Today all the sports media have headlined GG´s new status as the
Argentine´s Number One. He is also ranked No. 6 in the ATP Entry
System!!!

In La Nación they have a new poll: "Who do you prefer to have as the
best Argentine tennis player?" Only one vote per person is accepted,
and the results to date are: GastónGaudio: 54,09%, Guillermo Coria:
32,26%, Another: 13,65%

Here is a new article. It´s the full back page of today´s La Nación,
written by a well-known TV sports journalist, and it refers to how
Gastón has adjusted to his new star status without giving up being
himself.

http://buscador.lanacion.com.ar/Nota.asp?nota_id=693179&high=gaudio
Monday 4th April 2005

Gastón Gaudio´s Here and Now

A REBEL WITH CAUSE

Juan Pablo Varsky
For LA NACION

"Answer that, there goes a volley like Federer´s", says the boy who
is playing on the main court of the Vilas Racket Club. The boy plays
so well that he can hold his racquet and play stuck to the net just
like the real Roger, to hit an unreachable whiplash. His coach claps
and shouts "Good one!".

The boy is called Gastón Gaudio. He is 26 years old, the same age as
Gabriela Sabatini when she decided to retire, tired of the demands,
the pressure and the loneliness. How did this professional tennis
player learn to enjoy the game and all that surrounds it, without
dying in the intent or betraying his principles? This is Gaudio´s
great triumph.

Just after the Roland Garros title, Pablo Pécora, his psychologist
since December 2003, wrote in La Nación that for Gastón the key was
to be able to laugh, not to give too much importance to the
pressure. For example: after that frustrating Davis Cup Series in
Málaga, the mildest thing they said about him was that he was
an "amargo" (bitter, unable to have fun). Do you know what Gaudio
shouts at himself after a bad shot? "Amargo!". Mission
accomplished: the boy laughs at himself.

Today he is sixth in the world (fifth in this galaxy without
Federer), but the ATP´s new ranking will not change his life. The
Gato flees from the red carpet, the easy flattery and the
invitations to TV programmes with a phrase that defines his
personality: "I´m just another guy".

Now there are a lot of boys who want to be like him. And they want
to have the same Diadora shirt and Wilson racquet. Two products that
are now hard to obtain, in a market that is in constant growth.

After he won Roland Garros he was determined to enjoy things. To
enjoy playing tennis and, above all, life. When he is in Buenos
Aires, on Monday nights he dines with his friends at Guido´s bar (
well, at the "Tano´s" (the Italian´s)), facing the zoo.

He has the ability of the natural sportsman for other sports,
playing golf with ever greater precision and going in for short
feints when he plays football five, although here he may be betrayed
by his compulsion to do a "cańo" (a shot between the opponent´s
legs).

As far as music is concerned, he is faithful to Jamiroquai (a
wandering Frenchman who plays his version of Latin American folk
music), and talks about going to a concert of The Wailers.

And, as Bob Dylan remarked about rock stars and models, he´s seeing
a pretty well-known actress because ... he can. He is not a rock
star, and wouldn´t want to be one, but he cannot avoid being stalked
by the gossip industry.

Besides struggling against the collateral effects of his fame,
Gaudio rebels against the mentality of the Monday newspapers, who
can call him a failure in Málaga and a master in Paris. When
the "Gran Gato" works against Hrbaty, in Australia, it´s brilliant
play; when it doesn´t work against Agassi, in Miami, it becomes
senseless folly. "No, that way we can never understand each other",
says Gaudio, defining the reason for his stubbornness.

Now we mention it - what is the Gran Gato? It´s the Gran Willy´s kid
sister, a shot he hits with his racquet between his legs but facing
the net. Dear readers: do not attempt it, especially the men. Badly
executed it can do a lot of harm in a sensitive zone. As sensitive
as Gaudio is when faced by such a one-dimensional way of seeing
tennis and life.

His family have protected him from the changeable tennis life and
all that surrounds it. When they heard that unforgettable "Mom, Dad,
I love you" in his moving Roland Garros speech, his parents Norberto
and Marisa confirmed that all their intensive care to inure him
against a swollen head and a loss of memory had been successful.

As from today, the "Dany Garnero" of tennis (that´s how he described
himself in Roland Garros, after a very talented ex-Independiente
player who was never a star, and who was his VIP guest at the Buenos
Aires ATP) is the Number 1 of the Argentine. Those who love him will
tell you that his creativity is unique on the circuit and that he
always repays what you paid. Those who unbelievers say he does what
he likes and that the best players have a mental edge over him. They
will all be right in part and will continue their discussions,
because only Federer is indisputable.

Talking about the Swiss, Roger is still volleying like nobody else
and winning every tournament, but now, at the Vilas Racket Club and
in tennis clubs all over the country, lots of kids are gripping
their racquets and saying "Answer that, there goes a backhand like
Gaudio´s...".