2004 French Open

2004 French Open
Date:		24 May – 6 June
Edition:		103rd
Category:		Grand Slam (ITF)
Surface:		Clay
Location:		Paris (XVIe), France
Venue:		Stade Roland Garros
Champions
Men's Singles
Gastón Gaudio
Women's Singles
Anastasia Myskina
Men's Doubles
Xavier Malisse / Olivier Rochus
Women's Doubles
Virginia Ruano Pascual / Paola Suárez
Mixed Doubles
Tatiana Golovin / Richard Gasquet
French Open  < 2003 2005 >

The 2004 French Open was the 103rd edition of the tournament. Gastón Gaudio became the first men's Open Era Grand Slam title winner to save match points (2) in the final; the last time that had happened was 70 years earlier. Gaudio also became the first Argentine man since Guillermo Vilas to win a grand slam, in 1979. Fellow Argentine Guillermo Coria, widely regarded as the favourite and best clay court player in the world coming into the tournament, was seeded 3rd for the event, whereas Gaudio was unseeded and with only two titles to his name, both of which he had won over two years before. After winning the first two sets convincingly, Coria began suffering from leg cramps. Gaudio won the next two sets; however, Coria came back and was up two breaks of serve in the final set. Coria had two match points at 6–5 before Gaudio prevailed 0–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–1, 8–6. Gaudio also became the first man to win a Grand Slam after being bagelled in the first set. The tournament was noted for the excellent performance of the Argentine players – in addition to the two finalists, there were a semifinalist (David Nalbandian) and a quarterfinalist (Juan Ignacio Chela). It was also highlighted by a 1st round match between Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clément, lasting 6 hours and 33 minutes and ending in Clement's defeat 6–4, 6–3, 6–7, 3–6, 16–14, breaking the record for the longest singles match in the open era. However this record has recently been broken in the 2010 Wimbledon with John Isner's and Nicolas Mahut's first-round match.

In the women's draw, Anastasia Myskina became first Russian female tennis player to win a Grand Slam title. The next two Grand Slams were also won by Russian women (Maria Sharapova, Wimbledon; Svetlana Kuznetsova, U.S. Open). She also became the first French Open women's title winner after having saved match point en route to the title (against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 4th round).

In the mixed doubles, French players Tatiana Golovin and Richard Gasquet (aged 16 and 17 respectively) won the tournament after entering as wildcards. France also saw success in the boy's singles, where Gaël Monfils won.

The tournament is also notable for being the last Grand Slam event at which Roger Federer failed to reach at least the semi-finals before his record-breaking run of 23 successive Grand Slam semi-finals, ending at the 2010 French Open.

Seniors

Men's Singles^[1]

Gastón Gaudio^[2] def. Guillermo Coria 0–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–1, 8–6

• It was Gaudio's 1st title of the year, and his 3rd overall. It was his 1st career Grand Slam title.

Women's Singles

Anastasia Myskina^[3] def. Elena Dementieva 6–1, 6–2

• It was Myskina's 2nd title of the year, and her 8th overall. It was her 1st career Grand Slam title.

Men's Doubles

Xavier Malisse / Olivier Rochus def. Michaël Llodra / Fabrice Santoro 7–5, 7–5

• It was Malisse and Rochus' 1st career Grand Slam title.

Women's Doubles

Virginia Ruano / Paola Suárez def. Svetlana Kuznetsova / Elena Likhovtseva 6–0, 6–3

Mixed Doubles

Tatiana Golovin / Richard Gasquet def. Cara Black / Wayne Black 6–3, 6–4

Top 5 Seeds

Juniors

Boys' Singles

Gaël Monfils def. Alex Kuznetsov, 6–2, 6–2

Girls' Singles

Sesil Karatantcheva def. Mădălina Gojnea, 6–4, 6–0

Boys' Doubles

Pablo Andújar / Marcel Granollers-Pujol def. Alex Kuznetsov / Mihail Zverev, 6–3, 6–2

Girls' Doubles

Kateřina Böhmová / Michaëlla Krajicek def. Irina Kotkina / Yaroslava Shvedova, 6–3, 6–2

Notes

1. ^ This was the first ever all-Argentinean Men's Singles final.
2. ^ Gaudio became the first Argentine player since Guillermo Vilas (in 1977) to win the Men's Singles title.
3. ^ Myskina became the first female player from Russia to win a Grand Slam title.