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Nicolas Mahut

Country (sports)	France
Residence	Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Turned pro	2000
Plays	Right-handed; one-handed backhand
Prize money	$2,116,615
Singles
Career record	63 - 99
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 40 (February 18, 2008)
Current ranking	No. 149 (June 14, 2010)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	2R (2007, 2008)
French Open	2R (2010)
Wimbledon	3R (2006)
US Open	2R (2006)
Doubles
Career record	87 - 85
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 25 (January 10, 2005)
Last updated on: June 14, 2010.

Nicolas Mahut (born January 21, 1982 in Angers) is a French tennis player. Mahut is right-handed and has previously won the Orange Bowl in 1999, becoming professional in 2000. He is a good serve and volleyer and a doubles expert, having won many tournaments with his doubles partner Julien Benneteau. His career high was #40, achieved on February 18, 2008.

At the 2007 Queen's Club Championships, Mahut defeated both fifth-seed Ivan Ljubičić and top-seed Rafael Nadal in straight sets, and on the same day, to reach the semi-finals, where he beat compatriot Arnaud Clément. He lost in 3 sets 4–6, 7–6 (7), 7–6 (2) to Andy Roddick in his first ATP final after holding one match-point in the second set tiebreak.

Mahut returned to the public eye in 2010 at Wimbledon, when John Isner defeated him in the longest match in professional tennis history. Despite the losing effort, Mahut became the only person in tennis history to win more than 500 points in a single match.

Career

Junior career

In 1998, Mahut was Champion of France for 15- and 16-year-olds and the 17- and 18-year-olds. 1999 saw Mahut win the Orange Bowl doubles title. In addition, Mahut was the winner of the Sunshine Cup, the 35th Coffee Bowl and U.S. Open junior doubles titles. Mahut was also a winner of the Coupe Galéa-Valério.

Mahut was the 2000 Wimbledon boys' singles winner. He also was the winner of the Australian Open with future top five star Tommy Robredo in doubles competition.

2003-2005

In 2003, Mahut entered the top 100 of the ATP singles rankings. He also was the winner of the Open de Moselle in Metz, France with Julien Benneteau. 2004 saw the Frenchman become the Champion of France with the team Paris Jean Bouin. His doubles results were bright, losing in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Masters with Julien Benneteau in doubles. He was a winner of the Open de Moselle in Metz, France with Arnaud Clément, and a semifinalist of the U.S. Open with Benneteau in doubles.

In 2005, Mahut was the Champion of France with the Paris Jean Bouin team for the second year in succession. Mahut won the doubles Challenger de Grenoble and Open d'Orléans titles with compatriot Julien Benneteau. He was a finalist of the Orléans Open and the Ford challenger of Cherbourg-Octeville in singles competition. Mahut also lost in the doubles final, with partner Gilles Müller, at the Pozoblanco, Spain Challenger.

2007

In 2007, Mahut was a Finalist of the Queen's Club Championship, but lost in 3 sets to former world number one Andy Roddick despite having a championship point, losing 6–4, 6–7, 6–7. En route to getting to the final, he defeated second-ranked Rafael Nadal, the 2005, 2006 and 2007 French Open singles champion, and the 2006 Wimbledon runner-up (and eventual Wimbledon runner-up that year, as well). In the semifinals, Mahut defeated compatriot Arnaud Clément. Mahut beat Clément in four sets and got to second round of Wimbledon losing in straight sets to Richard Gasquet seeded twelve, who went on to beat Roddick in the quarter finals. He then made the finals in Newport, Rhode Island, reaching his 2nd career ATP-level final, but lost 4–6, 4–6 to Fabrice Santoro. In addition to these good results, Mahut and Julien Benneteau reached the 2007 U.S. Open Men's Doubles semifinals, knocking out defending champions Martin Damm and Leander Paes in the first round, before falling 3–6, 6–1, 5–7 to eventual tournament winners Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle, losing in his second U.S. Open semifinals.

2008

After an excellent 2007, Mahut endured a less successful 2008, failing to reach any ATP tour finals and exiting in the First Round of Wimbledon, Roland Garros and the US Open, although he did manage a win over Argentine José Acasuso in the first round of the 2008 Australian Open. His attempt to repeat his great run at The Queen's Club Championships the year before ended with a straight-sets defeat to David Nalbandian, then the world number 8, in the last 16.

Outside the ATP tour, a highlight of 2008 for Mahut was the Challenger level tournament in Orléans, France, which he won, beating Christophe Rochus of Belgium 5-7 6-1 7-6 in tight final.

2009

Injuries and some bad results towards the end of 2008 meant that 2009 saw Mahut slip out of the world's top 100. This ensured another tough year, as Mahut was forced to come through qualifying in order to play in the bigger tournaments. After disappointingly failing to qualify for Roland Garros for what would have been a fourth year in a row he retuned to play at The Queen's Club, where he had enjoyed so much success in the past. Once again he played well in London, not only coming through qualifying but also winning three main draw matches, finally falling to the big serving Ivo Karlović in the last sixteen, and crucially defending his ranking points from the previous year. This marked the fourth consecutive year Mahut reached the last 16 at The Queen's Club. After a first round defeat at Wimbledon, Mahut reached two consecutive semi-finals at Challenger level, losing to Olivier Rochus in Manchester, England, and Feliciano López in Segovia, Spain. Towards the end of the year Mahut's ranking fell further, and he dropped out of the top 200.

2010

A win on the Challenger circuit in Cherbourg, France in only Mahut's second tournament of the year got 2010 off to a good start, a saw him re-enter the world's top 200. Mahut was given a wildcard into Roland Garros and took full advantage, winning his opening round match against Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-1 6-2 6-4. This victory marked the first time Mahut reached the second round of Roland Garros in his career, at the 8th time of asking. He exited the tournament in the next round, however, putting up a good fight before losing to eventual semi-finalist Jürgen Melzer of Austria in four sets. Mahut's next tournament was the The Queen's Club Championships in London, where he again had to come through qualifying to enter the main draw. He qualified with relative ease, however, and went on to beat Lu Yen-Hsun in the first round in straight sets, despite being a break down in the first. He then faced big-hitting Croat Marin Čilić in the 2nd round, a replica of the match between the two the previous year, which Mahut had won in two tight sets 7-6 7-6. It briefly looked as if another upset was on the cards, as Mahut took the first set on a tie-breaker. Eventually, however, Cilic showed why he has been ranked inside the top ten, finally prevailing 6-7 6-3 6-2. This marked the first time Mahut was beaten before the round of sixteen at The Queen's Club since 2004.

Mahut was then forced to enter qualifying for Wimbledon, where he was allocated a seeding of 27. He enjoyed a routine win over Canadian Frank Dancevic of in his first match, before coming up against home-hope Alex Bogdanovic in the second. After a four-hour epic, by far the most extraordinary match of the round, Mahut finally prevailed 3-6 6-3 24-22 to advance to the final qualifying round, where he played 13th seed Stefan Koubek. Things looked grim for Mahut after he lost the first two sets but he battled back to win another lengthy match 6-7 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4. This win saw him enter the main draw of Wimbledon 2010, where he was drawn against the big-serving American John Isner in Round One. The match began on June 22 and ended on June 24 after approximately 11 hours on court, with Isner winning 70-68 in the fifth set. The match set several records, including for the most aces ever hit in one game, the longest fifth set and the longest match in history.

Longest match in history

In what became a record-setting match, spanning three days, qualifier Mahut faced 23rd seed John Isner in the first round, on 22-24 June, who was attempting to win his first match ever at Wimbledon. Isner served a world record 112 aces in the single match alone, breaking Ivo Karlović's record of 78. Mahut would go on to surpass it as well with 103. The match is the longest match ever in a Tennis Open in terms of both times and games lasting 183 games, 11 hours and 5 minutes beating the previous record set by (respectively) Pancho Gonzales defeating Charlie Pasarell in 112 games in 1969 at Wimbledon in the first round, as well as the Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement (both French) match at the 2004 French Open which lasted 6 hours, 33 mins. Play was suspended at 21:11 on 23 June due to darkness at a score of 59-59. Isner ended up winning (6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7-9), 7–6(7–3), 68-70), with the final match time being 11 hours and 5 minutes. Both players received prizes for their game. Mahut holds the Wimbledon record for most games won in a match by a losing player with 91.

Records

• These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis.

Career finals

Singles: 2 (0-2)

Runner-ups (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	June 17, 2007	London (Queen's Club), UK	Grass	Andy Roddick	4–6, 7–6, 7–6
2.	July 15, 2007	Newport, USA	Grass	Fabrice Santoro	6–4, 6–4

Doubles: 6 (3–3)

Winner (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
1.	September 29, 2003	Metz, France	Hard	Julien Benneteau	Michaël Llodra Fabrice Santoro	7–6, 6–3
2.	October 16, 2004	Metz, France	Hard	Arnaud Clément	Ivan Ljubičić Uros Vico	6–2, 7–6
3.	October 31, 2009	Lyon, France	Hard	Julien Benneteau	Arnaud Clément Sébastien Grosjean	6–4, 7–6

Runner-ups (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
1.	October 6, 2003	Lyon, France	Carpet	Julien Benneteau	Jonathan Erlich Andy Ram	1–6, 3–6
2.	July 10, 2004	Newport, USA	Grass	Gregory Carraz	Jordan Kerr Jim Thomas	3-6, 7–6, 3-6
3.	September 29, 2007	Bangkok, Thailand	Hard	Michaël Llodra	Sanchai Ratiwatana Sonchat Ratiwatana	6-3, 5–7,

Challengers finals

Singles: 13 (7-6)

Wins (7)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	July 14, 2003	Manchester, UK	Grass	Gilles Elseneer	6–3, 7–6
2.	July 19, 2004	Valladolid, Spain	Hard	Jean-Michel Pequery	6–3, 3–6, 6–5, retired
3.	February 20, 2006	Besançon, France	Hard (i)	Frank Dancevic	6–3, 6–4
4.	February 27, 2006	Cherbourg, France	Hard (i)	Jean-Christophe Faurel	6–2, 6–4
5.	March 6, 2006	Kyoto, Japan	Carpet	Yen-Hsun Lu	6–4, 6–1
6.	September 14, 2008	Orléans, France	Hard	Christophe Rochus	5–7, 6–1, 7–6
7.	March 7, 2010	Cherbourg, France	Hard (indoors)	Gilles Müller	6-4, 6-3

Runner-ups (6)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	June 30, 2003	Pozoblanco, Spain	Hard	Stefano Pescosolido	4–6, 3–6
2.	July 26, 2004	Segovia, Spain	Hard	Paul-Henri Mathieu	7–6, 4–6, 4–6
3.	September 27, 2004	Grenoble, France	Hard (i)	Karol Kučera	5–7, 2–6
4.	February 21, 2005	Cherbourg, France	Hard (i)	Rik de Voest	5–7, 2–6
5.	September 12, 2005	Orléans, France	Hard (i)	Cyril Saulnier	3–6, 4–6
6.	September 10, 2007	Orléans, France	Hard (i)	Olivier Rochus	4–6, 4–6

References

1. Tennis-Statistics for John Isner v Nicolas Mahut
2. Isner-Mahut Match Sheet
3. Daily Mail SW19 coverage

External links

• Nicolas Mahut at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Mahut's blog (in French, not updated beyond April 2008)
• Mahut Recent Match Results
• Mahut World Ranking History

• 1982 births
• Living people
• People from Maine-et-Loire
• French tennis players