Gastón Gaudio

Gastón Gaudio is a retired Argentine tennis player who won the 2004 French Open, becoming the first Argentine man to win a Grand Slam since Guillermo Vilas in 1979.

As an unseeded 44th-ranked player who saved two championship points while two sets and a break down, Gastón Gaudio's victory at the 2004 French Open final over Guillermo Coria remains the most improbable Grand Slam title won in the Open Era. He turned professional in 1996 and built a career primarily on clay, reaching his career-high ranking of World No. 5 in April 2005. Gaudio's defining moment came at the 2004 French Open, where, unseeded and ranked 44th in the world, he faced fellow Argentine Guillermo Coria — the tournament favourite — in the final. After losing the first set 6-0 and going down two sets to none, Gaudio staged one of the greatest comebacks in Grand Slam final history, saving two championship points as Coria was hit by cramps, and winning 0-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 8-6. The victory made Gaudio the first Argentine man to win a major since Guillermo Vilas in 1979, the first player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam final after losing the first set 6-0, and later one of only a handful of men in tennis history to win a major final after saving championship points. Gaudio never reached another Grand Slam final, and injuries and a loss of form saw him drop outside the world's top 100 by 2007. He retired from professional tennis in 2011, finishing his career with eight ATP singles titles and a 270-196 win-loss record, along with three doubles titles including a French Open women's doubles connection through his sometimes-partner Paola Suárez's own career at the same tournament.

Clay-court specialist with a versatile one-handed backhand and strong baseline game

First Argentine man to win a Grand Slam since Guillermo Vilas, remembered for one of the greatest comebacks in a major final

• French Open champion (2004)
• Career-high ranking of World No. 5
• 8x ATP singles titles