Albert Costa blew away fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1 6-0 4-6 6-3 to
taste victory in the French Open final in Paris.
After an attempted comeback by Ferrero in the third set, Costa took the fourth
to win the title he has threatened to take for several seasons.
On an overcast day in the French capital, it was Costa, an unheralded but competent 26-year-old clay-court
expert who was a losing finalist in the boys final at Roland Garros nine years
ago, who emerged victorious.
The pair had only ever met on clay and this was their fifth head-to-head with
their record previously standing at 2-2.
Costa though, came into the final with the slight advantage of having ousted
Ferrero in the first round at Hamburg last month.
This was his first Grand Slam final, just as it was for Ferrero, who had been
an unlucky loser in the semi-finals for the past two years.
Despite his status as 11th seed, Ferrero was the bookmakers' pre-tournament
favourite and had justified their belief in his ability with Andre Agassi and
Marat Safin slain along the way.
Costa, the 20th seed, amazingly knocked out three-time champion Gustavo
Kuerten in the fourth round and fought back from two sets to one down in the
quarter-finals to oust Guillermo Canas before a four-set victory over twice
finalist Alex Corretja earned him a final berth.
Light showers meant the court was playing awkwardly in the opening minutes of
the match, with umbrellas up in the stands, and the players went off in the
third game.
Costa led 30-0 on his serve at the resumption and held before breaking to go
3-1 ahead as Ferrero put in an erratic second service game.
Again he held and looked untroubled with a 4-1 lead, the type of start he
would have dreamt of.
Ferrero looked nervous and fell love-40 down on his next service game. He
fought back to 30-40, but a cross-court Costa forehand landed just inside the
court and he led 5-1.
Ferrero was unable to cope with Costa's positive approach and hard-hitting
tactics, and was finding himself outclassed by a player supposedly his
inferior.
Costa held with a deal of comfort to take the opening set 6-1 and was reaping
the benefits of attacking inside the court while Ferrero was spending his match
behind the baseline.
Costa took his imposing form into the second set, breaking the opening and
third games to build a 4-0 lead.
Ferrero looked overwhelmed by the older man, as he repeatedly failed to deal
with Costa's service returns.
Keeping his compatriot on the backfoot, the Barcelona-based player forced
Ferrero into an error at 40-30 in the sixth game to wrap up the second set at
6-0.
And Costa was a man in a hurry, as he took that set in 25 minutes to take a
comprehensive lead in the match and go within a set of his first Grand Slam
victory.
The fourth set saw Ferrero battle back from 3-1 to equalise 3-3 but was once again
unable to hold his serve as Costa broke him with a winning forehand passing shot
to lead 4-3.
Winning his serve to take a 5-3 advantage, the 20th seed missed one match
point before finally completing his first ever Grand Slam victory thanks to a
double fault from Ferrero.
Costa then ran into the players' stands to hold his one-year-old twin
daughters before coming back on court to lift his much-deserved trophy.
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