The2004 French Open was the 103rd edition of the tournament.
On the men's side,Gastón Gaudio became the first men'smajor champion in theOpen Era to save two championship points in the final. Gaudio also became the first Argentine man sinceGuillermo Vilas in 1979 to win a major. Fellow ArgentineGuillermo Coria, widely regarded as the favourite and the world's bestclay court player coming into the tournament, was seeded 3rd for the event, whereas Gaudio was unseeded (ranked 44th[1]). After winning the first two sets convincingly, Coria began suffering from legcramps. Gaudio won the next two sets; however, Coria came back and was up two breaks of serve in the final set. Coria had two match points at 6–5 before Gaudio prevailed 0–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–1, 8–6. Gaudio also became the first man to win a Grand Slam tournament final after beingbagelled, which occurred in the first set. The overall tournament was noted for the performance of Argentine players – in addition to the two finalists, there were a semifinalist (David Nalbandian) and a quarterfinalist (Juan Ignacio Chela). It was also highlighted by a first round match betweenFabrice Santoro andArnaud Clément, lasting 6 hours and 33 minutes and ending in Clement's defeat 6–4, 6–3, 6–7, 3–6, 16–14, setting a new record for the longest singles match in theOpen Era,[2] which would stand untilWimbledon 2010. It was also the last major to feature neitherRoger Federer norRafael Nadal in the semifinals until the2012 US Open.[3]
In the women's draw,Anastasia Myskina became first Russian woman to win a major title. The next two majors were also won by Russian women (Maria Sharapova atWimbledon andSvetlana Kuznetsova at theUS Open). She also became the first French Open women's champion after saving a match point en route to the title (against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round).
In the mixed doubles, French playersTatiana Golovin andRichard Gasquet (aged 16 and 17 respectively) won the tournament after entering aswildcards. France also saw success in the boys' singles, whereGaël Monfils won.
Juan Carlos Ferrero andJustine Henin-Hardenne were both unsuccessful in defending their 2003 titles; both being eliminated in the second round. In Henin's case, her early exit would be the last time a top seed lost within the first two rounds of any major untilAna Ivanovic lost in the second round of the2008 US Open. Henin's loss toTathiana Garbin in the second round was her only defeat at the tournament between2003 and2009 (not playing in 2008 and 2009).
Gastón Gaudio
Anastasia Myskina
Xavier Malisse /
Virginia Ruano Pascual /
Tatiana Golovin /
Sesil Karatantcheva
Kateřina Böhmová /
Michaëlla Krajicek
Cara Black /
Alex Kuznetsov, 6–2, 6–2
Mădălina Gojnea, 6–4, 6–0
Mischa Zverev, 6–3, 6–2
