Paul-Henri Mathieu
Encyclopedia
Paul-Henri Mathieu is a French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 tennis player
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

.

Tennis career

Mathieu was born in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

, France. He first began playing tennis at age 3, with his older brother Pierre-Yves. Between 1997 and 2000 he trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy
Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy
The Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy is located in Bradenton, Florida, and was founded in 1978 by Nick Bollettieri as a full-time tennis boarding school that combines intensive tennis training with an academic curriculum....

 in Bradenton, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. After having won the Junior title at the French Open (defeating Tommy Robredo
Tommy Robredo
Tommy Robredo Garcés is a Spanish professional tennis player. On 8 May 2006, he broke into the world's top ten for the first time. His highest singles ranking to date is No...

), he made his ATP
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...

 tour debut in July 2000, in Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel
-Demographic evolution:-Personalities:*Karl Wilhelm von Dalla Torre , entomologist and botanist*Alfons Walde , expressionist painter and architect*Peter Aufschnaiter , mountaineer and geographer...

.

2002 was Mathieu's breakthrough year. He made the 4th round of the French Open, losing to Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...

 in 5 sets, despite having a 2 set lead. Later on in the year, he confirmed his potential by winning back to back tournaments in Moscow and Lyon
Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon
The Open Sud de France is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It was held annually at the Palais des Sports de Gerland in Lyon, France, in October, from 1987 through to 2009, before being relocated to...

. On 14 October he became world no. 36 and his progess won him the ATP Newcomer of the Year
ATP Awards
This is a list of all the awards given by the ATP World Tour to players of particular distinction during a given season. The 2011 awards were announced on November 19.-Player of the Year:-Doubles Team of the Year:-Most Improved Player:...

 award for 2002. He also nearly won the Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...

 in 2002 with the French Davis Cup team, but lost the deciding rubber of the final to Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....

 of Russia, once more after relinquishing a 2 set advantage.

In 2005 he achieved his best ever result in an ATP Masters Series
ATP Masters Series
The ATP Masters Series was a series of nine tennis tournaments that formed part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America...

 event, knocking out Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

 on his way to the semi-finals at Montreal
Canada Masters
The Canada Masters , currently sponsored as the Rogers Cup, is an annual tennis tournament held in Canada. The men's competition is a Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. The women's competition is a Premier 5 tournament on the Women's Tennis Association tour...

. He had a record of 2–2 in the 4 Davis Cup matches he played that year. He won both his matches against the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 opponents Thomas Johansson
Thomas Johansson
Karl Thomas Conny Johansson , commonly known as Thomas Johansson, is a former Swedish professional tennis player. He is a former Australian Open singles champion and Olympic silver medalist in doubles.-Junior career:...

 and Joachim Johansson
Joachim Johansson
Joachim Johansson is a former professional male tennis player from Sweden.-Background:Johansson was born in Lund and currently lives in Södertälje, Sweden. His father, Leif Johansson, was also a tennis player and represented Sweden in the Davis Cup in the 1970s. He goes by the nickname "Pim Pim",...

, but lost to Russia's Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...

 and Igor Andreev
Igor Andreev
Igor Valerievich Andreev is a Russian professional tennis player, born in Moscow.-2003:Andreev made his ATP debut in September 2003 at Bucharest, Romania as a qualifier and defeated top seed Nikolay Davydenko 7–5, 6–7, 6–0 in the first round, before losing in the next round to José Acasuso.At the...

 in the quarter final tie.

2006 saw him equal his best result at a Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...

 tournament by reaching the 4th round of the Australian Open
Australian Open
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...

. In May a career-high ranking of 32 was attained. In the 3rd round of the French Open, he lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

 in a gruelling encounter which lasted 4 hours and 53 minutes, but amazingly only saw 42 games played (Nadal won the match 5–7, 6–4, 6–4, 6–4, with the first set lasting 93 minutes and each of the following sets longer than an hour). Many tennis players and commentators, including two-time French Open runner-up Àlex Corretja
Àlex Corretja
Àlex Corretja i Verdegay is a former professional tennis player from Spain. During his career, he finished runner-up twice at the French Open . He won the ATP Tour World Championships in 1998 and reached his career-high singles ranking of world no. 2 in 1999...

, hailed it as a classic.

Mathieu is known for being able to hit heavy groundstrokes from both wings and his topspin forehand is probably his biggest weapon. A relatively popular, well-liked player despite his inconsistent career results, Mathieu is often affectionately known by his initials, "PHM". His favourite surfaces are clay and hard, and he admired Boris Becker
Boris Becker
Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...

 while growing up. His brother Pierre-Yves is now a tennis coach in Strasbourg.

2007

2007 started poorly for Mathieu when he injured himself at the Australian Open during a 1st round encounter against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a professional tennis player. He is currently ranked no. 22 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight...

 and was forced to retire from the match. This was unfortunate as Mathieu was up 2 sets and 3–0 in the 3rd set tiebreak at the time. After returning from his injury, he reached the 4th round in Miami, beating then world number 5 Fernando González
Fernando González
----Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi is a professional tennis player from Chile. He is known for having one of the hardest forehands on the circuit. In Spanish he is called El Bombardero de La Reina and Mano de Piedra...

 of Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 along the way, before bowing out to Andy Murray in 3 sets.

On 29 April 2007, Mathieu won his 3rd career title, the Grand Prix Hassan II
Grand Prix Hassan II
The Grand Prix Hassan II is an annual tennis tournament on the ATP Tour and is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series. The event is held annually at the Complexe Al Amal in Casablanca, Morocco and is played on clay courts. Between 1986 and 1989 it was part of the Challenger...

 in Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...

 defeating Álbert Montañés
Álbert Montañés
Albert Montañés Roca is a professional tennis player from Spain.He first entered the top-100 in 2001 and has been in the top-100 for all but 20 weeks since then...

 6–1 6–1. At Wimbledon, he reached round 4 for the first time, defeating Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štepánek
Radek Štěpánek is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.-Career:Štěpánek turned professional in 1997. He started on tour as a doubles specialist, winning 12 ATP titles. Since 2002, Štěpánek has focused on being a better singles player while still playing top-level doubles...

, #17 seed (15th-ranked) David Ferrer
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...

, and 15th seed (12th-ranked) Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubicic
----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....

. He attained a career high ranking of 28 in singles after this result, entering the world's top 30 for the first time. The week after Wimbledon, he beat Italian Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi is a professional tennis player from South Tyrol, northern Italy, who turned professional in 2000. He considers clay and hard courts his favourite surfaces. and is coached by Massimo Sartori....

 6–7 (1), 6–3, 7–5 in a difficult final to claim his fourth ATP Tour title in Gstaad
Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad
The Swiss Open is a tennis tournament held in Gstaad, Switzerland. Held since 1915, the tournament is played on outdoor clay courts...

, Switzerland. He rose to #23 in the rankings, making his top 25 breakthrough.

At the Montreal Masters, he produced one of the comebacks of the season to beat 15th seed Guillermo Cañas
Guillermo Cañas
Guillermo Ignacio Cañas , often referred to as Willy Cañas, is a retired Argentine professional tennis player. He was born in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, and named after Argentine tennis star Guillermo Vilas. His highest singles ranking was 8th . After retirement Cañas took on coaching, he...

. Trailing 4–6 0–4, he managed to up his level of play to win 13 of the next 14 games and record a win by the score of 4–6 7–5 6–0. He followed that up with a win over Mario Ančić
Mario Ancic
Mario Ančić is a retired Croatian professional tennis player. He won three singles titles and five doubles titles. His highest international ranking came during the 2006 ATP Tour, when he reached no. 7 in singles...

 in round 2. In round 3, he ran into Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

, and actually won the first set 6–3 before losing the next two 6–3 6–2.

He then made the semi-finals of New Haven
Pilot Pen Tennis
This article is about the former New Haven joint tennis event. It is now a women's-only event. For the New Haven men's tennis event known as Volvo International , click here....

 losing to world number 6 James Blake
James Blake
James Riley Blake is an American professional tennis player. Blake is known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. As of August 2011, Blake is ranked no. 63 among active male players with 24 career finals appearances...

 in a 3rd set tiebreak. This result projected him in the world's top 20 for the 1st time, at the 20th rank.

Singles: 8 (4–4)

Legend (pre/post 2009)
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
Tennis Masters Cup /
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series /
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP International Series Gold /
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–1)
ATP International Series /
ATP World Tour 250 Series (4–3)
EWLINE
Finals by Surface
Hard (0–2)
Clay (2–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (2–0)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Winner 1. 6 October 2002   Moscow
Kremlin Cup
The Kremlin Cup is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour and is a Premier Tournament on the WTA Tour...

, Russia
Carpet (i)   Sjeng Schalken
Sjeng Schalken
Sjeng Schalken is a former professional tennis player from the Netherlands.-Playing style:A right-handed baseliner with a single-handed backhand, Schalken's game is characterised by his consistency of both wings and his continental technique on both the forehand and backhand...

4–6, 6–2, 6–0
Winner 2. 13 October 2002   Lyon
Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon
The Open Sud de France is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It was held annually at the Palais des Sports de Gerland in Lyon, France, in October, from 1987 through to 2009, before being relocated to...

, France
Carpet (i)   Gustavo Kuerten
Gustavo Kuerten
Gustavo Kuerten is a retired former World No. 1 tennis player from Brazil. He won the French Open three times between 1997 and 2001, and was the Tennis Masters Cup champion in 2000...

4–6, 6–3, 6–1
Runner-up 1. 28 September 2003   Palermo
Campionati Internazionali di Sicilia
The Campionati Internazionali di Sicilia was a tennis tournament held annually in Palermo in Italy. Held from 1935 until 2006, the tournament was played on outdoor clay courts and was a part of the ATP Tour schedule from 1979 to 2006.-Singles:-Doubles:...

, Italy
Clay   Nicolás Massú
Nicolás Massú
Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried , nicknamed Vampiro , is a Chilean tennis player, a former world number nine in singles, and a two-time Olympic gold medalist...

6–1, 2–6, 6–7(0)
Winner 3. 29 April 2007   Casablanca
Grand Prix Hassan II
The Grand Prix Hassan II is an annual tennis tournament on the ATP Tour and is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series. The event is held annually at the Complexe Al Amal in Casablanca, Morocco and is played on clay courts. Between 1986 and 1989 it was part of the Challenger...

, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

Clay   Álbert Montañés
Álbert Montañés
Albert Montañés Roca is a professional tennis player from Spain.He first entered the top-100 in 2001 and has been in the top-100 for all but 20 weeks since then...

6–1, 6–1
Winner 4. 15 July 2007   Gstaad
Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad
The Swiss Open is a tennis tournament held in Gstaad, Switzerland. Held since 1915, the tournament is played on outdoor clay courts...

, Switzerland
Clay   Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi is a professional tennis player from South Tyrol, northern Italy, who turned professional in 2000. He considers clay and hard courts his favourite surfaces. and is coached by Massimo Sartori....

6–7(1), 6–4, 7–5
Runner-up 2. 14 October 2007   Moscow, Russia Hard (i)   Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...

5–7, 6–7(9)
Runner-up 3. 5 October 2008   Metz
Open de Moselle
The Open de Moselle is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It has been held annually since 2003. The venue for the tournament was the Arènes until 2010 and is now the Parc des Expositions since 2011...

, France
Hard (i)   Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov is a Russian professional male tennis player. He was 12 years old when he came to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player....

6–7(6), 6–1, 4–6
Runner-up 4. 26 July 2009   Hamburg, Germany Clay   Nikolay Davydenko 4–6, 2–6

Doubles: 1 (1–0)

Legend (pre/post 2009)
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
Tennis Masters Cup /
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series /
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP International Series Gold /
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP International Series /
ATP World Tour 250 Series (1–0)
EWLINE
Finals by Surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final
Winner 1. 13 September 2008   Bucharest, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

Clay   Nicolas Devilder
Nicolas Devilder
Nicolas Devilder is a French male tennis player. He reached a career high singles ranking of 60 in the world on September 8, 2008, after reaching the semifinals of the Montevideo Challenger, where he lost to former top ten player, Guillermo Cañas...

  Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Mariusz Fyrstenberg is a left-handed Polish professional tennis player whose speciality is in doubles. His current partner is Marcin Matkowski; they have been playing together since 2003....


  Marcin Matkowski
Marcin Matkowski
Marcin Matkowski is a right-handed Polish professional tennis player whose speciality is in doubles. His current partner is Mariusz Fyrstenberg; they have been playing together since 2003, he occasionally plays mixed doubles with Caroline Wozniacki.Matkowski and Fyrstenberg qualified as the eighth...

7–6(4), 6–7(9), [22–20]

Singles performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only after a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through 2010 ATP World Tour
2010 ATP World Tour
The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2010 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World...

.
Tournament199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010Career W-L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open
Australian Open
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...

1R 1R 4R 1R 4R 2R 7–6
French Open 1R 4R 1R 3R 3R 3R 4R 3R 1R 14–9
Wimbledon 2R 1R 1R 1R 4R 3R 2R 4R 10–8
US Open 1R 1R 3R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 3R 6–9
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 4–4 0–3 2–1 2–4 6–4 5–4 9–4 4–4 5–3 37–32
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics
Tennis at the Summer Olympics
Tennis was part of the Summer Olympic Games program from the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics, but was dropped after the 1924 Summer Olympics...

NH Not Held Not Held QF NH 3–1
ATP Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters
Indian Wells Masters
The Indian Wells Masters is an annual tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California....

4R 3R 3R 3R 3R 2R 11–6
Miami Masters
Miami Masters
The Miami Masters is an annual tennis tournament for men and women held in Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida. It is an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the men's tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the women's tour and is played on hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park...

1R 2R 1R 4R 4R 3R 1R 9–7
Monte Carlo Masters 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1–7
Rome Masters
Rome Masters
The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open, with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, and the women's...

1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 2–6
Madrid Masters
Madrid Masters
There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters...

1R 3R 1R 1R 1R 2–5
Canada Masters
Canada Masters
The Canada Masters , currently sponsored as the Rogers Cup, is an annual tennis tournament held in Canada. The men's competition is a Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. The women's competition is a Premier 5 tournament on the Women's Tennis Association tour...

2R SF 1R 3R 1R 2R 2R 8–7
Cincinnati Masters
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open is an annual outdoor hardcourts tennis event held in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason, Ohio, USA. The event started on September 18, 1899 and is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States played in its original city., Between...

2R 2R 1R 1R 1R 3R 2R 5–7
Shanghai Masters
Shanghai Masters (tennis)
The Shanghai Masters is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour. It is held annually in October at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Shanghai, People's...

Not Held NMS Not Held Not Masters Series 1R LQ 0–1
Paris Masters
Paris Masters
The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. The event is part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour...

1R 1R 3R 3R 1R 1R 1R 4–7
Hamburg Masters
Hamburg Masters
The German Open Hamburg, established in 1892, is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Hamburg, Germany and part of the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Originally a Grand Prix Tennis Tour event between 1978 and 1989 it was part of the Grand Prix Championship...

1R 1R 3R 2R 1R NM1 3–5
Career statistics
Titles–Runner-ups 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–1 0–1 0–1 0–0 4–4
Year End Ranking 518 275 150 36 83 123 46 55 25 31 33 97 219–213

External links


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