Julien Benneteau facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Julien Benneteau

Benneteau at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships
Country (sports)	France
Residence	Geneva, Switzerland
Born	(1981-12-20) 20 December 1981 (age 43) Bourg-en-Bresse, France
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro	2000
Retired	2018
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$9,556,742
Singles
Career record	273–297 (47.89%)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 25 (17 November 2014)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	3R (2006, 2012, 2013, 2018)
French Open	QF (2006)
Wimbledon	4R (2010)
US Open	3R (2009, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (2012)
Doubles
Career record	265–195 (57.61%)
Career titles	12
Highest ranking	No. 5 (3 November 2014)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2007)
French Open	W (2014)
Wimbledon	F (2016)
US Open	SF (2004, 2007)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	SF (2014)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	W (2017)
Medal record Olympic Games Bronze 2012 London Doubles

Julien Henry Guy Benneteau-Desgrois (born December 20, 1981) is a French former professional tennis player. He was known for his strong doubles play and exciting singles matches. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 25 in singles and No. 5 in doubles in November 2014.

Even though he didn't win any singles titles, Julien Benneteau reached the final of 10 different ATP tournaments. He had great success in doubles, winning a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics with Richard Gasquet. He also won the 2014 French Open men's doubles title with Édouard Roger-Vasselin. This was a big achievement, as they were the first French team to win that title in 30 years!

Benneteau officially retired from professional tennis after the 2018 US Open. However, he was asked to play for France in the Davis Cup semifinals in September 2018. He teamed up with Nicolas Mahut and helped France win, leading them to the final. He then played a few more tournaments before ending his career at the Paris Masters. Since 2018, Benneteau has been the captain of France's Billie Jean King Cup team.

Tennis Journey

Early Career and Junior Success

Julien Benneteau started playing tennis at a young age. As a junior player, he showed great promise. In 1999, he won the Boys 16s doubles title at the Orange Bowl, which is a very important junior tournament.

He also achieved high rankings as a junior, reaching No. 17 in singles and No. 1 in doubles in 1999. That same year, he and Nicolas Mahut won the US Open Boys' Doubles title.

Becoming a Professional Player

Benneteau turned professional in 2000. He quickly started making a name for himself in the tennis world.

At the 2006 French Open, he had a fantastic run, reaching the quarterfinals. This meant he was among the top eight players in one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world! He beat several strong players before losing to Ivan Ljubičić.

In 2008, he finished the year in the top 50 players globally. He reached two ATP finals that year, but couldn't quite win a title. He reached another final in 2009 in Kitzbühel.

One of his most memorable wins came on November 11, 2009, at the Paris Masters. He surprised everyone by beating the world No. 1 player, Roger Federer, in front of his home crowd. This was a huge victory for him!

At Wimbledon 2012, Benneteau played another exciting match against Roger Federer. He was even leading by two sets before Federer managed to come back and win. Later that year, at the 2012 London Olympics, he won a bronze medal in doubles with his partner Richard Gasquet.

Julien Benneteau playing at Wimbledon in 2013.

In 2013, Benneteau continued to show his skill by beating Roger Federer again at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam. He reached the final of that tournament but lost to Juan Martín del Potro. He also reached the final of the Malaysian Open for the second year in a row, but again, he couldn't win the title.

The 2014 season was also strong for Benneteau. He reached the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Masters and the semifinals of the Cincinnati Masters. He also made it to the final of the Malaysian Open for the third time in a row, but lost to Kei Nishikori.

In 2017, he reached the semifinals of the Paris Masters. In 2018, his final year on tour, he reached the third round of the Australian Open and the second round of the French Open.

Major Tournament Achievements

Julien Benneteau had some great results in the biggest tennis tournaments, especially in doubles.

Grand Slam Doubles Finals

He played in two Grand Slam doubles finals, winning one of them!

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	2014	French Open	Clay	Édouard Roger-Vasselin	Marcel Granollers Marc López	6–3, 7–6(7–1)
Loss	2016	Wimbledon	Grass	Édouard Roger-Vasselin	Pierre-Hugues Herbert Nicolas Mahut	4–6, 6–7(1–7), 3–6

Masters 1000 Doubles Finals

Masters 1000 tournaments are very important, just below Grand Slams. Benneteau reached six of these finals in doubles, winning two of them.

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2007	Monte-Carlo Masters	Clay	Richard Gasquet	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	2–6, 1–6
Win	2009	Shanghai Masters	Hard (i)	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski	6–2, 6–4
Loss	2010	Canadian Open	Hard	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	5–7, 3–6
Loss	2011	Paris Masters	Hard (i)	Nicolas Mahut	Rohan Bopanna Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi	2–6, 4–6
Win	2013	Monte-Carlo Masters	Clay	Nenad Zimonjić	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	4–6, 7–6(7–4), [14–12]
Loss	2014	Shanghai Masters	Hard	Édouard Roger-Vasselin	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	3–6, 6–7(3–7)

Olympic Medal Match

Benneteau won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics in men's doubles.

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Bronze	2012	Summer Olympics, London	Grass	Richard Gasquet	David Ferrer Feliciano López	7–6(7–4), 6–2

Beating Top Players

Julien Benneteau had a strong record against players ranked in the top 10 in the world. He managed to beat 18 of these top players during his career. Here are some of his notable wins:

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score
2006
1.	Andy Roddick	3	Memphis, United States	Hard (i)	QF	3–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–4)
2.	Marcos Baghdatis	10	Toronto, Canada	Hard	1R	5–7, 6–2, 6–3
3.	Fernando González	8	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	2R	3–6, 6–4, 7–5
2007
4.	James Blake	6	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	3R	6–2, 7–6(7–1)
2008
5.	David Ferrer	5	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	QF	6–4, 6–0
2009
6.	Nikolay Davydenko	5	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Hard (i)	2R	6–3, 6–2
7.	Roger Federer	1	Paris, France	Hard (i)	2R	3–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–4
2010
8.	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	9	Marseille, France	Hard (i)	SF	7–6(13–11), 5–7, 7–6(7–3)
2011
9.	Nicolás Almagro	10	US Open, New York, United States	Hard	1R	6–2, 6–4, 6–3
2012
10.	David Ferrer	5	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Hard (i)	SF	6–4, 6–1
2013
11.	Roger Federer	2	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Hard (i)	QF	6–3, 7–5
12.	Stan Wawrinka	10	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Hard (i)	SF	6–4, 6–3
2014
13.	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	10	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	2R	6–4, 6–4
14.	Stan Wawrinka	4	Cincinnati, United States	Hard	QF	1–6, 6–1, 6–2
15.	Grigor Dimitrov	10	Shanghai, China	Hard	2R	7–5, 6–3
2017
16.	David Goffin	10	Paris, France	Hard (i)	3R	6–3, 6–3
17.	Marin Čilić	5	Paris, France	Hard (i)	QF	7–6(7–5), 7–5
2018
18.	David Goffin	7	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	2R	1–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–1, 7–6(7–4)

Images for kids

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  Julien Benneteau playing at Wimbledon in 2013.

See also

In Spanish: Julien Benneteau para niños