The former Argentine star was born on 13th of January. On his birthday we look back at one of the most astonishing tournaments of his tennis career at Roland Garros 2004 when he came nearest to win a Grand Slam eventually finishing finalist to his fellow countryman Gastón Gaudio.
In the clay court season of 2004 Coria who then was counted among the best clay court players of the world had some great success. Coria had won the Monte Carlo Masters and finished as the runner up at Hamburg that year. He was now among the top favorites to win the French Open.
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Coria was seeded 3rd in the tournament but faced some tough early round opponents like Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and fellow Argentine Jaun Monaco. However the former world number 3 raced to the quarterfinal without the loss of a singles set.
In the Quarters Coria faced his biggest test in the form of 1998 Champion Spain’s Carlos Moya. The match ran neck to neck in 1st two sets which Coria would win 7-5 and 7-6. By the 3rd set Moya’s resistance would begin to fade and Coria who was having a dream run in the tournament progressed to the Semi-final stage without the loss of a singles set.
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In the Semis Britain’s Tim Henman was Coria’s opponent. The Brit star took the 1st set which was incidentally Coris’s 1st set loss in the tournament. The Argentine soon hit the purple patch again winning the next 2 sets convincingly and even handing Henman a bagel in the 3rd set. The 4th set again appeared tight but Coria broke the Henman serve in closing stages to take the match in 4 sets and enter his first ever Grand Slam final.
Coria met fellow countryman Gaston Gaudio in the final and won the 1st two sets very convincingly. He looked set to lift the 2004 French Open trophy. However it was Gaudio who came back strongly winning the next 3 sets and eventually the championship.
(Repost from Original Publish)