Gaston Gaudio

Began playing tennis at age six with his family...Nicknamed "Gato," which is Spanish for cat...Parents, Norberto and Marisa...Lists his father, who overcame a life-threatening illness, as his greatest inspiration...Youngest of three children: brother, Diego and sister, Julieta...Finished as No. 2 junior in Argentina in 1996...While growing up, played soccer in addition to tennis...Compiled a 13-3 career Davis Cup singles record in nine ties between 2001-2003...Considered clay his favourite surface.

2011 -- Officially retired on 31 August...

2010 -- Played last ATP World Tour match at Kitzbuhel in August...

2007 -- The Argentine native finished out of Top 100 for first time since 1998 as he compiled a 6-15 match record in ATP level play with his best result a QF in Acapulco (l. to Ferrero)...Also won a round at AMS Miami (d. Ramirez Hidalgo, l. to Stepanek), AMS Monte-Carlo (d. Tursunov, l. to Djokovic), AMS Rome (d. Fish, l. to Roddick) and Roland Garros (d. Gicquel, l. to Hewitt in five sets), his last win of season...Nine of his 15 losses came to Top 30 opponents, including 0-6 vs. Top 20...Went 5-6 in Challenger play, reaching SF at Todi, Italy in September (l. to Galvani)...Compiled marks of 5-12 on clay and 1-3 on hard.

2006 -- Finished in Top 35 for fifth consecutive season despite not reaching an ATP final for first time since 2003...Advanced to two ATP clay court SF and compiled a 20-14 record on his favorite surface... Advanced to his third career ATP Masters Series SF in Monte-Carlo, first since Hamburg in 2003, and lost to eventual champion Nadal in three sets...In March, reached SF in Acapulco, losing to eventual winner Horna... Also fell to eventual champions in two clay court QF in July, to Gasquet in Gstaad and to Calleri in Kitzbnhel... Best Grand Slam performance came with 4th RD run at Roland Garros, defeating another former champion Ferrero before losing to No. 6 Davydenko in four sets...Opened year with a 3rd RD showing at Australian Open (l. to Santoro)...His best hard court results were 3rd RD at ATP Masters Series Indian Wells in March and at US Open (l. to Gicquel)...2007--Finished out of Top 100 for first time since 1998 as he compiled a 6-15 match record in ATP level play with his best result a QF in Acapulco (l. to Ferrero)...Also won a round at AMS Miami (d. Ramirez Hidalgo, l. to Stepanek), AMS Monte-Carlo (d. Tursunov, l. to Djokovic), AMS Rome (d. Fish, l. to Roddick) and Roland Garros (d. Gicquel, l. to Hewitt in five sets), his last win of season...Nine of his 15 losses came to Top 30 opponents, including 0-6 vs. Top 20...Went 5-6 in Challenger play, reaching SF at Todi, Italy in September (l. to Galvani)...Compiled marks of 5-12 on clay and 1-3 on hard.

2005 -- Compiled his best season with a career-high five ATP clay court titles and 55 match wins (55-21)... Posted a personal-best 42 match wins on clay (42-8), second only to Nadal (50-2)... Suffered only one 1st RD loss in 12 clay events during the season... In February, captured back-to-back titles in Vina del Mar (d. Gonzalez) and his hometown Buenos Aires (d. Puerta)... Went 8-5 in his next five appearances, reaching QF at ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo (l. to Nadal) and Barcelona (l. to Ferrero)... Followed with his third title in Estoril (d. Robredo)... Came into Roland Garros as defending champion and lost in 4th RD in five sets to Ferrer (after leading 4-0 in final set)... One month later, reached three consecutive finals, winning in Gstaad (d. Wawrinka), reaching final in Stuttgart (l. to Nadal) and adding another title in Kitzbuehel (d. Verdasco)... Returned to hard courts in August at ATP Masters Series Montreal and reached QF (l. to Agassi)...Then lost four consecutive opening round matches before finishing with 2nd RD in Lyon, QF at ATP Masters Series Paris (l. to Berdych) and SF at Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai (l. to Federer)... Improved on hard courts from 5-10 in '04 to 8-9... Went 2-5 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled records of 42-8 on clay, 8-9 on hard and 5-3 on grass... Surpassed $1 million for second straight year.

2004 -- The Argentine finished in Top 10 for first time in his career highlighted by winning his first Grand Slam crown at Roland Garros in June, defeating countryman Coria in a five-set thriller… One of a record three Argentines (No. 7 Coria, No. 9 Nalbandian) to finish in Top 10… After saving two match points in fifth set, he won 8-6 and became first Argentine to win Roland Garros since Guillermo Vilas in 1977… Also posted a straight-sets win in QF over former No. 1 Hewitt and countryman Nalbandian in SF… Afterwards, climbed from 44 to No. 10 in INDESIT ATP Entry Rankings and also became first player ever to win a Grand Slam title after losing first set 6-0 in a final…Prior to Paris, reached final in Barcelona, defeating former Roland Garros champs Moya (3rd RD) and Kuerten (QF) before losing to local favorite Robredo in five sets…Took a one month break after his Paris triumph and showed no signs of layoff, reaching three straight clay court finals in Bastad (l. to Zabaleta), Stuttgart (l. to Canas) and Kitzbnhel (l. to Massu)… Compiled a 31-12 mark on clay but struggled on hard courts (5-10 record), failing to win back-to-back matches throughout season…Qualified for Tennis Masters Cup in Houston and was winless (0-3) in round robin play…Had a 4-2 mark in five-set matches and went 3-4 vs. Top 10 opponents…Earned a career-high $1,639,171.

2003 -- Finished in Top 50 for fourth consecutive season highlighted by four SF and three QF, all on clay… Broke Top 20 for first time in March, reaching No. 19… Also went 4-2 in Davis Cup play in helping his country to SF (l. to Spain 3-2)… In February, advanced to back-to-back SF in Vina del Mar and Buenos Aires… During European spring clay court circuit, reached QF in Barcelona and Valencia and SF at AMS Hamburg (l. to Coria)… After a 3rd RD exit at Roland Garros (l. to Kuerten), reached SF in Gstaad (l. to Federer) and QF in Kitzbnhel (l. to Lopez)… His best hard court result was 3rd RD at AMS Cincinnati (d. Ferrero, l. to Ginepri)… Compiled most match wins on clay (33-15) and was 6-9 on hard.

2002 -- Captured his first two ATP titles and led his country to Davis Cup SF with a 4-1 record… Turned in a 4th RD showing at Roland Garros (l. to Ferrero in five sets)…Made improvement on hard courts (12-9) from prevous year (5-9) with QF at AMS Indian Wells (l. to Henman), 4th RD at AMS Miami and 3rd RD at Australian and US Opens… In late April in Barcelona, defeated an impressive line-up that included Enqvist, Moya, A. Martin, No. 1 Hewitt (SF) and Costa in final without dropping a set en route to his first ATP title…Following week in Mallorca, beat Kuerten (QF), Calleri (SF) and Nieminen (F) to win back-to-back titles… Advanced to final in Gstaad (l. to Corretja) followed by SF in Amersfoort and Kitzbnhel… Fell 8-6 in fifth set to Kafelnikov in Davis Cup SF tie in Moscow…Went 29-6 on clay.

2001 -- Reached his second career ATP final in Vina del Mar (l. to countryman Coria) and helped his country back into 2002 Davis Cup World Group by posting a 5-0 singles record… Also advanced to SF in Buenos Aires and QF at AMS in Miami (l. to Gambill) and in Stuttgart (l. to Novak)…In Davis Cup World Group playoff tie helped his country to a 5-0 victory over Belarus…Went 20-11 on clay.

2000 -- Reached QF in Mexico City and SF in Santiago and AMS Monte-Carlo (d. Safin and Ferrero, l. to Hrbaty)… Played lone Challenger in Braunschweig and won title (d. countryman Squillari)...His best month came in July when he reached SF in Gstaad and advanced to his first ATP final in Stuttgart (l. to Squillari in five sets)… Finished with a 21-12 record on clay.

1999 -- Put together best results in Challenger play (26-10 record)…Won back-to-back titles in Nice (d. Diaz) and Espinho (d. Hipfl)… Made Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros and lost in 3rd RD to No. 6 Corretja.

1998 -- Finished runner-up at Chile #1 Satellite (42 points) and won Spain #2 Futures title… Played well in Challengers (21-10 record), winning in Santa Cruz (d. Morejon) and Santiago (d. Alami).