Arnaud Clément

Born: December 17, 1977 in Aix-en-Provence (Alpes-Côte d’Azur)
Height: 1.72 m
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

He is a good example of how a bit of luck and a few good events, even without spectacular successes, can shift a player from one level to another. In autumn 1997, the almost 20-year-old Clément, one of many young French “Challenger” players, lost in qualifying at Toulouse but entered the main draw as a lucky loser and beat Magnus Larsson [25] in the second round. That result helped him build self-confidence. In two more main-level appearances (Vienna and Lyon), Clément made shocking upsets, eliminating Top 10 players Sergi Bruguera and Patrick Rafter in the first round. From a player on the verge of the Top 200, he suddenly became a Top 100 contender. The Paris-Bercy organisers rewarded him with a Centre Court slot, and he seized the opportunity, defeating another much higher-ranked opponent, Marc Rosset, in a match that gave him his first real exposure to a worldwide audience. It was already clear that the short Frenchman – blessed with a very good serve for his height and aggressive baseline strokes – would be capable of doing some damage in the future.
Clément proved it three years later in Melbourne. In retrospect, his run to the 2001 Australian Open final is even more admirable: apart from beating Greg Rusedski, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, and his friend Sébastien Grosjean in a dramatic semifinal (saving match points in the third set), he had also defeated in straight sets two teenagers who would later become top players – Tommy Robredo and… Roger Federer. After that match Clément led Federer 3:1 in their Head-to-Head, though it would end 3-8.
For a player with only four small ATP titles (Lyon 2000 arguably his finest) in eleven finals, he still delivered strong results at the biggest events. In addition to his sensational run to the Australian Open final, he reached the Cincinnati semifinal and two other major quarterfinals. The second of these came at the twilight of his career, when he narrowly lost to Rainer Schüttler in a five-set marathon.
Throughout his career, Clément wore medically prescribed sunglasses. When France claimed the 2001 Davis Cup title, he was not on the team for the final but had been instrumental earlier in the year in ties against Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. He nearly ousted Andre Agassi in the second round of Roland Garros 1999 before the American went on to win the title. One year later, he stunned Agassi – then the defending champion – in the second round of the US Open. Clément never faced Pete Sampras, but his wins over Agassi, a young Federer, and Rafael Nadal (Marseille 2006) remain points of pride.
Despite his modest height, Clément could hold serve for long stretches, which helped him in two epic five-setters. The first he won, 15-13 in the fifth against Rosset in Davis Cup; the second he lost, 14-16 in the fifth to Fabrice Santoro. The latter, completed at Roland Garros 2004, lasted 6 hours 35 minutes and was the longest match in the Open Era until the Isner–Mahut extraordinary epic six years later. “What do I get? A medal? I’m not interested,” said a clearly distraught Clément afterwards. “Anyway, it lasted over two days, so it doesn’t count.” It counted officially…

Career record: 316–327 [ 319 events ]
Career titles: 4
Highest ranking: No. 10
Best GS results:
Australian Open (runner-up 2001)
Wimbledon (quarterfinal 2008)
US Open (quarterfinal 2000)
Davis Cup champion 2001 (didn’t play in the final)