Gustavo Kuerten: Guga Elected into Tennis Hall of Fame

Gustavo Kuerten is a name that should not be forgotten. The lanky and personable Guga was someone that audiences all over the world adored for his attitude; including his unique “grunt”.

I was fortunate enough to witness Guga's last match of his career on May 25, 2008 during his first round match at Roland Garros against Paul-Henri Mathieu. I didn't know anything about Gustavo before the match, so when he came out in his "lucky" uniform, I was caught by surprise. The first thought that came to my mind was, "What in the world is he wearing?" It was the same blue and yellow outfit that he wore during his first French Open in 1997 where he beat the Spaniard Sergi Bruguera 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. That win that day was quite a remarkable one. He defeated the defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the quarterfinals and was the first Brazilian to win a Grand Slam since Maria Ester Bueno. He was ranked 66^th when he entered the tournament; goes to show you that you cannot judge a book by its cover. He jumped to the top 20 after winning the tournament.

Funny thing happened when Guga was given the trophy during the ceremony: Guillermo Vilas had whispered something to Gustavo, which made him laugh whilst the chairmen of the event was speaking. Even though Gustavo refused to say what Vilas had said to him, journalists have gone over the footage with their powerful lenses and found that Vilas had said something like, “Get ready kid, it’s going to rain women on your lap!” in Spanish.

During his career, he won twenty career titles (in singles). The French Open was the only Grand Slam he won, winning it in 1997, 2000, and 2001. He also won the Masters Cup in 2000. Now, four years after he retired, Gustsavo has been inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame as only the second Brazilian — Maria Ester Bueno is the other.

According to ESPN, Kuerten had this to say during the ceremony:

""During my career in tennis I was fortunate to have many victories, but the Hall of Fame induction is a special one. I was inspired by lots of great tennis players, like Maria Bueno and Thomas Koch, two of the biggest Brazilian tennis players, and I have also always greatly admired Hall of Famers including Borg, McEnroe, Sampras, and Agassi. To be honored in the same category as those great players is amazing.""

Gustavo is currently working on bringing ATP World Tour Finals to Brazil in 2014.

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"Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo already showed interest in organizing the event. I think the timing is right and there are indications that there is a real chance to bring the tournament to Brazil. I'm going to Miami to talk to the new ATP president (Brad Drewett) to know more about this possibility, but we already have partners willing to help.”

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One thing that is making me quite excited is that Gustavo wants to play an exhibition match against Roger Federer at the end of the year in Brazil.

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"We need some time to have the details sorted out, and some time for me to start practicing," Kuerten said.

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That would certainly be an interesting match-up — just for the fun of it. Guga hasn't had an easy career...or life for that matter, but he is not one to give up. He has made Brazil proud and I wish I would have been into tennis while he was playing.

Good luck Guga, and I hope to witness that exhibition match later this year!