By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

After the magic man, Gustavo Kuerten, won his third title here on Sunday, two questions arose. Are Bjorn Borg's six Roland Garros titles insurmountable for the bold Brazilian? Secondally, where do you place Guga historically, given that he has yet to win a Slam off clay, much less advance to the semifinals on another surface?

First, the Borg question. Guga is only 24 and is one of the best shotmakers the game has ever seen, so no, it wouldn't be stunning to see him tie the Silent Assassin. But given that Kuerten always seems to be on the precipice of being taken away in an ambulance due to exhaustion, I tend to doubt that he will be able to stave off the heavy-hitting teens for much longer. Two more titles – yes. But three, that would be a titanic feat.

Guga has now tied Open-era greats Ivan Lendl and Mats Wilander at Roland Garros with three crowns, so the next obvious step for No. 1-ranked Kuerten would be to wipe out the field at the U.S. and Australian Opens. Lendl won five times off clay and Wilander did it on four occasions.

Corretja says that Guga has nothing to prove, which isn't surprising, considering that Alex's best results on clay have been reaching two finals and he has never been a significant competitor at the other Slams, save for the time that he made Pete puke in Flushing Meadows and still lost.

"Guga won [the Tennis Masters Cup Cup] in Lisbon," said Corretja, who won the Masters Cup in '98. "That's not another major? To be No. 1 is not another major? I would love to be in that situation and have people ask me that I have to show them things. On clay, he's the best. He has to show that her can win the U.S. or Australian Opens? He doesn't need to show anything. He has to be happy with what he achieved already. But he can go for more [Slam titles] because he can play anywhere."

Guga unquestionably has enough weapons to win on hard courts, but does he trust his first serve enough to bail himself out against a serve-and-volleyer like Pat Rafter on Ashe Stadium? Will he consistently step inside the baseline and unleash his hell of hard groundies against the likes on Agassi in Queens, or will he revert to playing two meters behind the baseline like he does when things aren't going well in Paris? At Roland Garros, that is an excellent defensive strategy. In New York, it's often the kiss of death.

Can Guga's beach boy's mind set can withstand the zaniness of New York? He reached the quarters there in '99, but failed to step it up in three tiebreakers in a four-set loss to Cedric Pioline. He actually laughed his way through the loss.

Guga showed at '00 Lisbon – where he beat Sampras and Agassi back to back – that if he has a goal in mind (which at the time was ending the year at No. 1) that he will put it on the line and play aggressive, fast court tennis. He is one of the sport's most engaging personalities, both on court and off. The tennis universe needs him to put on a Parisian show in New York in few months time. Not merely to entertain us, but to show his peers what many of them do not believe – that he is a legitimate No. 1.