5 lowest-ranked players to win the French Open ft. Gustavo Kuerten
The French Open is a notoriously difficult Grand Slam to win, even for top players, because of the unique challenge posed by clay, the toughest surface in the sport.
In the Open Era (since 1968), 27 different players have triumphed at Roland Garros, accounting for 55 titles. Nine of them have won multiple titles at the claycourt Major, with the nonet, led by Rafael Nadal (14) and Bjorn Borg (6), accounting for 36 titles.
Only six players outside the ATP top 10 have triumphed at Roland Garros, and none in nearly two decades. On that note, here's a look at the five lowest-ranked players to win the French Open:
#5 Mats Wilander - #18 (1982)
Mats Wilander is one of the youngest players to triumph at Roland Garros. The Swede did so on his tournament debut in 1982 as a 17-year-old.
Ranked 18th in the world at the time, Wilander downed two former Roland Garros finalists and a champion en route to winning the biggest title of his career. The Swede kicked off his campaign, dropping just one set in his first three rounds.
In the fourth round, the 17-year-old saw off 1981 runner-up and future three-time champion Ivan Lendl in five sets, recovering from a two-sets-to-one deficit. Wilander would drop a set in each of his last three matches, flooring 1980 runner-up Vitas Gerulaitis in the quarterfinals and 1977 champion and 1978 runner-up Guillermo Vilas in the final.
1982 + 1985 + 1988
🇸🇪🏆 1982 + 1985 + 1988
Happy birthday to our three-time #RG champion, Mats
Wilander 🎂 https://t.co/uS30qcmxVs
Wilander was unsuccessful in his title defense, losing to Yannick Noah in the final. However, he triumphed twice more in three subsequent finals at Roland Garros, winning the title in 1985 and 1988.
#4 Michael Chang - #19 (1989)
Michael Chang became the youngest Grand Slam champion in the Open Era when the then 17-year-old beat Ivan Lendl in the 1989 French Open final.
Ranked No. 18 coming into the claycourt Major, Chang beat two Grand Slam winners to win the biggest title of his career. The Chinese American beat a then 92nd-ranked Pete Sampras in straight sets in the second round.
Chang seemed to have met his match against three-time champion Ivan Lendl in the fourth round. An exhausted Chang even sent down an infamous underarm serve, long before it would become a trend, to move across the finish line.
In 1989, Michael Chang won @RolandGarros. 🏆
He became a legend at 17 years old.
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He won his next two matches to set up a final showdown with Stefan Edberg, where he recovered from two sets to one down to create history.
#3 Albert Costa - #22 (2002)
Almost a decade on from his Roland Garros debut in 1994, Albert Costa would go all the way at the Claycourt Major to win the biggest title of his career.
The then World No. 22 registered a memorable 2002 campaign, knocking out two-time defending champion Gustavo Kuerten in the fourth round. Costa recovered from two sets to one down against Guillermo Canas before beating Alex Corretja to romp into his first Major final.
Against another compatriot, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Costa burst into a commanding two-set lead, dropping only one game. Ferrero attempted a comeback, taking the third set 6-4. However, his comeback was cut short as Costa dropped only three games in the fourth to become the third Spaniard to win the French Open.
#2 Gaston Gaudio - #44 (2004)
Gaston Gaudio was not supposed to come anywhere near title contention when he arrived at the 2004 French Open. That's because he had made the second week only once in his previous four visits to Paris. However, things would change during a magical fortnight for the Argentinian journeyman.
Gaudio had to recover from two sets to one down in his first two rounds before he saw off Thomas Enqvist in four sets to move into the Roland Garros second week for the second time.
Coming into his own at the business end of the tournament, Gaudio caught fire, reeling off three consecutive straight-set wins, including against compatriot David Nalbandian in the semifinals.
In the first-ever all-Argentine Roland Garros final, Guillermo Coria was the odds-on favorite, as he was the top player on clay that season. The match was going to script, as Gaudio won only three games in the opening two sets, including a bagel opener. A lopsided final seemed to be in the offing when Coria arrived at 4-4, 40-0 on Gaudio's serve, but the latter had other ideas as he forced a fifth set.
In a topsy-turvy deciding set, Coria twice failed to serve for the match and saw two championship points come and go as Gaudio pulled off one of the greatest Houdini acts in a Roland Garros final. In the process, he became the first Grand Slam champion after getting bagelled in the first set of the title match.
Gaudio would never reach those same heights again, making two fourth-round appearances at the tournament before fading away.
#1 Gustavo Kuerten - #66 (French Open 1997)
Gustavo Kuerten is the lowest-ranked player to win the French Open. The Brazilian made a run to the 1997 title from seemingly nowhere.
After losing in the first round on his tournament debut a year earlier, Kuerten would embark on a magical night on the Parisian terre battue. The then World No. 66 commenced his campaign, dropping just one set in his first two rounds.
However, Kuerten survived three consecutive five-setters - against Thomas Muster, Andrei Medvedev and Yevgeny Kafelnikov - to move into the semifinals. Guga beat Filip Dewulf in four sets before flooring two-time champion Sergi Bruguera in straight sets to win his first Grand Slam title.
Following his triumph, Kuerten jumped a whopping 51 places to move into the top 15.
The last player to win their debut title at Roland-Garros was Gustavo Kuerten on June 8, 1997...
The day Jelena Ostapenko was born.
#RG17 https://t.co/dQj4Ooxces
Kuerten failed to defend his title the following year, losing to Marat Safin in the second round. However, the Brazilian returned to win the 2000 and 2001 French Open titles to script his name in the annals of the claycourt Major.