This athletic Frenchman has the game to succeed on grass. He won junior Wimbledon in 2000 by defeating Mario Ancic and holds a straight set win over Rafael Nadal at Queen’s Club, including a perfect 7-0 shutout in the second set tiebreak. In this interview, the ATP veteran handles Biofile questions as if they were put-away volleys…
Status: 203 Newport singles champion.
Ht: 6-3 Wt: 176
DOB: January 21, 1982 In: Angers, France
Tennis Inspirations: “Sampras, Noah.”
First Tennis Memory: “The French Open final between Chang and Edberg (1989).”
Favorite Movie: “The Matrix.”
Last Book Read: “A French writer, Guillaume Musil.”
Musical Tastes: “So many, I like Dave Matthews Band, Oasis, John Mayer.”
Pre-Match Feeling: “Every match is different but concentrate. Be away from the court a few minutes before and that’s it.”
Favorite Meal: “I would say French, meat and glass of red wine.”
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Vanilla.”
Greatest Career Moment: “The tournament Queen’s tournament when I beat Nadal and then when I played Roddick (in final in 2007). And I had the match points. So it’s a good one and a painful one at the same time.”
Most Painful Moment: “I would say the final in Queen’s (lost to Roddick 64, 67 (7), 67 (2).”
Favorite Tournament: “Wimbledon.”
Closest Tennis Friends: “French ones, there’s Julien Benneteau, Paul-Henri Mathieu, and many French players.”
Funniest Players Encountered: “Michael Llodra [smiles].”
Toughest Competitors: “Roger Federer. Because he’s simply the best.”
Embarrassing Tennis Memory: “Not really, I don’t know.”
Current Car: “Audi A3 (gray).”
Last Vacation: “Mauritius.”
Favorite Player To Watch: “Fabrice Santoro.”
Which Match Were Your At Your Very Best: “I’d say quarterfinal in Queen’s against Nadal. I mean, we played almost at night, the crowd was really electric and I played a very good match and I won 7-0 in the tiebreak in the second set. So it was almost perfect for me.”
People Qualities Most Admired: “Honesty.”
Read more Biofiles at www.thebiofile.com
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Mark Sanders · June 25, 2010 at 4:21 am
Greatest Career moment will certainly need to be updated now
Scoop Malinowski · June 25, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Not sure about that Mark, poor Nicolas was pretty upset by this loss. After it was over he tried to get out of there ASAP but was talked into staying for the ceremony which looked like torture for him, though he handled it with class and made a very nice and touching speech, calling Isner “a champion.” Bottom line – this was another first round loss at a slam, and another failure in an important match which, I hate to say this, has been the story of his unerachieving career. A lot of tennis followers will definitely be pulling very hard for this class player to be able to score plenty of future successes. He is now one of my favorite sentimental players and hopefully many more will choose to vocally support him at his matches and help push him to more victories and more success. If anyone in tennis deserves it, it’s Mahut. He was just a marvel out there. You don’t often see John McEnroe come out to an outer court to watch a match ever at any grand slam.