Mathieu Montcourt
Encyclopedia
Mathieu Montcourt was a professional French tennis
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...

 player. At the 2006
2006 French Open - Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, and won in the final 1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6, against Roger Federer.-Seeds:# Roger Federer # Rafael Nadal ...

, 2007
2007 French Open - Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, and won in the final 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, against Roger Federer.-Seeds:# Roger Federer # Rafael Nadal # Andy Roddick # Nikolay Davydenko ...

, and 2009 French Opens, he lost in the second round, to Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...

, Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen is a professional tennis player from Finland.His highest ranking is 13th, which was achieved on July 10, 2006. He has won one ATP singles title and two doubles titles in his career so far. His best performances in Grand Slam tournaments have been reaching the quarter-finals...

, and 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...

 respectively.

Career

In 2002, Mathieu had played a few Futures
ITF Men's Circuit
The ITF Men's Circuit is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. The ITF Men's Circuit represents the lowest rung of the men's professional tennis ladder...

 tournaments and won only one doubles match in Futures aside with Jean Baptiste Robin. His best singles Futures result was making the second round 3 times out of 6, losing to Jan Weinzierl, Nicolas Mahut
Nicolas Mahut
Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut 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...

 and Roman Valent
Roman Valent
Roman Valent is a Swiss professional tennis player. He won the 2001 Wimbledon Junior's tournament. Valent has played just one match on the ATP Tour, in which he lost to Frenchman Marc Gicquel at the 2009 Open de Moselle, but has played in many Challenger and Futures tournaments.-External links:...

, respectively. He didn't play any other events aside from Futures events. Montcourt only played one doubles match in 2003, losing in the first round of a Futures tournament. Montcourt's singes participation in Futures tournaments slightly improved; as for he went from a 3–6 2002 record to making a semifinal of a Futures event. He still, however played exclusively in Futures tournaments.

Mathieu Montcourt's success became greater in singles, having had won a Futures
ITF Men's Circuit
The ITF Men's Circuit is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. The ITF Men's Circuit represents the lowest rung of the men's professional tennis ladder...

 title early in 2004 in Italy, beating Andrey Golubev
Andrey Golubev
Andrey Golubev is a Kazakhstani professional tennis playercurrently living in Italy. His career high rank is #33, achieved on October 4, 2010. He has participated in all Grand Slam tournaments, the first being the 2008 US Open, as well in the main draw of ATP Masters Series and ATP International...

 in the final; however the highest person he beat was ranked 407, just inside the top 500. He lost in the finals of one Futures tournament and one Challenger tournament later that year.

In doubles, Mathieu made his first doubles semifinal, where again with Jean Baptiste Robin, he lost in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 to Benedikt Dorsch and Marko Neunteibl. He lost in the quarterfinals of another tournament in Iran, where he made his Challenger singles final, partnered by Ludwig Pellerin, falling to Juan Ignacio Cerda and Jasper Smit in straight sets. 2005 saw Montcourt make his first Futures
ITF Men's Circuit
The ITF Men's Circuit is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. The ITF Men's Circuit represents the lowest rung of the men's professional tennis ladder...

 doubles final; losing it in March in 3 sets to Lesley Joseph and Evgeny Korolev
Evgeny Korolev
Evgeny Korolev is a Kazakhstani tennis player and the cousin of former Russian player Anna Kournikova. He began playing tennis at age four with his father, and picked up his first ATP points at age 15 in three German challenger events...

, alongside Jean Baptiste Robin. However, singles tournaments were brightened by 1 Futures win in two Futures finals, beating Tobias Clemens in the final, and making the semifinals of two Challengers and one Futures tournament, losing once to future top 50 star Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber is a tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 2001. The right-hander has won six doubles and three singles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 28 September 2009, when he achieved a ranking of World No. 22...

 in a Challenger, the last tournament that Montcourt played that year at Reunion Island (he also lost in the semifinals of Rome).

In 2006, Montcourt won through to back-to-back April semifinal Futures
ITF Men's Circuit
The ITF Men's Circuit is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. The ITF Men's Circuit represents the lowest rung of the men's professional tennis ladder...

 and performances and then went on to play his first major match by receiving a Wilcard into the 2006 French Open
2006 French Open
The 2006 French Open was held in Paris, France from May 28 to June 11, 2006. Both defending champions, Rafael Nadal and Justine Henin-Hardenne, retained their titles. It is one of the four tennis Grand Slams. This edition made history as it became the first Grand Slam tournament to start on a...

. He won, beating Marcos Daniel
Marcos Daniel
Marcos Diniz Daniel is a professional tennis player from Brazil who turned professional in 1997. The right-hander reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on September 14, 2009, when he became World No. 56...

 and then lost to a seeded player the former World Number One Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...

, 5–7, 3–6, 3–6. He then went on to make the finals of the Cordenons
Cordenons
Cordenons is a comune in the Province of Pordenone in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 90 km northwest of Trieste and about 4 km northeast of Pordenone...

 Futures event. In doubles, he won three 3-set matches to win his first title with Gregory Carraz
Grégory Carraz
Grégory Carraz is a retired professional French tennis player. During his career, he reached one ATP Tour doubles final.-Doubles: 1 :-Singles: 14 :-Doubles: 13 :-External links:...

, beating Tomasz Bednarek and Frank Moser
Frank Moser (tennis)
Frank Moser is a German professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, he reached two ATP final of his career .-Doubles: 2 :-Singles: 4 :...

 in the final of a Challenger
ITF Men's Circuit
The ITF Men's Circuit is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. The ITF Men's Circuit represents the lowest rung of the men's professional tennis ladder...

 event in Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...

.

In 2007, Mathieu participated in an early-in-the-year Challenger
ITF Men's Circuit
The ITF Men's Circuit is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. The ITF Men's Circuit represents the lowest rung of the men's professional tennis ladder...

 event in singles, winning it over South African Rik de Voest
Rik de Voest
Rik de Voest is a professional South African tennis player. As of September 6, 2007, de Voest's career-high ranking was World Number 110, which he achieved on August 21, 2006....

. He beat World Number 54 Max Mirnyi
Max Mirnyi
Max Mirnyi is a professional tennis player from Belarus.Today Mirnyi is a doubles specialist, but he also enjoyed a good singles career, finishing in the top 50 in the world for seven straight years, as well as representing Belarus in Davis Cup competition since April 1994, where he holds a...

 in an International Series
ATP International Series
The International Series was a series of professional tennis tournaments held internationally as part of the ATP Tour until 2008....

 tournament in Austria. He then lost at Roland Garros
French Open (tennis)
The French Open |Roland Garros]]) is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June in Paris, France, at the Stade Roland Garros. It is the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world and the second of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments – the other three are...

 to the seeded Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen is a professional tennis player from Finland.His highest ranking is 13th, which was achieved on July 10, 2006. He has won one ATP singles title and two doubles titles in his career so far. His best performances in Grand Slam tournaments have been reaching the quarter-finals...

 in the second round. In addition, Mathieu participated in a doubles Grand Slam event with Gregory Carraz
Grégory Carraz
Grégory Carraz is a retired professional French tennis player. During his career, he reached one ATP Tour doubles final.-Doubles: 1 :-Singles: 14 :-Doubles: 13 :-External links:...

, losing to Łukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach
Oliver Marach
Oliver Marach is a professional Austrian tennis player. His highest ATP singles ranking is 82nd, which he reached on August 7, 2005. His career high in doubles is 8th, set at October 18, 2010.-Doubles: 14 :...

. Since Roland Garros, he has not won any singles match of any type, and has lost in the first round of four Challengers and one International Series tournament. He did, however, win one doubles match at Umag
Umag
Umag is a coastal city in Istria, Croatia.The city hosts the yearly Croatia Open ATP tennis tournament on clay courts.-Geography:It is the westernmost city of Croatia, and the municipality includes Savudrija which is westernmost point of Croatia....

, Croatia (the most recent and International Series tournament that he lost in), beating Marko and Novak Đoković, but lost in the next round. He was partnered by Édouard Roger-Vasselin
Édouard Roger-Vasselin
Édouard Roger-Vasselin is a male tennis player from France, the son of 1983 French Open semifinalist Christophe Roger-Vasselin.-2007:...

.

In 2008, he was fined $12,000 and suspended for eight weeks (later reduced to six) starting on August 11 by the 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...

 for betting on tennis matches between June and September 2005. He did not bet on his own matches.

Death

On 6 July 2009, Montcourt was found dead outside his home in Boulogne-Billancourt
Boulogne-Billancourt
Boulogne-Billancourt is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Boulogne-Billancourt is a sub-prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and the seat of the Arrondissement of Boulogne-Billancourt....

, Paris by his girlfriend. A police source said on 9 July 2009 after a preliminary autopsy that Mathieu suffered a cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...

. Further tests that can detect the presence of any drugs or medicines in the body were carried out.
The results of those tests have not been released to the public.
On 5 November 2009, Court No. 3 of the Centre National d'Entraînement at Stade Roland Garros was renamed le Court Mathieu Montcourt, in honor of the player who trained there regularly.

Singles

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (0)
Challengers (3)
Futures (3)

No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the Final Score in the Final
1. 9 August 2004 L'Aquila
L'Aquila
L'Aquila is a city and comune in central Italy, both the capital city of the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 73,150 inhabitants, but has a daily presence in the territory of 100,000 people for study, tertiary activities, jobs and tourism...

, Italy
Clay   Andrey Golubev
Andrey Golubev
Andrey Golubev is a Kazakhstani professional tennis playercurrently living in Italy. His career high rank is #33, achieved on October 4, 2010. He has participated in all Grand Slam tournaments, the first being the 2008 US Open, as well in the main draw of ATP Masters Series and ATP International...

6–2, 6–1
2. 24 October 2005 Rodez
Rodez
Rodez is a town and commune in southern France, in the Aveyron department, of which it is the capital. Its inhabitants are called Ruthénois.-History:Existing from at least the 5th century BC, Rodez was founded by the Celts...

, France
Hard   Tobias Clemens 6–3, 6–2
3. January 2007 Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...

, South Africa
Hard   Rik de Voest
Rik de Voest
Rik de Voest is a professional South African tennis player. As of September 6, 2007, de Voest's career-high ranking was World Number 110, which he achieved on August 21, 2006....

5–7, 6–3, 6–2
4. 7 April 2008 Monza Italy Clay   Antonio Veić
Antonio Veic
Antonio Veić is a professional Croatian tennis player. His highest singles ranking is 183, which was reached on February 1, 2010.- 2009 :...

6–2, 7–5
5. 23 June 2008 Reggio Emilia
Lines Trophy
-Women's singles:-Women's doubles:-External links:**...

, Italy
Clay   Pablo Andújar
Pablo Andújar
Pablo Andújar Alba is a professional male tennis player from Spain. Andújar has played since he was 6 years old and has won 4 Challengers and several futures. He trained in Valencia, Spain in the Tennis Club El Collao. He has been in the 2010 Australian Open, but he lost to Gilles Simon 6–4, 6–1,...

2–6, 6–2, 6–4
6. 28 July 2008 Tampere
Tampere Open
The Tampere Open is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor red clay courts. It is currently part of the Association of Tennis Professionals Challenger Tour. It is held annually at the Tampere Tennis Center in Tampere, Finland, since 1982...

, Finland
Clay   Flavio Cipolla
Flavio Cipolla
Flavio Cipolla is a professional tennis player on the ATP Tour from Italy. He reached the second round at the French Open of 2007, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. He reached the 3rd round of the 2008 US Open...

6–2, 6–2

External links

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