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EXCLUSIVE:
THE SCOOP: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28
Sebastien
Grosjean blazes to the top of the charts
By
Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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A
local resident in Boca Raton, Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean laughed
when this tennisreporters.net
reporter
suggested he picked the wrong country to live in. After all, Grosjean’s
spectacular 2001 started when he cruised to the Australian Open
semifinals in January and ended with his reaching the season-ending
Tennis Master’s Cup final in Sydney in November.
“Yeah,”
said Grosjean, flashing his well-known impish grin, as he waited
his turn to participate in Andy Roddick’s fundraiser to raise
money for Boca Prep, the private high school the American attended.
“But you know, Australia, it is too far away. I like it here
in Boca.”
While
the 23-year-old Grosjean can indeed be charismatic when the time
is taken to chat with him, it would be accurate to describe him
as the quiet member of the Top Ten, barely receiving the recognition
he deserves for joining the elite group for the first time this
year. The Frenchman ended his year 2000 campaign at No. 19 in
the world and one year later, he was comfortably sitting at No.
6 in the world in both the rankings and the ATP Champions race
that judges players on their performance for the season.
“It
was my goal at the beginning of the year to be top eight and to
make the Masters at the end of the year,” Grosjean said.
“I did it and I played very well to do it. Next year, my
goal is to be better than six.”
Interestingly,
Grosjean does not look to his success in Australia – he lost
to countryman Arnaud Clement in the Australian Open semis and
to newly minted world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in the year-end Masters
– as his favorite accomplishments for the year. For Grosjean,
a native of Marseille, living in America has apparently not taken
away his passion for his homeland and his 2001 successes in France
are what he holds most dear.
FRENCH RESULTS IMPORTANT
“Playing
well in France, that is most important to me,” Grosjean said.
“Winning Bercy (in November) to get into the Tennis Master’s
Cup was very special and what I did at the French Open was a big
moment for me.”
What Grosjean did at the French Open was put on a magical quarterfinal
display to embarrass 1999 Roland Garros champion Andre Agassi
with a 1-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 victory. The match stood out in many
fans minds for more than just the tennis because former U.S. President
Bill Clinton, extremely popular with the Parisian crowd, was front
and center in the stadium. What added a bit of amusement to the
moment was that a very frustrated Agassi claimed he had no idea
that Clinton was even in attendance, despite the fact that the
American leader received a standing ovation when he arrived on
the scene during the match. Grosjean, however, said that he noticed
Clinton the minute he showed up and joked that by living in the
States he was sure he identified the former President correctly.
Of
the experience of winning that match to move into his first French
Open semifinal, Grosjean said at the time, “It was amazing.
To finish the match with an ace. I saw everybody stand up. It
was really great emotionally. You don’t want to leave the
court. You want to stay and share with everybody. … It’s
already a dream.”
The one disappointment Grosjean did experience Down Under this
year was losing his two singles matches during the Davis Cup final
against Australia in Melbourne earlier this month. Despite his
inability to put in an impressive performance at the Davis Cup,
he was still overjoyed that the French pulled out the surprising
upset over Australia, a team complete with the world No. 1 player
and a home court advantage.
“To be truthful, Davis Cup was the last event after a very
long year for me and it was very tough for me,” Grosjean
said, shaking his head sadly. “I lost those matches and that
was tough, but we won and that was unbelievable to be a part of.”
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