Sébastien Grosjean

Sébastien René Grosjean (French pronunciation: [sebastjɛ̃ ʁəne ɡʁoʒɑ̃]; born 29 May 1978) is a French former professional tennis player. Grosjean reached the semifinals at the 2001 Australian and French Opens, and at Wimbledon in 2003 and 2004. He finished eight consecutive seasons ranked in the top 30 (1999–2006), peaking at world No. 4 in October 2002. Grosjean retired from professional tennis in May 2010.[1]

Sébastien Grosjean
Sébastien Grosjean (2013)
Country (sports) France
ResidenceBoca Raton, Florida, United States
Born (1978-05-29) 29 May 1978 (age 46)
Marseille, France
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro1996
Retired2010
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$8,131,803
Singles
Career record341–247 (58.0%)
Career titles4
Highest rankingNo. 4 (28 October 2002)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenSF (2001)
French OpenSF (2001)
WimbledonSF (2003, 2004)
US Open3R (2000, 2005, 2007)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsF (2001)
Olympic GamesQF (2000)
Doubles
Career record82–100
Career titles5
Highest rankingNo. 52 (12 April 2004)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (2001)
French Open1R (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2009)
US Open3R (2008)
Mixed doubles
Career record2–2
Career titles0
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French Open3R (1998)
Team competitions
Davis CupW (2001)
Coaching career
Last updated on: 12 October 2022.

In December 2018, he was named the Davis Cup captain for France.[2]

Career edit

Grosjean at the 2007 Australian Open

Juniors edit

As a junior, Grosjean posted a 90-20 singles record and a 58-12 doubles record, winning the 1996 French Open boys' doubles. He reached No. 1 in the world in both singles and doubles in December 1996.

Pro tour edit

Grosjean joined the professional tour in 1996. In 2003 and 2004, he reached the final of the Queen's London Tournament. In the same two years, he also reached the semifinals of Wimbledon. He finished 2001 as the No. 1 player from his country and for the first time in the top 10 becoming the first Frenchman to finish a year in the top 10 since Cédric Pioline in 1993. In 2001, Grosjean won the Davis Cup with the French team.

Grosjean is known for his extreme forehand, his best shot, he utilizes something of a western grip, which is hit at high velocities. He has appeared in four Grand Slam semifinal matches. As well as his two Wimbledon runs, he also reached the French Open semifinals in 2001. His most famous chance was at the 2001 Australian Open against Arnaud Clément. Grosjean led two sets to love and had a match point in the fourth set before Clément prevailed. This was long considered the worst 'choke' in five-set history,[citation needed] until the 2004 French Open final.

He won his fourth singles title at the 2007 Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, with a victory over countryman Marc Gicquel. He also won the doubles final with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as a wildcard team, where they upset the first and third seeds.

Considered one of the more popular players on the circuit, he is lauded for his attractive, graceful style and classical skills. He is affectionately nicknamed 'Big John' by fans, a literal translation of his surname into English.

Personal life edit

Grosjean married his wife Marie-Pierre on 16 November 1998 and has a daughter named Lola (born 11 October 1998), a son named Tom (2002), and a daughter named Sam (2006). The family resides in Boca Raton, Florida (U.S.), where Grosjean trains at the Evert Tennis Academy. He is sponsored by Lacoste in apparel and Head rackets. He used the Head Radical Tour TwinTube 630 XL under various paint jobs throughout his career.

Major finals edit

Year-end championships finals edit

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up) edit

ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss2001Masters CupHard (i) Lleyton Hewitt3–6, 3–6, 4–6

Masters Series finals edit

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up) edit

ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss1999Miami MastersHard Richard Krajicek6–4, 1–6, 2–6, 5–7
Win2001Paris MastersCarpet (i) Yevgeny Kafelnikov7–6(7–3), 6–1, 6–7(5–7), 6–4

ATP career finals edit

Singles: 13 (4 titles, 9 runner-ups) edit

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–1)
ATP Masters Series (1–1)
ATP Championship Series (0–1)
ATP World Series (3–6)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–4)
Clay (0–3)
Grass (1–2)
Carpet (2–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (1–7)
Indoors (3–2)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1May 1999Miami, United StatesMasters SeriesHard Richard Krajicek6–4, 1–6, 2–6, 5–7
Loss0–2May 1999Atlanta, United StatesWorld SeriesClay Stefan Koubek1–6, 2–6
Loss0–3Apr 2000Casablanca, MoroccoWorld SeriesClay Fernando Vicente4–6, 6–4, 6–7(3–7)
Win1–3Jun 2000Nottingham, United KingdomWorld SeriesGrass Byron Black7–6(9–7), 6–3
Loss1–4Feb 2001Marseille, FranceWorld SeriesHard Yevgeny Kafelnikov6–7(5–7), 2–6
Win2–4Nov 2001Paris, FranceMasters SeriesCarpet Yevgeny Kafelnikov7–6(7–3), 6–1, 6–7(5–7), 6–4
Loss2–5Nov 2001Sydney, AustraliaMasters Cup FinalsHard Lleyton Hewitt3–6, 3–6, 4–6
Win3–5Oct 2002St. Petersburg, RussiaWorld SeriesHard Mikhail Youzhny7–5, 6–4
Loss3–6Jun 2003Queen's, United KingdomWorld SeriesGrass Andy Roddick3–6, 3–6
Loss3–7Oct 2003Tokyo, JapanChampionship SeriesHard Rainer Schüttler6–7(5–7), 2–6
Loss3–8Jun 2004Queen's, United KingdomInternational SeriesGrass Andy Roddick6–7(4–7), 4–6
Loss3–9Apr 2005Houston, United StatesInternational SeriesClay Andy Roddick2–6, 2–6
Win4–9Oct 2007Lyon, FranceInternational SeriesCarpet Marc Gicquel7–6(7–5), 6–4

Doubles: 7 (5 titles, 2 runner-ups) edit

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (1–0)
ATP Championship Series (0–0)
ATP World Series (4–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–1)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (1–1)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (3–0)
Indoors (2–2)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Apr 2000Casablanca, MoroccoWorld SeriesClay Arnaud Clément Lars Burgsmüller
Andrew Painter
7–6(7–4), 6–4
Loss1–1Oct 2001Lyon, FranceWorld SeriesCarpet Arnaud Clément Daniel Nestor
Nenad Zimonjić
1–6, 2–6
Win2–1Jul 2002Los Angeles, United StatesWorld SeriesHard Nicolas Kiefer Justin Gimelstob
Michaël Llodra
6–4, 6–4
Win3–1Feb 2003Marseille, FranceWorld SeriesHard Fabrice Santoro Tomáš Cibulec
Pavel Vízner
6–1, 6–4
Win4–1Mar 2004Indian Wells, United StatesMasters SeriesHard Arnaud Clément Wayne Black
Kevin Ullyett
6–3, 4–6, 7–5
Win5–1Oct 2007Lyon, FranceWorld SeriesCarpet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Łukasz Kubot
Lovro Zovko
6–4, 6–3
Loss5–2Oct 2009Lyon, France250 SeriesHard Arnaud Clément Julien Benneteau
Nicolas Mahut
4–6, 6–7(6–8)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals edit

Singles: 5 (2–3) edit

Legend
ATP Challenger (2–3)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0May 1997Bratislava, SlovakiaChallengerClay Radomír Vašek6–4, 6–1
Loss1–1Jul 1997Newcastle, United KingdomChallengerClay Fabrice Santoro6–2, 3–6, 3–6
Loss1–2Oct 1997Brest, FranceChallengerHard Johan Van Herck6–4, 2–6, 4–6
Win2–2Feb 1999Cherbourg, FranceChallengerHard Antony Dupuis4–6, 6–3, 6–0
Loss2–3Mar 2008Sunrise, United StatesChallengerHard Robin Haase7–5, 5–7, 1–6

Doubles: 2 (0–2) edit

Legend
ATP Challenger (0–2)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–2)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1Oct 2009Orléans, FranceChallengerHard Olivier Patience Colin Fleming
Ken Skupski
1–6, 1–6
Loss0–2Oct 2010Orléans, FranceChallengerHard Nicolas Mahut Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Nicolas Renavand
6–7(3–7), 6–1, [6–10]

Junior Grand Slam finals edit

Doubles: 1 (1 title) edit

ResultYearTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1996French OpenClay Olivier Mutis Jan-Ralph Brandt
Daniel Elsner
6–2, 6–3

Performance timelines edit

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#P#DNQAZ#POGSBNMSNTIPNH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles edit

Tournament19971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010SRW–LWin%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian OpenAQ21R3RSF2RQFQF2RQF3R3RA1R0 / 1125–1169%
French Open1R1R3R3RSFQF2R2R4R2R1RAAA0 / 1119–1163%
WimbledonQ34R3R1R3RASFSFQF3R2R2RAA0 / 1025–1071%
US OpenQ11R1R3R1R2R1R2R3R2R3R1RAA0 / 119–1145%
Win–loss0–13–34–46–412–46–310–411–410–48–45–43–30–00–10 / 4378–4364%
National Representation
Summer OlympicsNot HeldANot HeldQFNot HeldANH0 / 13–175%
Year-End Championships
Tennis Masters CupDid not qualifyFDid not qualify0 / 13–260%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian WellsAAA3R3R1R3R4R2R4R1R1RAQ10 / 910–953%
MiamiAAF3R3R3R2R4R3R3R2R2RAA0 / 1015–1060%
Monte CarloQ12R3R1RSFSFA2RA2RA1RAA0 / 813–862%
RomeAA1R1R3R3R1R2R2R1RAAAA0 / 86–843%
HamburgAAA2R3R2R2R1R3R3RQ2ANMS0 / 79–756%
CanadaAA2R3RAQF3R1R3R2R1RAAA0 / 811–858%
CincinnatiA1R1R2RA1R1R1R1R1RQ2AAA0 / 81–811%
Madrid[a]AA2RSF3RSFQFA2R2RAAAA0 / 713–764%
ParisA1R1R3RW3R2RA1R2R1RA1RA1 / 108–947%
Win–loss0–01–39–68–816–515–97–86–77–89–91–41–30–10–01 / 7280–7153%
Year-end ranking1978827196171015252853170677722

Doubles edit

Tournament19961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009SRW–LWin%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian OpenAAAAA3RAAAA1R1R2RA0 / 43–443%
French Open1R1R1R1R1RAAAAAA1R1R1R0 / 80–8 – 
WimbledonAAAAAAAAAAAAAA0 / 00–0 – 
US OpenAAAAAA2RA1R1R1R1R3RA0 / 63–633%
Win–loss0–10–10–10–10–12–11–10–00–10–10–20–33–30–10 / 186–1825%
National Representation
Summer OlympicsANot HeldANot Held1RNot HeldANH0 / 10–10%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian WellsAAAA2RQ12RAW2RQFA1RA1 / 610–567%
MiamiAAAAA1R2RAQFA2RAAA0 / 44–450%
Monte CarloAAAA2R2RAA1RAAAAA0 / 32–340%
RomeAAAA1R2R1R2RAA2RAAA0 / 53–538%
HamburgAAAAQ1AA1R1RAAAANMS0 / 20–20%
CanadaAAA1R1RA1RAQF1RAAAA0 / 52–529%
CincinnatiAAAQ2AA2RA1RAAAAA0 / 21–233%
Madrid[a]AAAAAA1RAAAAAAA0 / 10–10%
ParisAA1R1RAAAAA1R2R2RA1R0 / 62–625%
Win–loss0–00–00–10–22–42–33–61–29–51–35–41–10–10–11 / 3424–3342%

Top 10 wins edit

Season199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010Total
Wins00023702011000016
#PlayerRankEventSurfaceRdScoreGR
1999
1. Carlos Moyá1Miami, United StatesHard4R3–6, 6–4, 7–6(11–9)74
2. Gustavo Kuerten6Indianapolis, United StatesHardQF6–4, 6–332
2000
3. Tim Henman9Indian Wells, United StatesHard2R6–3, 3–6, 7–519
4. Lleyton Hewitt10Toronto, CanadaHard2R6–3, 7–6(7–5)27
5. Gustavo Kuerten3Stuttgart, GermanyHard (i)3R7–6(11–9), 6–332
2001
6. Magnus Norman4Australian Open, MelbourneHard4R7–6(9–7), 6–3, 0–6, 6–419
7. Marat Safin2World Team Cup, DüsseldorfClayRR7–6(8–6), 6–310
8. Andre Agassi3French Open, ParisClayQF1–6, 6–1, 6–1, 6–310
9. Yevgeny Kafelnikov6Paris Masters, FranceCarpet (i)F7–6(7–3), 6–1, 6–7(5–7), 6–48
10. Pat Rafter5Tennis Masters Cup, SydneyHard (i)RR7–6(7–4), 6–37
11. Andre Agassi3Tennis Masters Cup, SydneyHard (i)RR6–3, 6–47
12. Yevgeny Kafelnikov6Tennis Masters Cup, SydneyHard (i)SF6–4, 6–27
2003
13. Lleyton Hewitt1Queen's Club, United KingdomGrassQF6–3, 6–420
14. Juan Carlos Ferrero3Wimbledon, United KingdomGrass4R6–2, 4–6, 7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–3)14
2005
15. Andre Agassi10Houston, United StatesClayQF4–6, 6–1, 6–230
2006
16. Guillermo Coria9Australian Open, MelbourneHard3R6–2, 6–2, 3–6, 6–428

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b Stuttgart from 1996 to 2001, and Madrid from 2002 onwards.

References edit

External links edit