PARIS, June 6: Unseeded Gaston Gaudio fought back from two sets down and saved two match points before edging past fellow-Argentine Guillermo Coria 0-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 8-6 to win the French Open on Sunday.

Coria had dominated the opening two sets of the first all-Argentine final in Grand Slam history but he was struck down by cramps in the fourth set, which allowed his opponent back into the contest.

Although the fifth set was a tense battle of nerves, Gaudio had the final say after three hours and 31 minutes. "Since I was a kid, this was a dream for me but now that I'm here, it's just too much for me and I don't know what to say," a stunned Gaudio told the Centre Court crowd.

"I was so scared in the first two sets but because of all the crowd support, I came back and was able to fight a little bit more. "Coria played unbelievable tennis for the two weeks, I'm sure he's going to get it next year."

Gaudio, ranked 44th in the world, became the second Argentine to win at Roland Garros, 27 years after Guillermo Vilas. Vilas, after whom Coria had been named, was the last Argentine man to win a singles Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open in 1979.

"I want to thank Guillermo Vilas because it's thanks to him that we both started to play," Gaudio said after being presented the Musketeers Cup by the 1977 winner and American John McEnroe.

Third seed Coria had entered the final showdown as the overwhelming favourite having lost just once in his previous 38 matches on the surface following his surprise defeat by Dutchman Martin Verkerk at the French Open semifinals last year.

The first set was a one-sided affair as Coria took advantage of his opponent's errors and jitters to break him straightaway. Far more focused and consistent than his unseeded rival, Coria easily dictated play to win the set 6-0 in 24 minutes.

The second set also started badly for Gaudio, who kept making double faults and unforced errors to let Coria win eight games in succession. The crowd went wild as Gaudio finally held serve for the first time in the third game of the second set. But he dropped his racket in despair as he was broken again to go 4-1 down.

Gaudio earned his first break at 5-3 but it was not enough to break Coria's momentum, who took the set 6-3 in precisely an hour. The start of the third set was more disputed. Rallies were longer and Gaudio seemed determined to keep the ball in play.

For the first time, the 25-year-old took the upper hand, breaking Coria at the end of a superb rally to lead 3-2. With the Parisian crowd vocally backing the underdog, Gaudio rewarded his fans by breaking again to lead 5-4 before bagging the set in the next game.

It was the turning point of the match as Coria asked for the physiotherapist to massage his left thigh when he returned to his chair at 1-1 in the fourth set. Hampered by cramps, Coria quickly found himself 5-1 down as an embarrassed silence fell over the Philippe Chatrier court.

Standing still behind his baseline and missing all his shots, Coria looked on the verge of giving up as Gaudio took the fourth set 6-1. Coria, who was given pills to fight cramps, appeared to regain his form at the start of the fifth set, breaking Gaudio to lead 1-0.

The match then turned into a tense contest as both players struggled to gain the upper hand. Coria had two match points in the 12th game but Gaudio refused to cave in. Gaudio kept fighting and finally finished off his compatriot with a backhand winner just two games later. -Reuters