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Gustavo Kuerten (September 10, 1976–), nicknamed Guga, is a professional tennis player from Brazil.
Kuerten was born in Florianopolis, Brazil. He began playing tennis at age six and turned professional in 1995.
In 1997, he became the first Brazilian to win Grand Slam singles title at Roland Garros with victories over three former champions: Thomas Muster (3rd round), Yevgeny Kafelnikov (quarterfinal) and Sergi Bruguera (final). He became the second-lowest ranked Grand Slam Champion (ranked 66th) and this led to him entering the ATP top 20.
In 1999, he became one of 3 South Americans to complete the year in the top 10 for the first time in ATP Rankings history. He reached the quarterfinal at Rolland Garros. At Wimbledon, he became the first Brazilian to reach the quarterfinal since Thomaz Koch in 1967. He was defeated by Andre Agassi in the quarter final but had lost just one set until that stage. In July, he defeated Sebastien Grosjean 9-7 in fifth set of quarterfinal of Davis Cup, a match which lasted 4 hours and 43 minutes. He also became the first Brazilian to qualify for ATP World Championship.
In 2000, he became the first South American to finish No. 1 in history of ATP Rankings (since 1973). It was a close contest with Marat Safin with one loss meaning that Safin would have been no. 1. He broke an eight-year reign of USA at the No. 1 position. He also became the first South American to finish in Top 5 in consecutive years since Guillermo Vilas of Argentina in 1977-78.
In 2001, he won his third Rolland Garros crown joining former greats Bjorn Borg (6), Ivan Lendl (3) and Mats Wilander (3) with three or more French Open titles in Open Era. He led ATP in prize money for second straight year with $4,091,004.
Like many South Americans his favorite court surface is clay. He has won three Grand Slam titles, all of them at the French Open, played on the clay courts of Roland Garros. He won these titles in 1997, 2000 and 2001. Kuerten became the No. 1 player in the world in 2000 using his unique serve and strong ground strokes.
Kuerten embraces the baseline style of play, with heavily topspun ground strokes and a solid serve that enables him to wear down his opponent from the back of the court. His unique "grunt" when he strikes the ball is recognised by millions of fans around the world.
"Guga" as he is affectionately called by his fans, represents his country, Brazil, in the Davis Cup competition, but in the past few years his seasons have been plagued by injuries. Kuerten is one of the most widely recognised and popular tennis players on the ATP tour.
Gustavo Kuerten suffered a hip injury, and withdrew from the Wimbledon Championships. Since the injury, he has not been participating in many competitions.
Miscellaneous
He is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and English. His elder brother looks after his business matters. His father died in 1985 while umpiring a junior match. His younger brother is mentally handicapped. He has been recognised for his work for charity.
Grand Slam titles (3)
1997 Roland Garros Sergi Bruguera 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
2000 Roland Garros Magnus Norman 6-2, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6
2001 Roland Garros Alex Corretja 6-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-0
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