Arnaud Clément (French pronunciation:[aʁnoklemɑ̃]; born 17 December 1977) is a French former professional tennis player and Davis Cup captain. Clément reached the final of the 2001 Australian Open and achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 10 in April of that year. Partnering Michaël Llodra in men's doubles, he won Wimbledon in 2007 and two Masters titles.
He was the French Davis Cup captain from 2013 to 2015.[1]
Life and career
Clément was born in Aix-en-Provence to Henri Clément and Maria Michel.[2] He began to play tennis at the age of seven with his older brother Bruno, who later became his coach. His grandmother is Lebanese.[2][3] He currently lives in Geneva, Switzerland.
He turned professional in 1996, and achieved his career highlight at the 2001 Australian Open, reaching the men's singles final, where he was defeated by Andre Agassi. En route, Clement defeated the then-unseeded future world No. 1, Roger Federer, and the former world No. 1, Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
While playing, he often wore a bandana and sunglasses. The sunglasses have been medically prescribed for Clement because of severe eye problems he has encountered through his life, which had nearly left him blind as a child. At only 13 months old, he was diagnosed with unilateral coloboma, meaning the condition only affects one eye, at that time Clément was only given a 40/60% chance of having healthy eyesight for the rest of his life[citation needed], throughout his tennis career Clément has worn sunglasses to protect his eyes.
Clément was selected to represent one of the world's best-known and most important fashion labels, Lacoste. He was seen from May 2004 onwards in a pan-European print and TV campaign alongside the Danish pop singer Natasha Thomas. The advert was directed and shot by Bruno Aveillan.
Clément has been ranked as high as world No. 10 in singles and as high as world No. 8 in doubles, where he has often partnered with fellow Frenchmen Sébastien Grosjean and Michaël Llodra. He has won four ATP singles titles (Lyon 2000, Metz 2003, Marseille 2006, Washington 2006), and twelve doubles titles including Wimbledon.
In March 2006, Clément ended his two-and-a-half-year period of not winning an ATP singles title by capturing the Marseille Open, defeating world No. 2, Rafael Nadal, in the semifinals and Mario Ančić in the finals.[5] In August 2006, Clément won his first ATP title in the United States, defeating Murray in straight sets in the final of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.[6]
In July 2007, Arnaud Clément and Michaël Llodra won the men's double title at Wimbledon, beating world No. 1 and top seeds defending champions, Bob and Mike Bryan,[7] thus winning his first Grand Slam doubles title (Llodra had won two previous titles with Fabrice Santoro, making it his third Grand Slam title). He and Llodra were ecstatic, and celebrated by throwing their shirts, rackets, and towels into the crowd.
In July 2008, Arnaud Clément and Rainer Schüttler, both in their early 30s, played against each other in a Wimbledon quarterfinal singles match. Because of rain delays and darkness, play was suspended over a period of two days. Eventually, the match went in favour of Schüttler. The match went five sets and over five hours combined within the two playing days. The fifth set's score was 8–6. Finishing in five hours and twelve minutes, it was the third-longest men's singles match in Wimbledon history.[8]
In June 2012, Arnaud Clément formalized his retirement from professional tennis at the age of 34, after a 16-year career.[9]
Clément has been in a relationship with French pop singer Nolwenn Leroy since 2008.[10]
