Kuerten won the final against Spaniard Alex Corretja by 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-2, 6-0. It was another hard luck story for Alex Corretja, who also reached the final in 1998 only to be flattened by compatriot Carlos Moya. Corretja played gamely, sneaking out the tie breaker in the first set and holding break point at 5-5 in the second. But Guga overpowered him in the end, with Corretja only winning 2 games in the final 2 sets.
With his record, Kuerten certainly appears to be the best clay-court player of the past 10 years. Having surpassed the greats of the 90's, you have to look back to Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendl and Bjorn Borg to find better results. Wilander and Lendl won 4 titles, whilst Borg won 6. The way Kuerten has been playing on clay for the past couple of years, it wouldn't be surprising if he were to equal or surpass those records.
Kuerten has also shown his ability on other services, winning the ATP World Championship on a fast indoor court last year. That was an impressive feat, particularly since his opponent was no other than Andre Agassi. Even on grass at Wimbledon Kuerten was able to reach the quarter-finals last year. Unfortunately this year he will not have a chance to equal that effort as he has opted out of the tournament this year to rest.
Some players such as Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov feel that Kuerten's top ranking cannot be justified by results mainly gained on clay. It is certainly true that Kuerten has only ever reached the semi-finals of a grand slam at the French Open. However his performance at last year's world championships showed that he can play on fast hard courts.
In any case, Kuerten is indisputably the current king of clay.
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