2004 French Open: What happened last time men’s Roland Garros draw was wide open?
The men’s French Open draw has largely been a procession over the past two decades.
Since 2005, Rafael Nadal has dominated at Roland Garros, with only three men – Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, and Novak Djokovic – able to break his stranglehold.
There is a very different feel about this tournament though, considered the most open since Nadal made his Paris debut 19 years ago.
With the Spaniard’s career winding down, defending champion Djokovic in patchy form, and an array of other contenders either injured or unproven, there is no conclusive favourite to win the men’s draw.
The last time there was this much uncertainty was the 2004 event and that ultimately lived up to its billing as a wide-open event, with some huge surprises across a dramatic fortnight.
Twenty years on, we look back at a tournament like no other.
The most surprising winner ever?
If you were to ask tennis fans for who they thought was the most surprising male Grand Slam winner ever, the chances are that the name Gaston Gaudio will pop up more than once.
It is 20 years ago this fortnight that the Argentine shocked the tennis world with his Roland Garros victory, defying his ranking of world No 44 to win the title in Paris.
The unheralded Gaudio won two five-setters to start his campaign but then only dropped one more set on his way to the final, beating the likes of Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian.
He was a significant underdog in the final against third seed Guillermo Coria – who was, for some, the pre-tournament favourite – and the world No 3 raced to a 6-0, 6-3 lead.
But Gaudio battled back, and astonishingly saved two match points in the decider to seal a stunning 0-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 8-6 victory.
It is unlikely we’ll get quite such a surprising champion this year, but a few may take encouragement from his story.
Read More: When ‘comeback kid’ Gaston Gaudio captured shock French Open title in 2004
Early seed exodus
2004 was the beginning of Federer’s dominance, with the Swiss winning the other three major tournaments that season.
But the Swiss, then ranked No 1, was unable to make much of an impact in Paris, beaten in straight sets by three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten in the third round.
Federer was not the only seed to fall early, however, with several other big-name casualties joining him in exiting the tournament sooner than planned.
Second seed and reigning US Open champion Andy Roddick exited in round two, as did fourth seed and defending Roland Garros champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.
2004 French Open Men’s 3rd Round:
(28)Gustavo Kuerten def. (1)Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Kuerten leads the H2H vs Federer 2-1 & would lose in the QFs to Nalbandian
This was the 1st major Federer was seeded #1 & was the last time he lost before a major QF until 2013 Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/7tkpwRKQXO
— Tennis Historian (@HistorianTennis) March 16, 2021
Sixth seed Andre Agassi and seventh seed Rainer Schuttler both tasted opening-round losses, meaning just three of the top eight seeds made the last eight.
Fifth seed Carlos Moya was beaten by Coria in the last eight, while Coria and eighth seed Nalbandian were ultimately vanquished by Gaudio.
With some uncertainty at the top of the game, we may see a couple of shock early exits once again this year.
South American dominance
There has been a strong surge in South American tennis in recent seasons, with the likes of Chile’s Nicolas Jarry and Alejandro Tabilo, and Argentina’s Sebastian Baez and Francisco Cerundolo ranked towards the top of the game.
And there was strong South American dominance two decades ago.
Of the four semi-finalists, only ninth seed Tim Henman – who lost in four sets to Coria – was not from Argentina, with the Brit reaching the sole Roland Garros semi-final of his career.
Outside of the three semi-finalists, another Argentina – 22nd Juan Ignacio Chela – reached the last eight, as did Brazilian star and 28th seed Kuerten.
With several strong players from the continent currently, expect a few to go fairly deep in the draw once again.
