Michaël Llodra

Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra
Country  France
Residence Rueil-Malmaison, France
Born May 18, 1980 (1980-05-18) (age 31)
Paris, France
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Turned pro 1999
Plays Left-handed (one-handed backhand)
Career prize money US$6,643,355
Singles
Career record 158–186
Career titles 5
Highest ranking No. 21 (9 May 2011)
Current ranking No. 47 (14 November 2011)[1]
Grand Slam results
Australian Open 2R (2000, 2010, 2011)
French Open 4R (2004, 2008)
Wimbledon 4R (2011)
US Open 4R (2004)
Doubles
Career record 317–183
Career titles 21
Highest ranking No. 3 (November 14, 2011)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open W (2003, 2004)
French Open F (2004)
Wimbledon W (2007)
US Open SF (2003)
Last updated on: November 3, 2011.

Michaël Llodra (born May 18, 1980) is a French professional tennis player. He is a prolific doubles player with three Grand Slam championships, and has also had success in singles.

Contents

Life and career

Llodra was born in Paris, where his father Michel played for football club Paris Saint-Germain. A left-hander, his serve-and-volley style is modelled on that of his idol, Stefan Edberg.

Llodra and his wife Camille married on September 9, 2003, and have two children, a daughter, Manon (born March 23, 2004) and a son, Teo (born September 5, 2007). He is a well-known supporter of French football club Paris Saint-Germain, and has often been seen wearing the club's shirt prior to tennis games.

2002

Llodra reached his first Grand Slam final, the Australian Open Men's Doubles, with Fabrice Santoro. Unseeded, they lost to Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor. During the semifinals, Llodra inadvertently hit a bird.

2003

Llodra won his first Grand Slam title, the Australian Open Men's Doubles, with Fabrice Santoro. Their opponents in the final were once again Knowles and Nestor.

2004

On winning the men's doubles again for the second time at the Australian Open in 2004, Llodra and his tennis partner Fabrice Santoro made headlines by stripping off their shirts, shoes, socks and shorts.[2] Dressed in a pair of white briefs only, Llodra threw his clothes into the crowd, to the cheers of many onlookers.[3]

Llodra made his first appearance in the fourth round of a Grand Slam singles tournament at that year's French Open. In the fourth round he led eventual semi-finalist Tim Henman by two sets to love and had a match point in the fifth set before Henman prevailed. Llodra also won his first ATP singles title two weeks later at 's-Hertogenbosch.

2005

On November 20, 2005, Llodra teamed up with French compatriot Fabrice Santoro to win the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, a competition which pitted the top 8 doubles teams in the world against one another.

2007

In July, Llodra won the men's doubles title at Wimbledon partnering Arnaud Clément, beating Bob and Mike Bryan, thus winning his third Grand Slam doubles title. He and Clément were ecstatic and Llodra once again celebrated by throwing his shirt, racket and towel into the crowd.

At the 2007 US Open, he and Clément were seeded 7th, but were upset in the second round by Jesse Levine and Alex Kuznetsov, 7–6, 6–4.

2008

Llodra and Clément reached a second slam final at the Australian Open, only to lose to the Israeli paring of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram 7–5, 7–6.

In singles, Llodra won two tournaments in the course of two months, the first being in Adelaide, where he defeated Jarkko Nieminen in the final, and the other in Rotterdam, where he edged out Robin Söderling in a third-set tiebreak.

Llodra and his doubles partner Clément then defeated the Bryan Brothers again in four sets at the Davis Cup quarterfinals tie against USA. They are one of two teams to defeat the Bryans in Davis Cup.

He then entered the 2008 French Open, where he upset Tomáš Berdych in the second round and went on to reach the fourth round, losing to Latvian Ernests Gulbis in straight sets.

2009

Llodra at the 2009 French Open.

He made two finals in singles; the 2009 Open 13 in Marseille (l. to Tsonga) and the 2009 Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon in Metz (l. to Ljubicic). He also had a poor season in doubles.

2010

Michael started off the season with opening round losses in Brisbane and Sydney; both Australian Open series tournaments. He made the 2nd round at the 2010 Australian Open, losing to Juan Mónaco 6–3, 6–3, 6–7, 1–6, 3–6.

He lost to Marco Chiudinelli in the opening round in Rotterdam. The following week, he impressively won the 2010 Open 13 tournament in Marseille. He beat two well-known players on the rise; no.7 seed Marcos Baghdatis (in the 2nd round) and top seed Robin Söderling (in the quarters). In the final, he went on to crush Julien Benneteau 6–3, 6–4 in their first ever meeting on the ATP tour. Llodra and Benneteau also teamed up to win the doubles title in Marsielle, thus making him the singles and doubles champion of the 2010 tournament. Llodra also won at Eastbourne, beating Guillermo García-López 7–5, 6–2 in the final.

Llodra lost the first round at the French Open, the second round of Wimbledon to Andy Roddick in four sets, and made the third round at the US Open (including an impressive straight sets win over seventh seed Tomáš Berdych) before retiring against Tommy Robredo.

At the BNP Paribas Masters tournament in his town of birth, Paris-Bercy, he played his best tennis in a ATP Masters 1000 tournament where he defeated second seed Novak Djokovic and then eleventh seed Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals. Llodra then held three match points against world no. 5 Robin Söderling but eventually lost 7–6, 5–7, 6–7. Had Llodra won, it would have been an all-French final with compatriot Gaël Monfils (Söderling went on to win the championship).

Playing style

Llodra is known for his skilled net play.[4] The Guardian journalist Xan Brooks described Llodra as "one of those talented, maddening French players in the tradition of Henri Leconte, Guy Forget and Fabrice Santoro; at once supremely gifted and curiously brittle" and that he "plays like he's just flown in from the 20th-century. His game is all dinks and slices and sly changes of pace."[5] Two-time French Open finalist Robin Söderling called Llodra's serve "unbelievable" and his volleys the "best on the tour".[6] To aid his touch on volleys, Llodra is one of the few professionals to use all natural gut strings, which give him better feel at the expense of power at the baseline.[4]

Llodra is one of the last remaining serve-and-volleyers in the top ranks of men's professional tennis, a tactic aided by his left-handed serve which allows him to create unusual angles.[4] Llodra has been called the 'best serve and volleyer in the world' by the website Essential Tennis.[7]

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 6 (3–3)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 2002 Australian Open Hard France Fabrice Santoro The Bahamas Mark Knowles
Canada Daniel Nestor
6–7(4–7), 3–6
Winner 2003 Australian Open Hard France Fabrice Santoro The Bahamas Mark Knowles
Canada Daniel Nestor
6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Winner 2004 Australian Open Hard France Fabrice Santoro United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
7–6(7–4), 6–3
Runner-up 2004 French Open Clay France Fabrice Santoro Belgium Xavier Malisse
Belgium Olivier Rochus
5–7, 5–7
Winner 2007 Wimbledon Grass France Arnaud Clément United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 2008 Australian Open Hard France Arnaud Clément Israel Jonathan Erlich
Israel Andy Ram
5–7, 6–7(4–7)

ATP Career Finals

Singles: 9 (5–4)

Legend (pre/post 2009)
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
Tennis Masters Cup /
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series /
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP International Series Gold /
ATP World Tour 500 Series (1–0)
ATP International Series /
ATP World Tour 250 Series (4–4)
Finals by Surface
Hard (3–3)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (2–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1. January 5, 2004 Australia Adelaide, Australia Hard Slovakia Dominik Hrbatý 4–6, 0–6
Winner 1. June 14, 2004 Netherlands 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass Argentina Guillermo Coria 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 2. June 13, 2005 Netherlands 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass Croatia Mario Ančić 5–7, 4–6
Winner 2. January 5, 2008 Australia Adelaide, Australia Hard Finland Jarkko Nieminen 6–3, 6–4
Winner 3. February 18, 2008 Netherlands Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard (i) Sweden Robin Söderling 6–7(3–7), 6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Runner-up 3. February 16, 2009 France Marseille, France Hard (i) France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 5–7, 6–7(3–7)
Runner-up 4. November 1, 2009 France Lyon, France Hard (i) Croatia Ivan Ljubičić 5–7, 3–6
Winner 4. February 15, 2010 France Marseille, France Hard (i) France Julien Benneteau 6–3, 6–4
Winner 5. June 19, 2010 United Kingdom Eastbourne, United Kingdom Grass Spain Guillermo García-López 7–5, 6–2

Doubles: 42 (22–20)

Legend (pre/post 2009)
Grand Slam Tournaments (3–3)
Tennis Masters Cup /
ATP World Tour Finals (1–1)
ATP Masters Series /
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (3–8)
ATP International Series Gold /
ATP World Tour 500 Series (3–1)
ATP International Series /
ATP World Tour 250 Series (12–7)
Finals by Surface
Hard (14–14)
Clay (2–5)
Grass (1–0)
Carpet (5–1)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final
Winner 1. May 1, 2000 Spain Mallorca, Spain Clay Italy Diego Nargiso Spain Alberto Martín
Spain Fernando Vicente
7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–3)
Runner-up 1. January 14, 2002 Australia Melbourne, Australia Hard France Fabrice Santoro The Bahamas Mark Knowles
Canada Daniel Nestor
6–7(4–7), 3–6
Runner-up 2. July 22, 2002 United States Los Angeles, United States Hard United States Justin Gimelstob France Sébastien Grosjean
Germany Nicolas Kiefer
4–6, 4–6
Winner 2. January 13, 2003 Australia Melbourne, Australia Hard France Fabrice Santoro The Bahamas Mark Knowles
Canada Daniel Nestor
6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up 3. April 14, 2003 Monaco Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay France Fabrice Santoro India Mahesh Bhupathi
Belarus Max Mirnyi
4–6, 6–3, 6–7(6–8)
Runner-up 4. May 5, 2003 Italy Rome, Italy Clay France Fabrice Santoro Australia Wayne Arthurs
Australia Paul Hanley
1–6, 3–6
Runner-up 5. September 29, 2003 France Metz, France Hard (i) France Fabrice Santoro France Julien Benneteau
France Nicolas Mahut
6–7(2–7), 3–6
Runner-up 6. October 27, 2003 France Paris, France Carpet (i) France Fabrice Santoro Australia Wayne Arthurs
Australia Paul Hanley
3–6, 6–1, 3–6
Runner-up 7. November 8, 2003 United States Houston, United States Hard France Fabrice Santoro United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
7–6(8–6), 3–6, 6–3, 6–7(3–7), 4–6
Runner-up 8. January 5, 2004 Australia Adelaide, Australia Hard France Arnaud Clément United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
5–7, 3–6
Winner 3. January 19, 2004 Australia Melbourne, Australia Hard France Fabrice Santoro United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
7–6(7–4), 6–3
Runner-up 9. May 24, 2004 France Paris, France Clay France Fabrice Santoro Belgium Xavier Malisse
Belgium Olivier Rochus
5–7, 5–7
Winner 4. August 23, 2004 United States Long Island, United States Hard France Antony Dupuis Switzerland Yves Allegro
Germany Michael Kohlmann
6–2, 6–4
Winner 5. October 25, 2004 Russia Saint Petersburg, Russia Carpet (i) France Arnaud Clément Slovakia Dominik Hrbatý
Czech Republic Jaroslav Levinský
6–3, 6–2
Runner-up 10. January 10, 2005 Australia Sydney, Australia Hard France Arnaud Clément India Mahesh Bhupathi
Australia Todd Woodbridge
3–6, 3–6
Winner 6. May 2, 2005 Italy Rome, Italy Clay France Fabrice Santoro United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
6–4, 6–2
Runner-up 11. May 9, 2005 Germany Hamburg, Germany Clay France Fabrice Santoro Sweden Jonas Björkman
Belarus Max Mirnyi
6–4, 6–7(2–7), 6–7(3–7)
Winner 7. October 3, 2005 France Metz, France Hard (i) France Fabrice Santoro Argentina José Acasuso
Argentina Sebastián Prieto
5–2, 3–5, 5–4(6–4)
Winner 8. October 24, 2005 France Lyon, France Carpet (i) France Fabrice Santoro South Africa Jeff Coetzee
Netherlands Rogier Wassen
6–3, 6–1
Winner 9. November 13, 2005 China Shanghai, China Carpet (i) France Fabrice Santoro India Leander Paes
Serbia and Montenegro Nenad Zimonjić
6–7(6–8), 6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Winner 10. October 30, 2006 France Paris, France Carpet (i) France Arnaud Clément France Fabrice Santoro
Serbia Nenad Zimonjić
6–4, 6–2
Winner 11. February 12, 2007 France Marseille, France Hard (i) France Arnaud Clément The Bahamas Mark Knowles
Canada Daniel Nestor
7–5, 4–6, [10–8]
Winner 12. June 25, 2007 United Kingdom London, United Kingdom Grass France Arnaud Clément United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 12. September 25, 2007 Thailand Bangkok, Thailand Hard (i) France Nicolas Mahut Thailand Sonchat Ratiwatana
Thailand Sanchai Ratiwatana
6–3, 5–7, [7–10]
Winner 13. October 1, 2007 France Metz, France Hard (i) France Arnaud Clément Poland Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Poland Marcin Matkowski
6–1, 6–4
Runner-up 13. October 7, 2007 Sweden Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) France Arnaud Clément Sweden Jonas Björkman
Belarus Max Mirnyi
4–6, 4–6
Runner-up 14. January 14, 2008 Australia Melbourne, Australia Hard France Arnaud Clément Israel Jonathan Erlich
Israel Andy Ram
5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Winner 14. March 3, 2008 United States Las Vegas, United States Hard (i) France Julien Benneteau United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
6–4, 4–6, [10–8]
Winner 15. September 29, 2008 France Metz, France Hard (i) France Arnaud Clément Poland Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Poland Marcin Matkowski
5–7, 6–3, [10–8]
Winner 16. October 20, 2008 France Lyon, France Carpet (i) Israel Andy Ram Australia Stephen Huss
United Kingdom Ross Hutchins
6–3, 5–7, [10–8]
Winner 17. February 16, 2009 France Marseille, France Hard (i) France Arnaud Clément Austria Julian Knowle
Israel Andy Ram
3–6, 6–3, [10–8]
Runner-up 15. September 21, 2009 France Metz, France Hard (i) France Arnaud Clément United Kingdom Colin Fleming
United Kingdom Ken Skupski
6–2, 4–6, [5–10]
Winner 18. February 15, 2010 France Marseille, France Hard (i) France Julien Benneteau Austria Julian Knowle
Sweden Robert Lindstedt
6–4, 6–3
Runner-up 16. August 9, 2010 Canada Toronto, Canada Hard France Julien Benneteau United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
5–7, 3–6
Runner-up 17. February 13, 2011 Netherlands Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard (i) Serbia Nenad Zimonjić Austria Jürgen Melzer
Germany Philipp Petzschner
4–6, 6–3, [5–10]
Runner-up 18. May 8, 2011 Spain Madrid, Spain Clay Serbia Nenad Zimonjić United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
3–6, 3–6
Winner 19. August 7, 2011 United States Washington, United States Hard Serbia Nenad Zimonjic Sweden Robert Lindstedt
Romania Horia Tecau
6–7(7–9), 7–6(10–8), [10–7]
Winner 20. August 14, 2011 Canada Toronto, Canada Hard Serbia Nenad Zimonjić United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
6–4, 6–7(5–7), [10–5]
Runner-up 19. August 21, 2011 United States Cincinnati, United States Hard Serbia Nenad Zimonjić India Mahesh Buphathi
India Leander Paes
6–7(4–7), 6–7(2–7)
Winner 21. October 9, 2011 China Beijing, China Hard Serbia Nenad Zimonjić Sweden Robert Lindstedt
Romania Horia Tecau
7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–4)
Runner-up 20. October 16, 2011 China Shanghai, China Hard Serbia Nenad Zimonjić Belarus Max Mirnyi
Canada Daniel Nestor
6–3, 1–6, [10–12]
Winner 22. November 6, 2011 Switzerland Basel, Switzerland Hard (i) Serbia Nenad Zimonjić Belarus Max Mirnyi
Canada Daniel Nestor
6–4, 7–5

Doubles Performance Timeline

Tournament 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 SR
Grand Slams
Australian Open A A A 1R F W W QF 2R 1R F A 1R QF 2 / 10
French Open A 2R 1R QF 2R 3R F 2R 3R 3R 1R 1R 3R SF 0 / 13
Wimbledon A A 2R 3R 1R 3R A QF A W A A QF SF 1 / 8
US Open A A 1R 1R 2R SF 2R 1R QF 2R 1R QF 2R 3R 0 / 12
Grand Slam SR 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 4 1 / 4 1 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 3 1 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 4 0 / 4 3 / 43
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells A A A A 2R 2R A 2R A 2R 2R 2R QF 1R 0 / 8
Miami A A A A 3R 2R A QF 2R SF QF A 1R QF 0 / 8
Monte Carlo A A A A 1R F 2R SF 2R 1R 2R A A 1R 0 / 8
Rome A A A A 2R F QF W A 2R 2R A 2R QF 1 / 8
Madrid (Stuttgart) A A A A 1R A A SF A A 2R A A F 0 / 4
Canada A A 1R A 1R QF SF A A 1R 1R 1R F W 1 / 9
Cincinnati A A A A 1R QF QF SF A A A QF 2R F 0 / 7
Shanghai Not Held 1R 1R F 0 / 3
Paris A A 2R 1R QF F 1R 1R W SF SF 2R 2R QF 1 / 12
Hamburg A A A A A A A F 2R A QF NM1 0 / 3
Masters Series SR 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 8 0 / 7 0 / 5 1 / 8 1 / 4 0 / 6 0 / 8 0 / 5 0 / 7 1 / 9 3 / 70
Year End Ranking 383 271 93 67 28 12 12 9 36 17 18 49 29

Bird incident

In the 2002 Australian Open Men's Doubles semifinal against Julien Boutter and Arnaud Clément, a small bird (identified as a house martin) flew into the court chasing a moth. It flew into the path of a hard hit volley by Llodra. After an impromptu funeral ceremony led by Boutter, the match continued, with Llodra and Santoro eventually winning 6–3, 3–6, 12–10.[8] Llodra remarked afterwards, "I didn't do it deliberately. But at least I saved the moth."

References

  1. ^ "Current ATP Rankings (singles)". atpworldtour.com. Association of Tennis Professionals. http://www.atpworldtour.com/Rankings/Singles.aspx. 
  2. ^ Celebrations end with a striptease, CNN.com World Sport. Accessed May 19, 2007.
  3. ^ French duo retain title, BBC News Online. Accessed May 19, 2007.
  4. ^ a b c Llodra's Strong Net Play to Match His Sense of Humor The New York Times. Accessed November 20, 2010.
  5. ^ Wimbledon 2010 live blog, The Guardian. Accessed October 6, 2010.
  6. ^ Robin Soderling halts Michael Llodra's run in Paris Masters, The Guardian. Accessed November 20, 2010.
  7. ^ Best Serve and Volleyer in the World, Essential Tennis. Accessed October 6, 2010.
  8. ^ "Llodra gets the bird". BBC News. January 24, 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/australian_open/1779136.stm. 

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Michaël Llodra — Michaël Llodra[1] …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Michael Llodra — Michaël Llodra Michaël Llodra …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Michaël Llodra — Nationalität: Frankreich …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Michael Llodra — Michaël Llodra Nationalität:  Frankreich …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Michaël Llodra — Michael Llodra País Francia Residencia Suresnes, Francia Fecha de nacimiento 18 de mayo de 1980 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Llodra — Michaël Llodra Nationalität:  Frankreich …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Michael Stich — Country  West Germany (1988–1990) …   Wikipedia

  • Michael Kohlmann — Country  Germany Residence Herdecke …   Wikipedia

  • Michael Berrer — Nationalität: Deutschland  Deutschland …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Michael Kohlmann — Michael Kohlmann …   Wikipédia en Français

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