Kuerten Has Final Word--After Overrule

The forehand landed wide. There was no question in Gustavo Kuerten’s mind. He walked to the net to shake hands with his opponent, Magnus Norman.

If this wasn’t high drama, so what? He had his second French Open title. Allez, Guga.

The Brazilians drums were ready to start pounding for their hero.

But there was umpire Francois Pareau bounding out of his chair to look at the mark on the red clay. And Norman wasn’t ready to concede anything.

With one dramatic gesture, Pareau--who called Norman’s shot good--turned a nondescript men’s final into a thrilling roller-coaster of suspense. The match was three hours old when Kuerten--Guga to his fans--thought it had ended, but he needed 10 more match points and 44 more minutes to take Norman out, finally winning, 6-2, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (6), on Sunday at Roland Garros.

“The people were asking me to play more and so we did it,” the fifth-seeded Kuerten said, smiling.

The fourth set took 1 hour 36 minutes, including a 24-point game with Norman serving at 5-6. He had saved his first three match points in the 10th game of the fourth and staved off Nos. 4-7 in that 12th game, sending the set to a tiebreaker.

Kuerten led, 3-0, in the tiebreaker. Norman won the next three points to tie it, 3-3, and then three Norman forehand errors gave Kuerten three more match points.

Norman saved them all with a series of brilliant shot-making, hitting huge forehands to keep Kuerten off-balance. Match point No. 10 was typical of his moxie. Kuerten missed his first serve and Norman moved in for the second and took the return early, blasting it down the line.

“Sometimes I tried to be aggressive, he was coming up with some tough shots,” Kuerten said. “I mean, I think most of the time was more to his credit than my fault to miss the match points. Finally, he made one mistake and that was enough for me.”

The third-seeded Norman was openly emotional, but Kuerten was quietly resolute despite his lost match-point opportunities hitting double figures. Finally, on match point No. 11, Norman hit a forehand wide and the final was over.

Really.

A relieved Kuerten, who had narrow escapes in the quarterfinals and semifinals, bowed to his supporters. He threw back his head and shook his huge curly mop of hair.

The disconsolate Norman, playing in his first Grand Slam final, was consoled by tennis great Boris Becker during the trophy presentations.

“A lot of people have told me what a great effort I did out there, coming from two sets to love down, really playing ugly tennis,” Norman said.

“Boris told me, ‘You did a great match. You shouldn’t see this as a loss.’ The fourth set he said he hasn’t seen a better tennis match ever in his life.

“But you know it’s still disappointing that I lost it.”

Despite Norman’s angst, he performed admirably on what was not his best day. His powerful forehand was a mechanical mess early on, and he did not win a game until the match was almost 25 minutes old.

He said he was not nervous in his first Grand Slam final. Norman was having such a tough day, his supporters, including Martina Hingis, looked concerned about a rout.

Norman kept going for his shots and the forehand finally started landing in the third set, just in time.

“I was just two or three points away from turning it around,” he said.

But it said something about the mental strength of Kuerten that the 23-year-old pulled himself together under the barrage of Norman winners, and the overrule on his first match point. Kuerten was clearly bothered for the rest of that game, and beyond.

“It was tough for me,” he said. “Every time I was there, I saw the mark. I could be already taking my trophy, taking my pictures. “I think maybe this was one more thing that made the final more interesting. Nobody knew what was going to happen.”

Norman, of course, felt his shot was in. Kuerten did not hear the revised call, initially.

“I was just there in the front. I looked back. He [Pareau] was almost taking me and saying, ‘Hey come back to play.’ I don’t really remember what happened. I was just so convinced it was clearly out. For him, it looked like it was clearly in.

“It was like I watching white and he was watching black.”

That was a moot point after match point No. 11. As Kuerten talked, a small band of Brazilians celebrated outside the interview room. The drums were beating and his supporters were singing.

“People talked about how I won that time. And that’s it, I’m finished,” he said of his French Open title in 1997 and the tag of a one-Slam wonder. “So right now, I’m with my name again here in history.”

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Match Breakdown

Box score of No. 5 Gustavo Kuerten’s 6-2, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (6) victory over No. 3 Magnus Norman for the men’s singles championship of the French Open. Time of the match was 3:44:

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K N First-serve percentage 49 55 Aces 9 9 Double faults 3 8 Unforced errors 72 86 Pct. 1st-serve points won 73 62 Pct. 2nd-serve points won 41 48 Winners (includes service) 47 66 Break points 7-32 5-13 Net points 18-31 21-30 Total points 158 157

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