One of Brazil's top postcards has been specially decorated to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of Gustavo Kuerten's unprecedented victory at Roland Garros. Christ The Redeemer was illuminated in blue and yellow, colours of the uniform of the Brazilian tennis player who arrived in France as No. 66 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and in two weeks later won one of the main Grand Slam tournaments, exactly on 8 June.
The homage done by the archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro in partnership with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) is a tribute to the conquest of Guga in 1997. Guga is in Paris participating in some commemorative events. He has followed the tribute from afar:
"I feel an extraordinary emotion and gratitude, because Christ the Redeemer is our main symbol of hope, faith, surpassing, generosity, and this title of '97 was built through those same feelings that [inspired] people, uniting a whole country in a belief never imaginable. And it was thus, with the union of all that we managed to win the first title of Roland Garros. In addition a curiosity: the construction of Christ the Redeemer also created, coincidentally, a link between Brazilians and French," said Kuerten.
A Brazilian engineer designed the monument with the collaboration of a French engineer and sculptor.
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