|
SPANIARD
WINS FIRST GRAND SLAM TITLE
Costa
swats 'El Mosquito," beating Ferrero in four sets
By
Alix Ramsay
Special to tennisreporters.net
|
Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
|
FROM ROLAND GARROS –
At least it was quick, you had to
give it that.
The crowd had arrived, prepared
for the worst, with sandwiches, thermos flasks of tea and duvets.
Two Spaniards playing the best of five sets on clay could, in theory,
last until Christmas after all.
In the end, though, it took
only two-plus hours for Albert Costa to become the Roland Garros
champion by beating Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3. It was
Costa's first Grand Slam title and, remarkably, his first title
of any description for three years.
"I don't want to say
it's a dream come true," he said, still looking slightly stunned,
"because everyone says this. But it's unbelievable for me to
be in the final and to play like this. For me it's very important
and I'm very proud."
Ferrero, as the champion of
Monte Carlo, was the obvious favorite going into the match but he
has been struggling with a collection of injuries since the tournament
began. He sprained his ankle before his opening match, has been
wearing strapping on his thigh for the past couple of rounds and
had to have treatment on a pulled stomach muscle during his semifinal
versus Andre Agassi. To compound his problems, he also had a dose
of the screaming ad-dabs – he took one look at his first Grand
Slam final and seized up.
J.C. PLAYED TWO HORRIBLE
SETS
Even if he had been playing on a
wooden leg, Ferrero should have been able to make a better fist
of the first two sets. Costa was, admittedly, playing good solid
stuff on the other side of the net and was not showing a trace of
nerves, but Ferrero was awful. As the ball skied high, long and
toward the net, he could only shake his head in disbelief. He was
having a pig of a day.
As for Costa, he looked slightly
embarrassed. He was dominating every point and, whether he meant
it or not, the winners were flying from his racquet. Deep down,
though, he had that sneaking suspicion that had he presented the
match on a plate to his Davis Cup colleague, Ferrero would probably
have dropped it.
|
Fred
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
|
That was just the sort of
thought that would send Costa into a flat spin a couple of years
ago. No one has ever doubted his clay court talents – he has
the patience of Job and the constitution of an ox – but he
has always cracked when the big moment came. He is a very decent,
jovial soul but he does get nervous. Or he did until he faced fatherhood
for the first time.
Last April he finally discovered
what it is to be truly nervous as his twin daughters, Claudia and
Alma, were born. He also realized that if you are going to get nervous,
you might as well do it over something worthwhile. The kids are
worth worrying about, a tennis match is not.
"You start to think about other things," he said. "Tennis
used to be 100 per cent of my life. Now it is not. Sometimes now,
when I lose, I think OK – now I go home and I see my two little
babies. So it's OK."
Armed with new philosophy,
he sought the advice of a psychologist and finally conquered the
jitters on court. "Now I am more relaxed, more calm,"
he said. "If I lose I don't feel like it's a drama. I try to
do my best, try to fight a lot, try to give everything that I have
inside. And if this is not enough, I cannot do anything else. This
is what I'm feeling now."
ALBERT: NEVER BEEN EXCITING
UNTIL RECENTLY
Throughout his career Costa has never
found a way to take his place in the limelight. His colleagues have
been sexier (Alex Corretja), more successful (Carlos Moya), more
talented (Juan Carlos Ferrero) and Costa has just been, well, Costa.
The most exciting thing the ATP could find to say about him in their
media guide is that he is not related to Carlos Costa. It is not
much to work with.
This past couple of weeks,
though, Costa has grown into the role of champion and of public
character. He has talked merrily about his impending marriage –
he ties the knot with Cristina on Friday – and fatherhood.
He obviously dotes on his daughters and, once the final point had
been played, he shot off into the crowd to hug his children. He
then hugged his mother, his father, his girlfriend – he hugged
everyone and everyone hugged everyone else. Even Corretja, the man
he beat in the semifinals and who will be his best man on Friday,
was delighted.
Costa may never win another
Grand Slam title – he had never got beyond the quarter finals
before –but no one could deny that he deserved every plaudit
in Paris. He came from nowhere, saw his chance, took it and will,
in all probability, return to nowhere. But it could not have happened
to a nicer bloke.
So, to recap the year so far:
we have two brand new Grand Slam champions in the shape of Thomas
Johansson (Australia) and Costa (France), both of whom would struggle
to stand out in an empty room. At this rate the sensible money will
be riding on Jiri Novak for Wimbledon and Stefan Koubek for the
U.S. Open. You read it here first.
Alix
Ramsay has been covering tennis for British national newspapers
for the past 12 years. She was tennis correspondent of The Times
for three years.
|
