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Paul-Henri Mathieu
Paul-Henri Mathieu 3, 2015 Wimbledon Qualifying - Diliff.jpg
Mathieu at the 2015 Wimbledon qualifying tournament
Country (sports)  France
Residence Geneva, Switzerland
Born (1982-01-12) 12 January 1982 (age 42)
Strasbourg, France
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro 1999
Retired 31 October 2017
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money US$6,299,093
Singles
Career record 276–306
Career titles 4
Highest ranking No. 12 (7 April 2008)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open 4R (2006, 2008)
French Open 4R (2002, 2008)
Wimbledon 4R (2007, 2010)
US Open 3R (2004, 2010)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games QF (2008)
Doubles
Career record 30–88
Career titles 1
Highest ranking No. 103 (15 September 2008)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open 1R (2005, 2009, 2017)
French Open 2R (2002)
Wimbledon 1R (2003, 2007)
US Open 1R (2004, 2007, 2008, 2009)
Team competitions
Davis Cup F (2002)

Paul-Henri Mathieu (French pronunciation: [pɔl ɑ̃ʁi matjø]; born 12 January 1982) is a French former professional tennis player. He won four singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best singles performance in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament was reaching the semifinals of the 2005 Canadian Open. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 12 in April 2008.

Tennis career

Formative years

Paul-Henri Mathieu was born in Strasbourg, France. He first began playing tennis when he was three and a half years old with his older brother Pierre-Yves. From 1997 to 2000, Paul-Henri trained at the IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida before moving back to Paris.

Juniors

As a junior, Mathieu posted a singles record of 42–15 and a doubles record of 34–12, reaching as high as world no. 6 in singles and world no. 19 in doubles in January 2000. Mathieu won the boys' singles title at the 2000 French Open, defeating Tommy Robredo 3–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–2 in the final.

2000–2004

Mathieu made his ATP World Tour singles main draw debut in July 2000 in the Austrian town of Kitzbühel.

2002 was Mathieu's breakthrough year. He made the fourth round of the French Open, losing to Andre Agassi in five sets, despite having a two-set lead. Later on in the year, he confirmed his potential by winning back-to-back tournaments in Moscow and Lyon. He holds the distinction of being the last player to beat Pete Sampras before his retirement, which he did at the 2002 TD Waterhouse Cup. On 14 October, he became world no. 36, and his progress won him the ATP Newcomer of the Year award for 2002. He also nearly won the Davis Cup in 2002 with the French Davis Cup team, but lost the deciding rubber of the final to Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, once more after relinquishing a two-set advantage.

2005

In 2005, he achieved his best result in an ATP Masters Series event, knocking out Andy Roddick on his way to the semifinals at Montreal. He had a record of 2–2 in the four Davis Cup matches he played that year. He won both his matches against the Swedish opponents Thomas Johansson and Joachim Johansson, but lost to Russia's Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev in the quarterfinal tie.

2006

2006 saw him equal his best result at a Grand Slam tournament by reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open. In May a career-high ranking of no. 32 was attained. In the third round of the French Open, he lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in a grueling encounter which lasted 4 hours and 53 minutes, but 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. The score was only 1–1 in the second set after just over 2 hours of play). Many tennis players and commentators, including two-time French Open runner-up Àlex Corretja, hailed it as a classic.

2007

2007 started poorly for Mathieu when he injured himself at the Australian Open during a 1st round encounter against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 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 of Chile 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 in Casablanca defeating Álbert Montañés 6–1, 6–1. At Wimbledon, he reached round 4 for the first time, defeating Radek Štěpánek, No. 17 seed (15th-ranked) David Ferrer, and 15th seed (12th-ranked) Ivan Ljubičić. 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 6–7, 6–3, 7–5 in a difficult final to claim his fourth ATP Tour title in Gstaad, Switzerland. He rose to No. 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. 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 in round 2. In round 3, he ran into Rafael Nadal, 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 losing to world number 6 James Blake in a 3rd set tiebreak. This result projected him in the world's top 20 for the 1st time, at the 20th rank.

2012

At the 2012 French Open, Mathieu won his first round match from two sets down before defeating John Isner in five sets, 18–16 in the decider in what proved to be the second longest match in French Open history and fourth longest in Grand Slam history. He lost in the third round to the Spaniard Marcel Granollers. Mathieu defeated Igor Andreev of Russia in the Swiss Open [6–3, 7–6(4)].

2015

At the 2015 Generali Open Kitzbühel, Mathieu reached the final as a qualifier, after wins over Kenny de Schepper, Martin Kližan, Federico Delbonis and Nicolás Almagro. He lost in the final to Philipp Kohlschreiber 2–6, 6–2, 6–2.

2017

Mathieu played the last singles and doubles match of his career in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament – the 2017 Rolex Paris Masters. Rank world no. 265 in the ATP singles rankings coming into the tournament, he lost in the second and final singles qualifying round to Vasek Pospisil; he and his partner Benoît Paire lost in the doubles main draw first round to the American pair of Nicholas Monroe and Jack Sock.

Personal life

Paul-Henri Mathieu's father (Patrick) and mother (Yveline) are a dentist and a housewife respectively. Paul-Henri has a sister named Aude and a brother named Pierre-Yves. A relatively popular, well-liked player despite his inconsistent career results, Mathieu is nicknamed "Paulo" and often affectionately known by his initials, PHM. His favourite surfaces are clay and hard, and he admired Boris Becker while growing up. His brother Pierre-Yves is now a tennis coach in Strasbourg.

On 11 March 2012, Paul-Henri Mathieu became a father for the first time when his girlfriend, Quiterie Camus, gave birth to the couple's first child, a son named Gabriel. On 10 September 2016, Mathieu and Camus married in Bourron-Marlotte's town hall. It was the mother of Camus, being the deputy mayor of Bourron-Marlotte, who performed the wedding ceremony. Mathieu and Quiterie Camus had been living together as a couple for nearly 13 years before their marriage. Quiterie Camus was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in January 2013 and she recovered from it before their marriage. Their second child, a daughter named Inès, was born on 6 March 2017.

ATP Tour career finals

Singles: 10 (4 titles, 6 runners-up)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–1)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (4–5)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–3)
Clay (2–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (2–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. Oct 2002 Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia Carpet (i) Netherlands Sjeng Schalken 4–6, 6–2, 6–0
Winner 2. Oct 2002 Open Sud de France, Lyon, France Carpet (i) Brazil Gustavo Kuerten 4–6, 6–3, 6–1
Runner-up 1. Sep 2003 Campionati Internazionali di Sicilia, Palermo, Italy Clay Chile Nicolás Massú 6–1, 2–6, 6–7(0–7)
Winner 3. Apr 2007 Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco Clay Spain Álbert Montañés 6–1, 6–1
Winner 4. Jul 2007 Swiss Open, Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Italy Andreas Seppi 6–7(1–7), 6–4, 7–5
Runner-up 2. Oct 2007 Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia Hard (i) Russia Nikolay Davydenko 5–7, 6–7(9–11)
Runner-up 3. Oct 2008 Moselle Open, Metz, France Hard (i) Russia Dmitry Tursunov 6–7(6–8), 6–1, 4–6
Runner-up 4. Jul 2009 International German Open, Hamburg, Germany Clay Russia Nikolay Davydenko 4–6, 2–6
Runner-up 5. Aug 2015 Austrian Open Kitzbühel, Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Germany Philipp Kohlschreiber 6–2, 2–6, 2–6
Runner-up 6. Feb 2016 Open Sud de France, Montpellier, France Hard (i) France Richard Gasquet 5–7, 4–6

Doubles: 2 (1–1)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–1)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1. Sep 2008 Romanian Open, Bucharest, Romania Clay France Nicolas Devilder Poland Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Poland Marcin Matkowski
7–6(7–4), 6–7(9–11), [22–20]
Runner-up 1. Jul 2010 International German Open, Hamburg, Germany Clay France Jérémy Chardy Spain David Marrero
Spain Marc López
3–6, 6–2, [8–10]

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 14 (4–10)

Legend (singles)
ATP Challenger Tour (1–9)
ITF Futures Tour (3–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–5)
Clay (3–5)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Apr 2000 USA F7, Mobile Futures Hard Argentina Damián Furmanski 4–5 ret.
Win 1–1 Feb 2001 France F4, Deauville Futures Clay France Jean-Michel Pequery 6–3, 7–5
Win 2–1 May 2001 Italy F1, Tortoreto Futures Clay Italy Massimo Dell'Acqua 7–5, 6–1
Win 3–1 May 2001 Italy F2, Valdengo Futures Clay France Guillaume Marx 7–5, 6–3
Loss 3–2 Jul 2001 Scheviningen, Netherlands Challenger Clay Netherlands Raemon Sluiter 3–6, 4–6
Loss 3–3 Aug 2001 Córdoba, Spain Challenger Hard Finland Jarkko Nieminen 4–6, 6–2, 3–6
Loss 3–4 Mar 2002 Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay Belgium Dick Norman 6–2, 2–6, 4–6
Win 4–4 Aug 2004 Segovia, Spain Challenger Hard France Nicolas Mahut 6–7(4–7), 6–4, 6–4
Loss 4–5 Sep 2012 Pétange, Luxembourg Challenger Hard Germany Tobias Kamke 6–7(7–9), 4–6
Loss 4–6 Sep 2013 Pétange, Luxembourg Challenger Hard Germany Tobias Kamke 6–1, 3–6, 5–7
Loss 4–7 Jul 2014 Braunschweig, Germany Challenger Clay Germany Alexander Zverev 6–1, 1–6, 4–6
Loss 4–8 May 2015 Aix En Provence, France Challenger Clay Netherlands Robin Haase 6–7(1–7), 2–6
Loss 4–9 Jul 2015 Braunschweig, Germany Challenger Clay Serbia Filip Krajinović 2–6, 4–6
Loss 4–10 Mar 2016 Quimper, France Challenger Hard Russia Andrey Rublev 7–6(8–6), 4–6, 4–6

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 2000 French Open Clay Spain Tommy Robredo 3–6, 7–6(7–2), 6–2

Performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

Singles

Tournament 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A Q1 1R A A 1R 4R 1R 4R 2R A A A 1R Q2 1R 1R 1R 0 / 10 7–10
French Open A Q1 1R 4R 1R A 3R 3R 3R 4R 3R 1R A 3R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 0 / 15 17–15
Wimbledon A A A 2R 1R A 1R 1R 4R 3R 2R 4R A 1R 2R 1R Q3 1R Q3 0 / 12 12–12
US Open A Q1 Q1 1R 1R 3R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 3R A 2R 1R 2R 1R 2R Q1 0 / 14 9–14
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 0–0 3–3 1–4 1–3 0–3 2–4 0–2 0 / 51 44–51
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics NH A Not Held A Not Held QF Not Held A Not Held A NH 0 / 1 3–1
ATP Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A Q1 A A A 4R 3R 3R 3R 3R 2R A A 1R 2R Q1 A A 0 / 8 11–8
Miami Masters A Q1 A Q1 1R A 2R 1R 4R 4R 3R 1R A A A 1R Q1 1R A 0 / 9 7–9
Monte Carlo Masters A Q2 Q2 A 1R A 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R A 2R A 1R Q2 A Q1 0 / 9 2–9
Rome Masters A A A A 1R A 1R 2R A 1R 2R 1R A A A A A Q1 A 0 / 6 2–6
Madrid Masters Not Held A A A 1R A 3R 1R 1R 1R A A Q2 2R A A A 0 / 6 2–6
Canada Masters A A A A 2R A SF 1R 3R 1R 2R 2R A Q2 A A A A A 0 / 7 8–7
Cincinnati Masters A Q1 A A 2R A 2R 1R 1R 1R 3R 2R A 1R A Q2 A Q1 A 0 / 8 5–8
Shanghai Masters Not Masters Series 1R Q1 A A A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1
Paris Masters A Q2 Q1 A 1R 1R 3R 3R 1R 1R 1R A A 2R A A Q2 1R Q2 0 / 9 5–9
Hamburg Masters A A A A 1R A 1R 3R 2R 1R NM1 0 / 5 3–5
Career statistics
Titles / Finals 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 2 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 2 / 3 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 0 4 / 10
Overall win–loss 0–0 2–3 0–2 23–16 16–23 10–11 28–29 23–28 46–24 32–28 28–29 11–20 0–0 14–17 6–19 11–17 7–12 18–19 1–9 276–306
Year-end ranking 517 272 147 36 83 121 47 55 25 32 33 97 NR 59 129 97 95 73 249

Doubles

Tournament 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A 1R A A A 1R A A A A A A A 1R 0 / 3 0–3
French Open 1R 2R 1R A 1R 1R A A A A A A 1R 1R A 1R 1R 0 / 9 1–9
Wimbledon A A 1R A A A 1R A A A A A A A A 1R A 0 / 3 0–3
US Open A A A 1R A A 1R 1R 1R A A A A A A 1R A 0 / 5 0–5
Win–loss 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–3 0–2 0 / 20 1–20

ATP career earnings

Year Grand Slam singles titles ATP World Tour singles titles Total singles titles Earnings Money list rank
1999 0 0 0 $3,711
2000 0 0 0 $30,669
2001 0 0 0 $64,452
2002 0 2 2 $406,768 50
2003 0 0 0 $280,417 77
2004 0 0 0 $142,400 147
2005 0 0 0 $438,455 56
2006 0 0 0 $423,072 59
2007 0 2 2 $699,770 24
2008 0 0 0 $672,772 39
2009 0 0 0 $646,722 41
2010 0 0 0 $392,899 73
2011 0 0 0 $0
2012 0 0 0 $378,879 82
2013 0 0 0 $340,564 102
2014 0 0 0 $360,867 105
2015 0 6 6 $292,030 121
2016 0 0 0 $521,761 82
2017 0 0 0 $202,806 177
Career 0 4 4 $6,299,093 146

Wins against top-10 players

Season 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total
Wins 0 0 2 1 1 1 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score
2002
1. Spain Albert Costa 7 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay 1R 6–4, 6–3
2. Russia Marat Safin 4 Moscow, Russia Carpet (i) SF 7–6(7–3), 6–4
2003
3. Germany Rainer Schüttler 8 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay 2R 6–4, 3–6, 6–3
2004
4. Spain Carlos Moyá 6 Davis Cup, Alicante, Spain Clay RR 6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–3
2005
5. United States Andy Roddick 5 Montreal, Canada Hard 1R 7–5, 6–3
2007
6. Russia Nikolay Davydenko 3 Sydney, Australia Hard 2R 6–4, ret.
7. Chile Fernando González 5 Miami, United States Hard 3R 6–3, 7–6(8–6)
8. Russia Nikolay Davydenko 4 Davis Cup, Moscow, Russia Clay (i) RR 2–6, 6–2, 6–1, 7–5
9. Chile Fernando González 6 Estoril, Portugal Clay 1R 6–2, 6–4
2008
10. Russia Nikolay Davydenko 5 Summer Olympics, Beijing, China Hard 2R 7–5, 6–3

See also

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