of tennis.

I look forward to taking an in-depth look at the great Kuerten backhand soon here at Backhandworld.com. (see: The gorgeous Gustavo Kuerten backhand analysed!)

John Key

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