Gustavo Kuerten

My earliest impressions of Gustavo Kuerten were mixed.  I saw him play Jim Courier in the first round of the 1997 Davis Cup and could not believe Courier was struggling to post a 4 set win over such a frail looking opponent.  My first impression of Guga was that he was too skinny to hit the ball as hard as he was during that match.  I thought a strong breeze might knock him over.  I next watched him beat Thomas Muster in the 3rd round of the French Open in 97.  His positive attitude was pretty contagious.  His quarterfinal win over defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov was impressive, but I was not thrilled at the prospect of Sergi Bruguera winning a 3rd French Open title.  After Bruguera beat Patrick Rafter in a fun semifinal, I figured the former champion was going to have an easy time with such a…