Michaël Llodra

Michaël Llodra (French pronunciation: [mikaɛl jɔdʁa]; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titles and gaining victories over Novak Djokovic, Juan Martín del Potro, Tomáš Berdych, Robin Söderling, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Nikolay Davydenko, Janko Tipsarević and John Isner. Llodra has been called "the best volleyer on tour".

Michaël Llodra
Country (sports) France
ResidenceRueil-Malmaison, France
Born (1980-05-18) 18 May 1980
Paris, France
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Turned pro1999
Retired2014
PlaysLeft-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$8,533,350
Singles
Career record187–221
Career titles5
Highest rankingNo. 21 (9 May 2011)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open3R (2012)
French Open4R (2004, 2008)
Wimbledon4R (2011)
US Open4R (2004)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games2R (2008)
Doubles
Career record387–224
Career titles26
Highest rankingNo. 3 (14 November 2011)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian OpenW (2003, 2004)
French OpenF (2004, 2013)
WimbledonW (2007)
US OpenSF (2003)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour FinalsW (2005)

Life and career

Llodra at 2014 US Open

Llodra was born in Paris, where his father Michel played for 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 were married on 9 September 2003, and have two children, a daughter, Manon (born March 23, 2004) and a son, Teo (born 5 September 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 matches.

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 his semifinal, Llodra inadvertently hit a bird.

2003

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

2004

Upon winning the men's doubles again for the second time at the Australian Open in 2004, Llodra and his tennis partner Santoro made headlines by stripping off their shirts, shoes, socks and shorts.[1] Dressed in a pair of white briefs only, Llodra threw his clothes into the crowd, to the cheers of many onlookers.[2]

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 semifinalist 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 20 November 2005, Llodra again teamed with Santoro to win the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, a competition which pitted the top eight 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 US Open, he and Clément were seeded seventh, but were upset in the second round by Jesse Levine and Alex Kuznetsov.

2008

Llodra and Clément reached a second Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, but lost to the Israeli pairing of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram.

In singles, Llodra won two tournaments in the course of two months, the first 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 the US team. They are one of two teams to defeat the Bryans in Davis Cup.

He then entered the 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.

In 20009, he made two finals in singles; the Open 13 in Marseille (l. to Tsonga) and the Grand Prix in Lyon (l. to Ljubicic). He had a poor season in doubles.

2010

Llodra started off the season with opening-round losses in Brisbane and Sydney. He made the second round of the Australian Open, losing to Juan Mónaco in five sets.

He lost to Marco Chiudinelli in the opening round in Rotterdam. The following week, he impressively won the Open 13 tournament in Marseille. He beat two well-known players on the rise: seventh seed Marcos Baghdatis (in the second round) and top seed Robin Söderling (in the quarterfinals). In the final, he defeated Julien Benneteau in straight sets in their first meeting on the ATP tour. Llodra and Benneteau also teamed up to win the doubles title in Marseille. Llodra also won at Eastbourne, beating Guillermo García-López in straight sets in the final.

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

At the BNP Paribas Masters tournament in Paris-Bercy, he played his best tennis in an 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 and eventual champion Robin Söderling, but eventually lost in a third-set tiebreak. Had Llodra won, it would have been an all-French final in Paris with compatriot Gaël Monfils.

2011

At the Australian Open, Llodra and Zimonjic lost in the quarterfinals to Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in straight sets. They reached the final in Rotterdam, but lost to Jürgen Melzer and Petzschner in a super-tiebreak. They reached the semifinals in Dubai, but lost to Jérémy Chardy and Feliciano López, again in a super-tiebreak. They reached the quarterfinals in Miami, again losing to Bhupathi and Paes. In Madrid, they lost the final to the Bryan brothers. In Rome, they reached the quarterfinals, losing to Carlos Berlocq and Jarkko Nieminen.

The team made the semifinals at the French Open and at Wimbledon, losing to Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor in a match featuring two tiebreaks, and to the Bryan brothers in a five-set thriller, also with two tiebreaks. They won their first two titles of the year in Washington, D.C. and at the Canadian Open, against Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecău and the Bryan brothers, respectively. They lost in the final in Cincinnati, again against Bhupathi and Paes.

They did not make it past the round of 16 at the US Open, but they took their third title of the year at the China Open, again against Lindstedt and Tecau. They lost in the final in Shanghai against Max Mirnyi and Nestor in a super-tiebreak. They took their fourth title together in Basel, again defeating Mirnyi and Nestor in the final in straight sets.

They reached the quarterfinals in Bercy and participated in the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals in London, winning their first round-robin match against Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Qureshi.

In singles, Llodra reached the quarterfinals in Marseille, losing to Robin Söderling in straight sets. He also reached the quarterfinals in Madrid, losing to finalist Rafael Nadal. He lost in the first round at the French Open and in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. In the US Open, he lost in the second round to Kevin Anderson in straight sets.

2012

At the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris (Bercy), Llodra reached the semifinals, after upsetting tenth and seventh seeds John Isner and Juan Martín del Potro, even though he was the lowest-ranked player in the draw. He also beat American Sam Querrey in the quarterfinals. He faced David Ferrer for a place in the final, but lost.

2013

At the Dubai Open, Llodra stunned world No. 8 and Australian Open 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets, but lost to Dmitry Tursunov in the next round. Llodra was also in the men's doubles finals of the French Open with Nicolas Mahut, but lost to the Bryan brothers in the final.

2014

In 2014 Llodra played fewer tournaments and had less success in singles than the previous years. He suffered first-round losses at the Australian Open and French Open, and skipped Wimbledon. He did, however, get a win at the US Open, defeating Daniel Gimeno-Traver in straight sets.

Playing style

Llodra is known for his skilled net play.[3] 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."[4] Two-time French Open finalist Robin Söderling called Llodra's serve "unbelievable" and his volleys the "best on the tour".[5] 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.[3]

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.[3] Llodra has been called the 'best serve and volleyer in the world' by the website Essential Tennis.[6]

Major finals

Doubles: 7 (3–4)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up2002Australian OpenHard Fabrice Santoro Mark Knowles
Daniel Nestor
6–7(4–7), 3–6
Winner2003Australian OpenHard Fabrice Santoro Mark Knowles
Daniel Nestor
6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Winner2004Australian OpenHard Fabrice Santoro Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
7–6(7–4), 6–3
Runner-up2004French OpenClay Fabrice Santoro Xavier Malisse
Olivier Rochus
5–7, 5–7
Winner2007WimbledonGrass Arnaud Clément Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up2008Australian OpenHard Arnaud Clément Jonathan Erlich
Andy Ram
5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Runner-up2013French OpenClay Nicolas Mahut Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
4–6, 6–4, 6–7(4–7)

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Silver2012London OlympicsGrass Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
4–6, 6–7(2–7)

ATP career finals

Singles: 10 (5–5)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (1–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (4–5)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–4)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (2–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome W–L    Date    Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jan 2004 Next Generation Adelaide International, Australia Hard Dominik Hrbatý 4–6, 0–6
Win 1–1 Jun 2004 Ordina Open, Netherlands Grass Guillermo Coria 6–3, 6–4
Loss 1–2 Jun 2005 Ordina Open, Netherlands Grass Mario Ančić 5–7, 4–6
Win 2–2 Jan 2008 Next Generation Adelaide International, Australia Hard Jarkko Nieminen 6–3, 6–4
Win 3–2 Feb 2008 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard (i) Robin Söderling 6–7(3–7), 6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 3–3 Feb 2009 Open 13, Marseille, France Hard (i) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 5–7, 6–7(3–7)
Loss 3–4 Nov 2009 Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, France Hard (i) Ivan Ljubičić 5–7, 3–6
Win 4–4 Feb 2010 Open 13, France Hard (i) Julien Benneteau 6–3, 6–4
Win 5–4 Jun 2010 AEGON International, Eastbourne, United Kingdom Grass Guillermo García-López 7–5, 6–2
Loss 5–5 Feb 2012 Open 13, France Hard (i) Juan Martín del Potro 4–6, 4–6

Doubles: 47 (26–21)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (3–4)
ATP World Tour Finals (1–1)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (3–8)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (6–1)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (13–7)
Finals by surface
Hard (18–14)
Clay (2–6)
Grass (1–1)
Carpet (5–1)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1. May 1, 2000 Mallorca, Spain Clay Diego Nargiso Alberto Martín
Fernando Vicente
7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–3)
Runner-up 1. January 14, 2002 Melbourne, Australia Hard Fabrice Santoro Mark Knowles
Daniel Nestor
6–7(4–7), 3–6
Runner-up 2. July 22, 2002 Los Angeles, United States Hard Justin Gimelstob Sébastien Grosjean
Nicolas Kiefer
4–6, 4–6
Winner 2. January 13, 2003 Melbourne, Australia Hard Fabrice Santoro Mark Knowles
Daniel Nestor
6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up 3. April 14, 2003 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Fabrice Santoro Mahesh Bhupathi
Max Mirnyi
4–6, 6–3, 6–7(6–8)
Runner-up 4. May 5, 2003 Rome, Italy Clay Fabrice Santoro Wayne Arthurs
Paul Hanley
1–6, 3–6
Runner-up 5. September 29, 2003 Metz, France Hard (i) Fabrice Santoro Julien Benneteau
Nicolas Mahut
6–7(2–7), 3–6
Runner-up 6. October 27, 2003 Paris, France Carpet (i) Fabrice Santoro Wayne Arthurs
Paul Hanley
3–6, 6–1, 3–6
Runner-up 7. November 8, 2003 Houston, United States Hard Fabrice Santoro Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
7–6(8–6), 3–6, 6–3, 6–7(3–7), 4–6
Runner-up 8. January 5, 2004 Adelaide, Australia Hard Arnaud Clément Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
5–7, 3–6
Winner 3. January 19, 2004 Melbourne, Australia Hard Fabrice Santoro Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
7–6(7–4), 6–3
Runner-up 9. May 24, 2004 Paris, France Clay Fabrice Santoro Xavier Malisse
Olivier Rochus
5–7, 5–7
Winner 4. August 23, 2004 Long Island, United States Hard Antony Dupuis Yves Allegro
Michael Kohlmann
6–2, 6–4
Winner 5. October 25, 2004 Saint Petersburg, Russia Carpet (i) Arnaud Clément Dominik Hrbatý
Jaroslav Levinský
6–3, 6–2
Runner-up 10. January 10, 2005 Sydney, Australia Hard Arnaud Clément Mahesh Bhupathi
Todd Woodbridge
3–6, 3–6
Winner 6. May 2, 2005 Rome, Italy Clay Fabrice Santoro Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
6–4, 6–2
Runner-up 11. May 9, 2005 Hamburg, Germany Clay Fabrice Santoro Jonas Björkman
Max Mirnyi
6–4, 6–7(2–7), 6–7(3–7)
Winner 7. October 3, 2005 Metz, France Hard (i) Fabrice Santoro José Acasuso
Sebastián Prieto
5–2, 3–5, 5–4(6–4)
Winner 8. October 24, 2005 Lyon, France Carpet (i) Fabrice Santoro Jeff Coetzee
Rogier Wassen
6–3, 6–1
Winner 9. November 13, 2005 Shanghai, China Carpet (i) Fabrice Santoro Leander Paes
Nenad Zimonjić
6–7(6–8), 6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Winner 10. October 30, 2006 Paris, France Carpet (i) Arnaud Clément Fabrice Santoro
Nenad Zimonjić
6–4, 6–2
Winner 11. February 12, 2007 Marseille, France Hard (i) Arnaud Clément Mark Knowles
Daniel Nestor
7–5, 4–6, [10–8]
Winner 12. June 25, 2007 London, United Kingdom Grass Arnaud Clément Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 12. September 25, 2007 Bangkok, Thailand Hard (i) Nicolas Mahut Sonchat Ratiwatana
Sanchai Ratiwatana
6–3, 5–7, [7–10]
Winner 13. October 1, 2007 Metz, France Hard (i) Arnaud Clément Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Marcin Matkowski
6–1, 6–4
Runner-up 13. October 7, 2007 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Arnaud Clément Jonas Björkman
Max Mirnyi
4–6, 4–6
Runner-up 14. January 14, 2008 Melbourne, Australia Hard Arnaud Clément Jonathan Erlich
Andy Ram
5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Winner 14. March 3, 2008 Las Vegas, United States Hard (i) Julien Benneteau Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
6–4, 4–6, [10–8]
Winner 15. September 29, 2008 Metz, France Hard (i) Arnaud Clément Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Marcin Matkowski
5–7, 6–3, [10–8]
Winner 16. October 20, 2008 Lyon, France Carpet (i) Andy Ram Stephen Huss
Ross Hutchins
6–3, 5–7, [10–8]
Winner 17. February 16, 2009 Marseille, France Hard (i) Arnaud Clément Julian Knowle
Andy Ram
3–6, 6–3, [10–8]
Runner-up 15. September 21, 2009 Metz, France Hard (i) Arnaud Clément Colin Fleming
Ken Skupski
6–2, 4–6, [5–10]
Winner 18. February 15, 2010 Marseille, France Hard (i) Julien Benneteau Julian Knowle
Robert Lindstedt
6–4, 6–3
Runner-up 16. August 9, 2010 Toronto, Canada Hard Julien Benneteau Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
5–7, 3–6
Runner-up 17. February 13, 2011 Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard (i) Nenad Zimonjić Jürgen Melzer
Philipp Petzschner
4–6, 6–3, [5–10]
Runner-up 18. May 8, 2011 Madrid, Spain Clay Nenad Zimonjić Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
3–6, 3–6
Winner 19. August 7, 2011 Washington, United States Hard Nenad Zimonjić Robert Lindstedt
Horia Tecău
6–7(7–9), 7–6(10–8), [10–7]
Winner 20. August 14, 2011 Toronto, Canada Hard Nenad Zimonjić Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
6–4, 6–7(5–7), [10–5]
Runner-up 19. August 21, 2011 Cincinnati, United States Hard Nenad Zimonjić Mahesh Bhupathi
Leander Paes
6–7(4–7), 6–7(2–7)
Winner 21. October 9, 2011 Beijing, China Hard Nenad Zimonjić Robert Lindstedt
Horia Tecău
7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–4)
Runner-up 20. October 16, 2011 Shanghai, China Hard Nenad Zimonjić Max Mirnyi
Daniel Nestor
6–3, 1–6, [10–12]
Winner 22. November 6, 2011 Basel, Switzerland Hard (i) Nenad Zimonjić Max Mirnyi
Daniel Nestor
6–4, 7–5
Winner 23. February 19, 2012 Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard (i) Nenad Zimonjić Robert Lindstedt
Horia Tecău
4–6, 7–5, [16–14]
Winner 24. February 10, 2013 Montpellier, France Hard (i) Marc Gicquel Johan Brunström
Raven Klaasen
6–3, 3–6, [11–9]
Winner 25. March 2, 2013 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Hard Mahesh Bhupathi Robert Lindstedt
Nenad Zimonjić
7–6(8–6), 7–6(8–6)
Runner-up 21. May 8, 2013 Paris, France Clay Nicolas Mahut Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
4–6, 6–4, 6–7(3–7)
Winner 26. February 16, 2014 Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard (i) Nicolas Mahut Jean-Julien Rojer
Horia Tecău
6–2, 7–6(7–4)

Performance timelines

Singles

Tournament200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014W-L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open 2R A 1R 1R A 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R 3R 1R 1R 5–13
French Open 1R 1R 1R 1R 4R 1R 1R 3R 4R 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R 10–15
Wimbledon 2R 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R A 2R 1R 2R 2R 4R 1R 2R A 9–13
US Open A A 2R A 4R 1R A 2R 2R 1R 3R 2R 1R 1R 2R 10–11
Win–Loss 2–3 0–2 1–4 1–3 6–3 0–4 0–2 4–4 4–4 1–4 4–4 5–4 3–4 2–4 1–3 34–52
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells A A A A A 3R A 2R 1R 2R 1R 3R 2R 2R A 7–7
Miami A A A 1R A 1R 2R 3R 1R 1R 2R 3R 1R 2R A 6–10
Monte Carlo A A 2R A A 1R 2R Q1 1R A 2R 1R 1R A 2R 4–8
Rome A A A A A 1R A 1R 1R A 2R 1R 1R A A 1–6
Hamburg A A A A A 1R A A 2R Held as Madrid (Clay) 1–2
Madrid (Clay) Held as Hamburg A A QF 1R Q2 Q1 3–2
Canada 1R 1R A 1R 1R A A Q2 1R Q2 3R 2R A 1R Q2 3–8
Cincinnati A A A A 1R A A Q1 1R Q1 1R 2R A A Q1 1–4
Madrid (Hard) A A A A A A A A 1R Held as Shanghai 0–1
Shanghai Held as Madrid (Hard) 1R 1R 1R A A A 0–3
Paris 1R 1R A A 1R A 2R A A 1R SF 1R SF 1R A 9–9
Win–Loss 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–3 2–5 3–3 3–3 1–8 1–4 9–8 7–9 5–6 2–4 1–1 35–60
Career statistics
Titles 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 5
Finals 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 2 2 2 0 1 0 0 10
Year-end ranking 159 89 104 173 41 136 96 93 40 67 23 47 53 105 269

Doubles

Tournament19981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014SRW–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A 1R F W W QF 2R 1R F A 1R QF 3R 1R SF 2 / 13 35–11
French Open A 2R 1R QF 2R 3R F 2R 3R 3R 1R 1R 3R SF QF F 3R 0 / 16 32–16
Wimbledon A A 2R 3R 1R 3R A QF A W A A QF SF 3R 2R SF 1 / 11 28–10
US Open A A 1R 1R 2R SF 2R 1R QF 2R 1R QF 2R 3R 1R 3R 2R 0 / 15 19–13
Win–Loss 0–0 1–1 1–3 5–4 7–4 14–3 12–2 7–4 5–3 9–3 5–3 3–2 6–3 13–4 7–4 8–4 11–3 3 / 55 114–51
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells A A A A 2R 2R A 2R A 2R 2R 2R QF 1R 1R A A 0 / 9 6–9
Miami A A A A 3R 2R A QF 2R SF QF A 1R QF QF 2R SF 0 / 11 17–11
Monte Carlo A A A A 1R F 2R SF 2R 1R 2R A A 1R SF A 2R 0 / 10 10–10
Rome A A A A 2R F QF W A 2R 2R A 2R QF QF A A 1 / 9 12–7
Madrid (Stuttgart) A A A A 1R A A SF A A 2R A A F 2R 1R 2R 0 / 7 5–7
Canada A A 1R A 1R QF SF A A 1R 1R 1R F W A 2R 1R 1 / 11 12–10
Cincinnati A A A A 1R QF QF SF A A A QF 2R F A 1R 2R 0 / 9 9–9
Shanghai Not Held 1R 1R F A A A 0 / 3 3–3
Paris A A 2R 1R QF F 1R 1R W SF SF 2R 2R QF 1R 1R A 1 / 14 18–13
Hamburg A A A A A A A F 2R A QF NM1 0 / 3 6–3
Year-end ranking 383 271 93 67 28 12 12 9 36 17 18 49 29 5 33 24 26

Top 10 wins

Season200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014Total
Wins00002000114023013
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score
2004
1. Guillermo Coria 3 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass F 6–3, 6–4
2. Marat Safin 8 St. Petersburg, Russia Carpet (i) QF 6–4, 6–1
2008
3. Nikolay Davydenko 4 Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard (i) 2R 6–3, 7–5
2009
4. Gilles Simon 8 Marseille, France Hard (i) SF 7–6(7–5), 6–2
2010
5. Robin Söderling 8 Marseille, France Hard (i) QF 7–6(7–2), 6–4
6. Fernando Verdasco 10 Davis Cup, Clermont-Ferrand, France Hard (i) RR 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(7–2)
7. Tomáš Berdych 7 US Open, New York Hard 1R 7–6(7–3), 6–4, 6–4
8. Novak Djokovic 3 Paris, France Hard (i) 3R 7–6(8–6), 6–2
2012
9. Janko Tipsarević 9 Marseille, France Hard (i) SF 6–4, 7–6(12–10)
10. Juan Martín del Potro 8 Paris, France Hard (i) 3R 6–4, 6–3
2013
11. Janko Tipsarević 9 Montpellier, France Hard (i) 2R 6–3, 7–6(7–4)
12. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 8 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Hard 1R 7–6(7–3), 6–2
13. Richard Gasquet 10 Basel, Switzerland Hard (i) 1R 6–4, 6–2

Incidents

Bird

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.[7] Llodra remarked afterwards, "I didn't do it deliberately. But at least I saved the moth."

Nude in the locker

In the 2005 Key Biscayne tournament, Llodra was hiding nude in Ivan Ljubicic's locker. When Ljubicic discovered him, Llodra stated that he "tried to get his positive energy".[8] In 2005 Ljubicic was playing his most successful season by then.

Accusation of racism

After his first round victory over Ernests Gulbis at the 2012 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, during which Llodra was overheard by fans and journalists making racist and sexist comments to a female Gulbis fan, Llodra was fined $2500 by the ATP for his behaviour.[9] He later admitted making the comments in interviews with French media and complained that the fine was too high. Llodra did not make matters better for himself during an interview with a reporter from the Chinese news Web site SINA.com, in which the Frenchman attempted to apologize for his remarks. "My words were not aimed at China," Llodra began. "I love Chinese — I can totally make love with a Chinese girl," he added, before being cut off by the A.T.P. official monitoring the interview. The journalist, who took offense at the remark, said that he did not find Llodra's apology sincere. This was not the first incident in which charges of racism have been leveled at Llodra.[10] He denied his comments were racist during his 2011 French Open first round defeat at the hands of Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis, comparing the atmosphere on court to that of a north African souk while veteran Moroccan umpire Mohammed El Jennati was in the chair.[11]

References

  1. Celebrations end with a striptease, CNN.com World Sport. Accessed May 19, 2007.
  2. French duo retain title, BBC News Online. Accessed May 19, 2007.
  3. Llodra's Strong Net Play to Match His Sense of Humor The New York Times. Accessed November 20, 2010.
  4. Wimbledon 2010 live blog, The Guardian. Accessed October 6, 2010.
  5. Robin Soderling halts Michael Llodra's run in Paris Masters, The Guardian. Accessed November 20, 2010.
  6. Best Serve and Volleyer in the World Archived May 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Essential Tennis. Accessed October 6, 2010.
  7. "Llodra gets the bird". BBC News. January 24, 2002.
  8. "Prankster Llodra nude in Croatian's locker". ESPN. March 28, 2005.
  9. "After racial taunt, Michael Llodra pays a price beyond money".
  10. "Michael Llodra racism incident".
  11. "Llodra denies making racist remark".
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