Fabrice Santoro

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**Fabrice Santoro**

Country	France
Residence	Geneva, Switzerland
Date of birth	December 9, 1972 (age 34)
Place of birth	Tahiti, French Polynesia
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
Weight	163 lb (74 kg)
Turned Pro	1989
Plays	right-handed
Career Prize Money	$8,431,071
Singles
Career record:	415 - 388
Career titles:	4
Highest ranking:	17 (August 6, 2001)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	QF (2006)
French Open	4th (1991, 2001)
Wimbledon	3rd (2001)
U.S. Open	3rd (1990, 1998, 1999, 2004)
Doubles
Career record:	330 - 223
Career titles:	22
Highest ranking:	6 (July 5, 1999)
Infobox last updated on: January 8, 2007.

Fabrice Santoro (born December 9, 1972) is a French professional male tennis player. He was born in Tahiti, the largest island in the French Polynesia, located in the Pacific Ocean.

He has been most successful in doubles; he has twice won the Australian Open (2003, 2004) doubles title partnering Michael Llodra and has been runner-up at the Australian Open (2002), at the French Open (2004) and at Wimbledon (2006). In 2005 he won the Roland Garros mixed doubles title with Daniela Hantuchova.

In addition to his doubles prowess, Fabrice is noted for his cheery attitude on court and his vast arsenal of trick shots, making Fabrice a crowd favorite at virtually every event he takes part in. His varied and innovative style of play has earned him the nickname The Magician.

Santoro plays with two-hands on forehand and backhand, and though he is right-handed, often slices his forehand with the left hand. He attributes this to his having used racquets of the same weight through out his career, which made it too heavy for a six year old starting off a career, to hold with one hand.^[1] Santoro has beaten many former world number one players including Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, and is famous for his record against Marat Safin. At 34, he is currently the second-oldest player in the ATP Top 100 (after Jonas Bjorkman).

[edit] Singles Titles (4)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1997	Lyon,	Carpet	Tommy Haas	6-4 6-4
2.	1999	Marseille,	Hard	Arnaud Clément	6-3 4-6 6-4
3.	2000	Doha,	Hard	Rainer Schüttler	3-6 7-5 3-0 RET
4.	2002	Dubai,	Hard	Younes El Aynaoui	6-4 3-6 6-3

[edit] Trivia

He has won the longest singles match in the Open Era history. At the 2004 French Open, he beat fellow Frenchman Arnaud Clément in a 6h 33m first round match, winning 6-4 6-3 6-7 3-6 16-14.
Santoro is 7-2 lifetime against Marat Safin. Santoro often drives Safin crazy during matches, to a point where the Russian stated "being told I would play Santoro was being told I was to die."
Santoro holds a 9-2 record over compatriot Sebastien Grosjean.
In the 2005 US Open, he lost to the eventual champion Roger Federer 7-5 7-5 7-6.
On November 20, 2005, Santoro teamed up with Michael Llodra, a French compatriot, to win the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, a competition which pitted the top 8 doubles teams in the world against one another.
He was the first ever leader of the ATP Champions Race, winning the first tournament of the year in Doha in the year the Race was introduced.
The 2006 Australian Open was his first Grand Slam quarter final appearance.
Fabrice was a big fan of the famous French comedian, Michel Colucci.^[1]