Sébastien René Grosjean (; born 29 May 1978) is a French tennis coach and a former professional player. Grosjean reached the semifinals at the 2001 Australian and French Opens, and at Wimbledon in 2003 and 2004. He finished eight consecutive seasons ranked in the top 30 (1999–2006), peaking at world No. 4 in October 2002. He is currently the director of the Open de Roanne.

Career

Juniors As a junior, Grosjean posted a 90-20 singles record and a 58-12 doubles record, winning the 1996 French Open boys' doubles. He reached Junior World No. 1 in both singles and doubles in December 1996, the first player to accomplish the feat since Jason Stoltenberg in 1987.Grosjean bio

Pro tour

Grosjean joined the professional tour in 1996. In 2003 and 2004, he reached the final of the Queen's London Tournament. In the same two years, he also reached the semifinals of Wimbledon. He finished 2001 as the No. 1 player from his country and for the first time in the top 10 becoming the first Frenchman to finish a year in the top 10 since Cédric Pioline in 1993. In 2001, Grosjean won the Davis Cup with the French team.

He has made four Grand Slam semifinal appearances. In addition to his two Wimbledon runs, he also reached the 2001 French Open semifinals. His most famous chance was at the 2001 Australian Open against Arnaud Clément. Grosjean led two sets to love and had a match point in the fourth set before Clément prevailed. This was long considered the worst 'choke' in five-set history, until the 2004 French Open final.

He won his fourth singles title at the 2007 Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, with a victory over countryman Marc Gicquel. He also won the doubles final with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as a wildcard team, where they upset the first and third seeds.

Coaching career Grosjean retired from professional tennis in May 2010. He coached Richard Gasquet from 2011 to 2016 (co-coached with Sergi Bruguera 2014-2016).

In December 2018, he was named the Davis Cup captain for France. He coached Arthur Fils from October 2023, after he stepped down from his Davis Cup captain role, until March 2025 (co-coach with Bruegera until May 2024).

Playing style

Considered one of the more popular players on the circuit, he is lauded for his attractive, graceful style and classical skills. Grosjean is known for his extreme forehand, his best shot, he utilizes something of a western grip, which is hit at high velocities. He was sponsored by Lacoste in apparel and Head rackets. He used the Head Radical Tour TwinTube 630 XL under various paint jobs throughout his career.

Personal life

Grosjean married his wife Marie-Pierre on 16 November 1998 and has a daughter named Lola (born 11 October 1998), a son named Tom (2002), and a daughter named Sam (2006). The family resided in Boca Raton, Florida (U.S.), where Grosjean trained at the Evert Tennis Academy. He is affectionately nicknamed 'Big John' by fans, a literal translation of his surname into English.

Major finals Year-end championships finals Singles: 1 (1 runner-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 2001Masters CupHard (i) Lleyton Hewitt3–6, 3–6, 4–6

Masters Series finals Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up) ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss1999Miami MastersHard Richard Krajicek6–4, 1–6, 2–6, 5–7Win2001Paris MastersCarpet (i) Yevgeny Kafelnikov7–6(7–3), 6–1, 6–7(5–7), 6–4

ATP career finals

Singles: 13 (4 titles, 9 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam Tournaments (0–0)ATP World Tour Finals (0–1)ATP Masters Series (1–1)ATP Championship Series (0–1)ATP World Series (3–6)Finals by surfaceHard (1–4)Clay (0–3)Grass (1–2)Carpet (2–0)Finals by settingOutdoors (1–7)Indoors (3–2)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Miami, United StatesMasters SeriesHard Richard Krajicek6–4, 1–6, 2–6, 5–7Loss0–2Atlanta, United StatesWorld SeriesClay Stefan Koubek1–6, 2–6Loss0–3Casablanca, MoroccoWorld SeriesClay Fernando Vicente4–6, 6–4, 6–7(3–7)Win1–3Nottingham, United KingdomWorld SeriesGrass Byron Black7–6(9–7), 6–3Loss1–4Marseille, FranceWorld SeriesHard Yevgeny Kafelnikov6–7(5–7), 2–6Win2–4Paris, FranceMasters SeriesCarpet Yevgeny Kafelnikov7–6(7–3), 6–1, 6–7(5–7), 6–4Loss2–5Sydney, AustraliaMasters Cup FinalsHard Lleyton Hewitt3–6, 3–6, 4–6Win3–5St. Petersburg, RussiaWorld SeriesHard Mikhail Youzhny7–5, 6–4Loss3–6Queen's, United KingdomWorld SeriesGrass Andy Roddick3–6, 3–6Loss3–7Tokyo, JapanChampionship SeriesHard Rainer Schüttler6–7(5–7), 2–6Loss3–8Queen's, United KingdomInternational SeriesGrass Andy Roddick6–7(4–7), 4–6Loss3–9Houston, United StatesInternational SeriesClay Andy Roddick2–6, 2–6Win4–9Lyon, FranceInternational SeriesCarpet Marc Gicquel7–6(7–5), 6–4

Doubles: 7 (5 titles, 2 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam Tournaments (0–0)ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP Masters Series (1–0)ATP Championship Series (0–0)ATP World Series (4–2)Finals by surfaceHard (3–1)Clay (1–0)Grass (0–0)Carpet (1–1)Finals by settingOutdoors (3–0)Indoors (2–2)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin1–0Casablanca, MoroccoWorld SeriesClay Arnaud Clément Lars Burgsmüller Andrew Painter7–6(7–4), 6–4Loss1–1Lyon, FranceWorld SeriesCarpet Arnaud Clément Daniel Nestor Nenad Zimonjić1–6, 2–6Win2–1Los Angeles, United StatesWorld SeriesHard Nicolas Kiefer Justin Gimelstob Michaël Llodra6–4, 6–4Win3–1Marseille, FranceWorld SeriesHard Fabrice Santoro Tomáš Cibulec Pavel Vízner6–1, 6–4Win4–1Indian Wells, United StatesMasters SeriesHard Arnaud Clément Wayne Black Kevin Ullyett6–3, 4–6, 7–5Win5–1Lyon, FranceWorld SeriesCarpet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Łukasz Kubot Lovro Zovko6–4, 6–3Loss5–2Lyon, France250 SeriesHard Arnaud Clément Julien Benneteau Nicolas Mahut4–6, 6–7(6–8)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 5 (2–3) LegendATP Challenger (2–3)ITF Futures (0–0)Finals by surfaceHard (1–2)Clay (1–1)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–0Bratislava, SlovakiaChallengerClay Radomír Vašek6–4, 6–1Loss1–1Newcastle, United KingdomChallengerClay Fabrice Santoro6–2, 3–6, 3–6Loss1–2Brest, FranceChallengerHard Johan Van Herck6–4, 2–6, 4–6Win2–2Cherbourg, FranceChallengerHard Antony Dupuis4–6, 6–3, 6–0Loss2–3Sunrise, United StatesChallengerHard Robin Haase7–5, 5–7, 1–6

Doubles: 2 (0–2) LegendATP Challenger (0–2)ITF Futures (0–0)Finals by surfaceHard (0–2)Clay (0–0)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Orléans, FranceChallengerHard Olivier Patience Colin Fleming Ken Skupski1–6, 1–6Loss0–2Orléans, FranceChallengerHard Nicolas Mahut Pierre-Hugues Herbert Nicolas Renavand6–7(3–7), 6–1, [6–10]

Junior Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (1 title) ResultYearTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin1996French OpenClay Olivier Mutis Jan-Ralph Brandt Daniel Elsner6–2, 6–3

Performance timelines

Singles Tournament19971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010SRW–LWin%Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAQ21R3RSF2RQFQF2RQF3R3RA1R0 / 1125–11French Open1R1R3R3RSFQF2R2R4R2R1RAAA0 / 1119–11WimbledonQ34R3R1R3RASFSFQF3R2R2RAA0 / 1025–10US OpenQ11R1R3R1R2R1R2R3R2R3R1RAA0 / 119–11Win–loss0–13–34–46–412–46–310–411–410–48–45–43–30–00–10 / 4378–43National RepresentationSummer OlympicsNot HeldANot HeldQFNot HeldANH0 / 13–1Year-End ChampionshipsTennis Masters CupDid not qualifyFDid not qualify0 / 13–2ATP Tour Masters 1000Indian WellsAAA3R3R1R3R4R2R4R1R1RAQ10 / 910–9MiamiAAF3R3R3R2R4R3R3R2R2RAA0 / 1015–10Monte CarloQ12R3R1RSFSFA2RA2RA1RAA0 / 813–8RomeAA1R1R3R3R1R2R2R1RAAAA0 / 86–8HamburgAAA2R3R2R2R1R3R3RQ2ANMS0 / 79–7CanadaAA2R3RAQF3R1R3R2R1RAAA0 / 811–8CincinnatiA1R1R2RA1R1R1R1R1RQ2AAA0 / 81–8MadridAA2RSF3RSFQFA2R2RAAAA0 / 713–7ParisA1R1R3RW3R2RA1R2R1RA1RA1 / 108–9Win–loss0–01–39–68–816–515–97–86–77–89–91–41–30–10–01 / 7280–71Year-end ranking1978827196171015252853170677722

Doubles Tournament19961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009SRW–LWin%Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAAAAA3RAAAA1R1R2RA0 / 43–4French Open1R1R1R1R1RAAAAAA1R1R1R0 / 80–8WimbledonAAAAAAAAAAAAAA0 / 00–0US OpenAAAAAA2RA1R1R1R1R3RA0 / 63–6Win–loss0–10–10–10–10–12–11–10–00–10–10–20–33–30–10 / 186–18National RepresentationSummer OlympicsANot HeldANot Held1RNot HeldANH0 / 10–1ATP Tour Masters 1000Indian WellsAAAA2RQ12RAW2RQFA1RA1 / 610–5MiamiAAAAA1R2RAQFA2RAAA0 / 44–4Monte CarloAAAA2R2RAA1RAAAAA0 / 32–3RomeAAAA1R2R1R2RAA2RAAA0 / 53–5HamburgAAAAQ1AA1R1RAAAANMS0 / 20–2CanadaAAA1R1RA1RAQF1RAAAA0 / 52–5CincinnatiAAAQ2AA2RA1RAAAAA0 / 21–2MadridAAAAAA1RAAAAAAA0 / 10–1ParisAA1R1RAAAAA1R2R2RA1R0 / 62–6Win–loss0–00–00–10–22–42–33–61–29–51–35–41–10–10–11 / 3424–33

Top 10 wins Season199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010TotalWins00023702011000016

#PlayerRankEventSurfaceRdScore19991. Carlos Moyá1Miami, United StatesHard4R3–6, 6–4, 7–6(11–9)742. Gustavo Kuerten6Indianapolis, United StatesHardQF6–4, 6–33220003. Tim Henman9Indian Wells, United StatesHard2R6–3, 3–6, 7–5194. Lleyton Hewitt10Toronto, CanadaHard2R6–3, 7–6(7–5)275. Gustavo Kuerten3Stuttgart, GermanyHard (i)3R7–6(11–9), 6–33220016. Magnus Norman4Australian Open, MelbourneHard4R7–6(9–7), 6–3, 0–6, 6–4197. Marat Safin2World Team Cup, DüsseldorfClayRR7–6(8–6), 6–3108. Andre Agassi3French Open, ParisClayQF1–6, 6–1, 6–1, 6–3109. Yevgeny Kafelnikov6Paris Masters, FranceCarpet (i)F7–6(7–3), 6–1, 6–7(5–7), 6–4810. Pat Rafter5Tennis Masters Cup, SydneyHard (i)RR7–6(7–4), 6–3711. Andre Agassi3Tennis Masters Cup, SydneyHard (i)RR6–3, 6–4712. Yevgeny Kafelnikov6Tennis Masters Cup, SydneyHard (i)SF6–4, 6–27200313. Lleyton Hewitt1Queen's Club, United KingdomGrassQF6–3, 6–42014. Juan Carlos Ferrero3Wimbledon, United KingdomGrass4R6–2, 4–6, 7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–3)14200515. Andre Agassi10Houston, United StatesClayQF4–6, 6–1, 6–230200616. Guillermo Coria9Australian Open, MelbourneHard3R6–2, 6–2, 3–6, 6–428

Notes

References

External links

Grosjean world ranking history