Benjamin Balleret
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Benjamin Balleret (born January 15, 1983 in Monte Carlo, Monaco) is a professional tennis player on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour, best known for his April 2006 fairy tale run to the third round of the Monte Carlo Open, an ATP Masters Series tournament held in Monte Carlo, Monaco every year. Entering the tournament, Balleret was ranked 351st in the world and had competed only in challenger tournaments and several Davis Cup matches (he played for the Monegasque team in 2004 and 2005 and compiled a modest record of 4 wins and 5 losses) [1]. However on April 16th, 2006, he received a wild card into the qualifying draw of the Monte Carlo Open and won upsets over seeded, far more accomplished players than he including clay court specialist Albert Portas (at the time ranked 106th in the world and seeded 13th in the qualifying draw) as well as U.S. Open and Wimbledon semi-finalist Jonas Björkman (at the time ranked 71st in the world and seeded third in the qualifying draw). These wins earned Balleret a spot in the main draw, and his performance there is what earned him international headlines. He won shocking upsets over Christophe Rochus (at the time ranked 44th in the world) and, perhaps most amazingly, Sébastien Grosjean (at the time ranked 23rd in the world, number one in France, and seeded thirteenth in the main draw). Balleret's impressive run came to an end in the third round, in which he lost to world number one Roger Federer[2].
After Balleret's performance at this prestigious clay court event, he shot up 134 positions in the rankings to world number 217. As of June 26, 2006, he has ascended to #205 in the ATP rankings.
