Sébastien Grosjean

Sébastien Grosjean

Country (sports)	France
Residence	Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.
Born	(1978-05-29) 29 May 1978 Marseille, France
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	1996
Retired	May 27, 2010
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$8,131,804
Singles
Career record	341–247
Career titles	4
Highest ranking	No. 4 (28 October 2002)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	SF (2001)
French Open	SF (2001)
Wimbledon	SF (2003, 2004)
US Open	3R (2000, 2005, 2007)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	F (2001)
Olympic Games	QF (2000)
Doubles
Career record	82–99
Career titles	5
Highest ranking	No. 52 (12 April 2004)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	W (2001)

Sébastien René Grosjean (French pronunciation: ​[sebastjɛ̃ ʁəne ɡʁoˈʒɑ̃]; born 29 May 1978) is a retired tennis player from France. His career-high ATP singles ranking was world No. 4, achieved in October 2002. Grosjean retired from tennis on 27 May 2010.^[1]

Career

Juniors

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

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 semi-finals 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 semi-finals 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, until the 2004 French Open final.

He won his fourth singles title at the 2007 Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, with a 7–6, 6–4 victory over countryman Marc Gicquel. He also won the doubles final with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (who Grosjean beat in the singles semifinals), entering the tournament as a wildcard team where they upset the first and third seeds. They beat Łukasz Kubot and Lovro Zovko 6–4, 6–3 in the final, and the Kubot-Zovko team was the only team that was not all-French.

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

Grosjean married his wife Marie-Pierre on November 16, 1998 and has a daughter named Lola (born October 11, 1998), a son named Tom (2002) and a daughter named Sam (2006). The family currently resides in Boca Raton, Florida, United States, where Grosjean trains at the Evert Tennis Academy. He is sponsored by Lacoste in apparel and Head rackets. He used the Head Prestige Classic 660 throughout his career.

Major finals

Year-End Championships finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2001	Sydney	Hard (i)	Lleyton Hewitt	3–6, 3–6, 4–6

Masters Series finals

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

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1999	Miami	Hard	Richard Krajicek	6–4, 1–6, 2–6, 5–7
Winner	2001	Paris	Carpet (i)	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	7–6(7–3), 6–1, 6–7(5–7), 6–4

Career finals

Singles: 13 (4–9)

Wins (4)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1.	March 29, 1999	Miami, USA	Hard	Richard Krajicek	6–4, 1–6, 2–6, 5–7
Runner-up	2.	May 3, 1999	Atlanta, USA	Clay	Stefan Koubek	1–6, 2–6
Runner-up	3.	April 17, 2000	Casablanca, Morocco	Clay	Fernando Vicente	4–6, 6–4, 6–7(3–7)
Winner	1.	June 25, 2000	Nottingham, UK	Grass	Byron Black	7–6(9–7), 6–3
Runner-up	4.	February 19, 2001	Marseille, France	Hard (i)	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–7(5–7), 2–6
Winner	2.	November 4, 2001	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	7–6(7–3), 6–1, 6–7(5–7), 6–4
Runner-up	5.	November 12, 2001	Tennis Masters Cup, Sydney, Australia	Hard (i)	Lleyton Hewitt	3–6, 3–6, 4–6
Winner	3.	October 27, 2002	St. Petersburg, Russia	Hard (i)	Mikhail Youzhny	7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	6.	June 16, 2003	London (Queen's Club), United Kingdom	Grass	Andy Roddick	3–6, 3–6
Runner-up	7.	October 6, 2003	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Rainer Schüttler	6–7(5–7), 2–6
Runner-up	8.	June 14, 2004	London (Queen's Club), United Kingdom	Grass	Andy Roddick	6–7(4–7), 4–6
Runner-up	9.	April 25, 2005	Houston, USA	Clay	Andy Roddick	2–6, 2–6
Winner	4.	October 28, 2007	Lyon, France	Carpet (i)	Marc Gicquel	7–6(7–5), 6–4

Doubles

Wins (5)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	April 10, 2000	Casablanca, Morocco	Clay	Arnaud Clément	Lars Burgsmüller Andrew Painter	7–6(7–4), 6–4
2.	July 22, 2002	Los Angeles, California, United States	Hard	Nicolas Kiefer	Justin Gimelstob Michaël Llodra	6–4, 6–4
3.	February 10, 2003	Marseille, France	Hard (i)	Fabrice Santoro	Tomáš Cibulec Pavel Vízner	6–1, 6–4
4.	March 8, 2004	Indian Wells, California, United States	Hard	Arnaud Clément	Wayne Black Kevin Ullyett	6–3, 4–6, 7–5
5.	October 22, 2007	Lyon, France	Carpet (i)	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	Łukasz Kubot Lovro Zovko	6–4, 6–3

Performance timeline

Singles

References

External links

• Sébastien Grosjean at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Sébastien Grosjean at the International Tennis Federation
• Sébastien Grosjean at the Davis Cup
• Grosjean World Ranking History