“I love this room. Besides, every time I go there, I get a tattoo to mark the event.”, said Johnny Hallyday in 1995 about Bercy. It is not known if Sébastien Grosjean is also fond of tattoos. Still, like the singer, the tennis player wrote the most beautiful pages of his career in the Parisian venue. We are in the fall of 2001, Johnny has not yet his sculpture in front of Bercy and Grosjean, 23, stands out as one of the great promises of the French circuit.
At the turn of the millennium, the right-hander is in great shape. Finalist of the Miami tournament in 1999, Sébastien Grosjean shines in 2001. His space odyssey took place at the Australian Open and then at Roland Garros, where he won the last four each time.
“I was starting to have a more solid game and consistency in my results. I immediately had a very good feeling when I arrived at Bercy.”
Sebastien grosjeanfranceinfo: sport
At the twilight of a successful season, the Marseillais launched an assault on a tournament that did not succeed. In three appearances, he has won only one meeting. But Grosjean, cleared of an ankle injury, has a No.6 seed to assume. His first two games, easily won against Dominik Hrbaty (6-1, 6-4) then Christophe Rochus (6-0, 3-6, 6-0), are rather promising.
For his first quarter in the walls of the 12th arrondissement of Paris, the right-hander faces a Hicham Arazi who beat him in the semi-finals in Monte-Carlo six months earlier. “No feeling of revenge at all”, by the admission of the person concerned, but an authoritarian victory (6-2, 6-2) allows him to continue the adventure. In the last square, Tommy Haas is on the program. An old acquaintance: “I’ve known him for a very long time, we’re from the same generation. We saw each other from the age of 12, in youth tournaments.”
The German, winner a few days earlier in Stuttgart, lost in straight sets (7-5, 6-4). “The psychological ascendancy played an important role”, remembers Grosjean. And for good reason: this is his fourth victory in as many games against Haas on the professional circuit. Aware of having done “a full match”, the Marseillais rallies the final. On the staircase leading to success, Yevgueni Kafelnikov represents one of the most perilous last steps.
Winner at Roland-Garros in 1996 and at the Australian Open in 1999, the then 27-year-old Russian is one of the best in the tennis world. But despite his experience and four contested finals, Kafelnikov has still not won any Masters 1000. This opponent, Grosjean, now a consultant for France Télévisions, knows him well: “I faced him in the final of the Marseille tournament a few months earlier. I had some benchmarks, I used that match well.”
The sacred French in #RolexPMasters : @Seb_Grosjean in 2001 pic.twitter.com/jAC07cXPa8
– ROLEX PARIS MASTERS (@RolexPMasters) October 22, 2017
As since the beginning of the week, Grosjean has been favored by an audience weaned from a French victory at the “POPB” since Guy Forget in 1991. Galvanized by this support, the Frenchman does not feed any complex, plays “instinctively” and attacks strongly from the first exchanges. “It was difficult to maneuver because it was very complete. But I was sure of my strength, and you have to face these players.”, he narrates. Better, the outsider wins a first set hung (7-6) before unwinding (6-1) in the second round.
The final is played in three winning sets, against two today, and Grosjean has never been so close to winning a Masters 1000. “I knew the road was long, tempers the right-hander. I kept moving forward and attacking, I felt a real fellowship with the audience. “ Even defeated in the tie-break in the third set, he found the resources to recover.
Until winning the fourth set 6-4, well helped by many unforced errors from Kafelnikov. “There was a lot of fatigue. And then he had to force it, because I showed him that I was there!”, explains Grosjean. When after 2:44 of effort and a third match point, the Russian sends a smash into the net, the Frenchman rejoices. The final bouquet of a perfect tournament:
“There are weeks when we are really confident, we don’t ask ourselves questions and we play on instinct. In terms of tennis and emotions, it was the perfect week.”
Sebastien grosjeanfranceinfo: sport
No time to think about Sébastien Grosjean: this triumph at Bercy gives him the right to compete in the Masters in Sydney, a week later. “I had to win at all costs to participate”, he recalls. Riding on his victorious Parisian week, the Marseillais climbed to the Masters final, beaten by Lleyton Hewitt. The end of a superb season for a Grosjean, “mentally exhausted” at the end of his Australian getaway.
Twenty years later, the memories of this crazy week seem intact in the memory of the French. Never mind, he ensures not to rehash the moment. “Honestly, I didn’t even remember that there was 7-6 in the third set in the final!, he laughs now. I will probably think about it again when I am in Bercy this week. ”