Spaniard Albert Costa humbled compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1 6-0 4-6 6-3 on Sunday to win his first Grand Slam trophy at the French Open.
The all-Spanish final, the third in history, was again a rather disappointing contest as 20th seed Costa triumphed in two and half hours.
"I want to thank Juan Carlos, he's young, he'll come back and win this tournament," said a jubilant Costa, who at 26, and after 26 appearances in grand slam tournaments has hit big time it at last.
Ferrero, beaten in the semi-finals by eventual champion Gustavo Kuerten in 2000 and 2001, was clear favourite to win his first major title on the Parisian clay.
But he never got going against Costa, struggling at one stage so much that he lost eleven successive games.
The final had only lasted six minutes when play was halted by rain for some 20 minutes with Costa leading 1-1 30-0.
When play resumed, Costa held serve to love and broke Ferrero to lead 3-1 and again held serve to lead 4-1 against favourite Ferrero, who struggled to find his rhythm.
Making an unusually high number of unforced errors, Ferrero again dropped serve to trail 5-1. Costa clinched the set 6-1 on his first set point after 22 minutes of play.
Ferrero, 22, won only ten points in the 24-minute set and he was unable to even register his name on the scoreboard.
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