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| 09 Jun 2002 | |
| Gasquet and Widjaja rule Roland Garros |
By Eleanor Preston
Richard Gasquet and Angelique Widjaja are the new junior Roland Garros champions. Gasquet stormed through the all-French boys’ final, showing little mercy in beating his friend and training partner Laurent Recouderc 6-0, 6-1 to pick up his first junior Grand Slam title. Widjaja added to the junior Wimbledon trophy she won last year with a hard-fought 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Ashley Harkleroad.
"It’s a beautiful present to win this kind of tournament," said a delighted Gasquet. "I didn’t play many finals in this kind of tournament. He was a bit tense and on top of that I played an excellent match but the score was very hard on him and it doesn’t really reflect the level of difference between us."
Gasquet and Recouderc regularly work out together at French Tennis Federation’s facilities at Roland Garros and are firm friends but Gasquet didn’t let that get in the way of a one-sided win. He admitted though that he did try and keep his emotions in check to spare Recouderc’s feelings. "If it had been a bit tighter maybe I would have expressed myself more," said Gasquet. "I knew he wasn’t playing at his best so I didn’t want to upset him."
Playing on the prestigious No.1 court, which is known as the bullring because of it’s circular seating, Gasquet reeled off the first nine games to grab the match by the throat. Recouderc managed to get his name on the scoreboard at 1-3 down in the first set but Gasquet soon reasserted his authority.
Widjaja’s win wasn’t quite as emphatic and she had her hands full during a tight, tense battle with Harkleroad. The American, who had saved a match point against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semi-finals, won the first set before Widjaja hit back to level the match. "In the first set I had a little bit of pressure but I worked out how to play her in the second set," she said. The third set was closer still, with Widjaja twice a break up only to see Harkleroad fight back. The American’s serve let her down once more at 4-5 down and Widjaja took full advantage, whooping with delight at her win.
There would have been even more celebrations back home in Indonesia, where her parents Rico and Hanita were following their daughter’s progress on the internet. "They are very happy because they were very nervous, watching it point by point to see if I won," laughed Widjaja.
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