Began playing tennis at age eight with his older brother, Frederic...Father, Pascal, works in the Commerce industry; mother, Raymonde, is a housewife...His uncle was European boxing champion and another uncle was World military boxing champion...Played soccer until age 12 then decided to concentrate on tennis fulltime...Most thrilling moment in sports history outside of tennis was France winning the 1998 World Cup in soccer...His favorite soccer club is Olympique Lyonnais... Enjoys listening to music of Counting Crows, favorite movie is Gladiator and CD is Rocky soundtrack...Favorite surface is carpet (taraflex) and considers backhand his best shot.
2000 -- Improved ranking more than 500 spots from previous year; Reached QF of four Futures events and picked up 19 points at South Africa/Mauritius #1 Satellite…
2001 -- Improved ranking for third consecutive year and 193 spots from year prior; Won first pro title at France Futures #14 in July; Reached SF at Grenoble Challenger…
2002 -- Finished year by capturing Futures title at Spain #22; Grabbed 25 points at Switzerland #3 Satellite in October…
2003 -- Finished in Top 100 for first time and made biggest jump into Top 100 from previous season, climbing 455 spots in ATP Rankings; Compiled a 20-12 record in Challenger play and won two titles in Andrezieux (d. Beck) and Helsinki (d. Andreev); Also picked up first ATP victories, going 3-5 in tour level play; Won first ATP match in Bangkok (d. Miranda) before falling to Dent in 2nd RD; Also won a match in Metz (first in home country) and followed with his first Masters Series win in Paris (d. Chela, l. to Federer in 2nd RD)…
2004 -- Achieved career highs for ATP wins (10) and matches played (28); Opened season by reaching his first ATP QF in Chennai, defeating Nadal and P. Amritraj (l. to Moya); Won first Grand Slam match at Australian Open, defeating Mantilla to reach 2nd RD; Played first career Davis Cup match in 1st RD tie, losing in straight sets to Ljubicic; Climbed to a career-best ranking of No. 81 on Feb. 9…Posted career-best ATP Masters Series result by reaching 3rd RD in Miami (l. to Grosjean); Reached QF at Casablanca Went 6-8 on hard courts and 4-7 on clay; Earned a career-high $194,748...
2005 -- The Frenchman followed up his best career ATP season with a solid year at Challenger level, compiling a 35-14 record... Opened year with SF in New Caledonia (l. to Simon)... Won title in Andrezieux (d. Wawrinka)... Made first ATP appearance of the year in April as qualifier at Casablanca (l. to Sanchez)... Following week qualified into ATP Masters Series Monte-Carlo and reached 2nd RD with win over Beck (l. to Coria)... Received wild card for third year in a row at Roland Garros where he fell to Sanguinetti in five sets after claiming first two... Returned to Challenger circuit and in late June won title at Reggio Emilia (d. Vassallo Arguello)... Also won title in the Bronx (d. Vahaly)...
2006 -- Compiled best results in Challenger level with 16-18 record, advancing to SF at Tampere and QF in Tunis, Reggio Emilia and Rennes...Opened season with ATP QF in Chennai (l. to Stepanek) and reached 2nd RD in Valencia (d. No. 10 Ferrer, ret.).
2007 -- The Frenchman enjoyed a strong season on Challenger circuit to finish in Top 100 for third time in five years; Compiled a 37-17 Challenger record and claimed two titles in four finals, winning at Rome in April (d. Crivoi) and Andrezieux in October (d. Acasuso) to climb back into Top 100 at No. 96 on Oct. 22; Reached back-to-back clay Challenger finals in July at Montauban (l. to Lammer) and Mantova (l. to Di Mauro), and turned in QF results at six other Challengers; Also won Futures title at France #3 in February; Went 3-4 record in ATP-level play, including second career Grand Slam match; As a wild card at Roland Garros, defeated Cilic in 1st RD before losing to Federer; Qualified at US Open, but retired in 1st RD match vs de Voest…
2008 -- Went 1-9 in ATP play…Qualified for Lyon and Metz…Won one Challenger title at Cherbourg (d. Pless)…Suffered elbow injury in motorcycle accident…Earned $141,926 in prize money…
2009 -- Reached Challenger finals at Cherbourg (l. to Clement), Vigo (l. to de Bakker) and Rennes (l. to Falla)…Went 1-3 in ATP play…
2010 -- Compiled an 0-3 record in ATP play…On 23 September retired from pro tennis after 1st RD exit at Metz (l. to Sisjsling)…
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