King Coria has crown snatched away

One hour into the French Open final on Sunday there looked no way the new 'King of Clay' in-waiting Guillermo Coria could lose the title.

He is the king without a crown, the man who had it all and let it fall from his grasp.

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One hour into the French Open final on Sunday there looked no way the new "King of Clay" in-waiting Guillermo Coria could lose his first Grand Slam title after easily winning the first two sets 6-0, 6-3 against fellow Argentine Gaston Gaudio.

But two and a half hours later Gaudio was hurling his racket in the air in delight and Coria was hanging his head in despair after a bizarre turnaround in fortunes.

The key to the final came at 1-1 in the fourth set after Gaudio had hit back to win a tight third set. Out of the blue, Coria suddenly called for treatment to his left leg even though he had not seemed to be in any difficulty.

He then proceeded to stroll through the rest of the set at walking pace, popping over half-pace serves in front of an astonished crowd and opponent.

Coria amazingly found a new lease of life in the fifth set and even though his service was still of the amateur variety, he did manage two match points, hitting wide on both.

But it was all to no avail as Gaudio hung on to win 0-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 8-6 and with it the tag of the first Argentinian to lift a Grand Slam title since Guillermo Vilas 25 years ago.

In an emotional post-final press conference Coria said that he first felt the cramping in the middle of the third set.

"They told me I had to wait 10 minutes after the cream they put on and I would be able to move better," he said.

"I tried not to think about it but it was hurting. He had two match points against him but he was smart. He made me move and he made me play and I was exhausted.

"I felt completely powerless because I had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time and maybe I believed too much in it. I was eating well, sleeping well I was very calm so I just don't understand what happened."

At that point though darker thoughts submerged the man who had won 48 out of 50 clay-court games coming into Paris as he recalled his suspension for a doping offence in 2002 for which he has always proclaimed his innocence.

"I would like to have taken revenge against those people who gave me those contaminated vitamins," he said as the tears flowed.

"I came here thinking it was the opportunity to demonstrate to everyone that I was innocent and to show to those who judged me what I was capable of, but I wasn't able to do so.

"I think this was the reason why I lost. I thought about it too much."

After pausing to gather himself, Coria said that he was determined to put his loss behind him and vowed to be back confirming that he would take up a wild card invite to play in the Queen's grass court tournament in London this week.

Following that it will be Wimbledon where he has yet to advance past the first round and the Olympic Games in Athens in August.

"I hope God will be fair with me and give me another opportunity," he said.