Thierry Champion
Encyclopedia
Bagnols-sur-Cèze
Bagnols-sur-Cèze is a commune in the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon région in southern France.-History:A small regional center, Bagnols-sur-Cèze was quite certainly a Roman town before the main part was built in the 13th century around a central arcaded square that is still preserved...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) is a former professional tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player from France.
During his career, Champion reached the quarter-finals at the French Open in 1990 and at Wimbledon in 1991.
A clay court specialist, Champion gained notoriety on the men's ATP tour as a wild card player with the ability to inflict defeat on seeded players well above his ranking. His play style was characterised by fast court coverage and strong baseline play with measured heavily spun passing shots, particularly from an unorthodox backhand stroke.
His successful run at the 1991 Wimbledon Championships was surprising not only because of his moderate ranking at the time, but due to the relative ease with which he adapted to a grass surface. Few professional players reared on the clay courts of Spain and France could boast similar performances on grass at this time.
Reaching a career high of 41 on the men's ATP rankings in 1991, subsequent years saw a dwindling career riddled with injury.
Champion is also remembered for being triple bageled in the 2nd round of the 1993 French Open
1993 French Open - Men's Singles
Sergi Bruguera defeated Jim Courier 6-4 2-6 6-2 3-6 6-3 in the final to win the Men's Singles title at the 1993 French Open. -Seeds:The seeded players are listed below. Sergi Bruguera is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated....
by eventual winner Sergi Bruguera
Sergi Bruguera
Sergi Bruguera i Torner is a former professional tennis player from Spain. He is best remembered for winning consecutive men's singles titles at the French Open in 1993 and 1994.-Career:...
.http://www.tennis28.com/slams/shortest_matches.html That was two years after he double breadsticked himself Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time....
.
Champion was the coach of French tennis player Gaël Monfils
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...
since September 2004 but they parted company in September 2006. He was also the coach of Hicham Arazi
Hicham Arazi
Hicham Arazi is a male tennis player from Morocco. He played professionally from 1993 to the end of the 2007. The left-hander reached his highest singles ranking in the ATP Tour on November 5, 2001, when he reached number 22 in the world. During his career, Arazi captured one singles title, in...
, Nicolas Escudé
Nicolas Escudé
Nicolas Jean-Christophe Escudé is a former professional tennis player from France, who turned professional in 1995. He won four singles titles and two doubles titles during his career....
and Paul-Henri Mathieu
Paul-Henri Mathieu
Paul-Henri Mathieu is a French tennis player.-Tennis career:Mathieu was born in Strasbourg, France. He first began playing tennis at age 3, with his older brother Pierre-Yves. Between 1997 and 2000 he trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida...
. At the 2008 Wimbledon Championships
2008 Wimbledon Championships
The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 122nd edition of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand Slam event of the year...
he was seen to be coaching the previous year's semi-finalist and number 8 seed Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet is a French professional tennis player. He won the mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the 2004 French Open, partnering Tatiana Golovin. His highest ranking in singles is #7. His best achievements in tennis are reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2007 and later that year...
.