03/06 - Roland-Garros : "Guga"

SPORTS / TENNIS : ROLAND-GARROS / "Un Autre Regard" by Philippe Delerm / 03/06 - Roland-Garros : "Guga"

Other winners of the French Open have certainly been more inflexible, more emblematic of their sport, more cutting-edge. But Gustavo Kuerten remains the favourite. "Guga" is like a wooded path that stays cool in your memory years after you've last been there.A Brazilian tennis champ is already pretty rare, especially at the top of the world ranking. A lanky Brazilian tennis champ, a kind of hippie with drooping, clay-coated socks – we knew right away we wouldn't mind dancing endlessly to the sound of his samba. He won his matches not with a knife clenched between his teeth but with the smile of a guy who's really enjoying himself. You didn't have to be a genius to see that, for Guga, suffering wasn't insufferable.A popular hero, he came on favela-style. Headbands were a requirement for longhairs; Năstase's and Borg's were part of their uniform. But Kuerten wore the headband of a student rebel. Far-left tennis, that's what he preached. Even when he cut his hair we knew he hadn't changed.The French fans cheered him. Why Brazil? Well, why not? This cocky kid from Florianópolis made us forget where we were living. We all went gaga for Guga. — Philippe Delerm