Costa, the 15th seed, started brightly on the Catalan clay but he was soon feeling the effects of tough three-set matches in the quarters and semis, and by the end he was unable to compete with Gaudio’s scorching baseline play.
Gaudio broke back after losing his opening service game and stunned Costa with a run of nine successive games, taking him two sets up with a 2-0 lead in the third.
There was no coming back for Costa and the 23-year-old Gaudio was able to celebrate his first ATP tour title.
Costa was run ragged in the middle part of the match as he missed the chance to take the title for the second time, following his success in 1997.
Gaudio has been close to impeccable all week, in fact, not losing a set on his way to the title.
After a first-round victory over Spain’s Albert Montanes, he beat number eight seed Thomas Enqvist of Sweden and then accounted for former French Open champion Carlos Moya.
He overcame another Spaniard, Alberto Martin, in the quarterfinals before beating the tournament’s top seed and world number one Lleyton Hewitt.
Sampras beaten: Andy Roddick retained his U.S. Clay Court Championship with a 7-6 (11-9), 6-3 victory over Pete Sampras Sunday in Houston (Texas) which extended the 13-time Grand Slam winner’s title drought to 25 tournaments.
Third seed Roddick became the first player to win back-to-back US Clay Court crowns since Argentine Jose-Luis Clerc in 1980 and 1981.
For Sampras, who scored a straight-sets semifinal win over Andre Agassi on Saturday, it was another frustrating finish to a promising week. He has now gone almost two years since last tasting victory at Wimbledon 2000.
However, the 30-year-old’s display, which also included a win over Todd Martin, will provide a major confidence boost as he heads off to Europe for the clay court season and his quest for a French Open crown, the one Grand Slam title that has eluded him in his career.
Houston’s Westside Tennis Club is a happy hunting ground for Roddick.
Three weeks ago, the 19-year-old led the US to Davis Cup victory over Spain on the club’s grass courts, and he has now stretched his record to 10-0 on the Houston clay.
In a dominant performance, Roddick fired 13 aces and only lost 11 points on his delivery in 11 service games.
The only break in a match that lasted one hour and 27 minutes, and was watched by President Bush, came in the eighth game of the second set when Sampras netted a forehand off a Roddick return.
Sampras had his only break point opportunity in the next game but Roddick pounded a service winner up the middle to see off the threat, collecting his second title of the season and fifth of his career.
Clijsters: Belgium’s world number three Kim Clijsters is considering moving to Australia to be with her boyfriend, Australia’s US Open champion Lleyton Hewitt.
Clijsters, 18, won a singles match in Belgium’s 3-1 victory over Australia in a Fed Cup first round tie in Brussels Saturday.
But the French Open finalist withdrew from the reverse singles on Sunday because of injury.
Tennis Australia (TA) officials were seeking clarification on Monday of the possibility of Clijsters representing Australia in future Fed Cup matches.
TA spokesman John Lindsay said the player would have to live in Australia for two years, drop out of Fed Cup tennis for three years and hold an Australian passport to be eligible to represent Australia. —Reuters