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Nathalie Tauziat

Country (sports)	France
Residence	Anglet, France
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 4 in)
Turned pro	1985
Plays	Right-handed
Prize money	$6,650,093
Singles
Career record	606–365
Career titles	8
Highest ranking	No. 3 (May 8, 2000)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (1993)
French Open	QF (1991)
Wimbledon	F (1998)
US Open	QF (2000)
Doubles
Career record	525–326
Career titles	25
Highest ranking	No. 3 (October 8, 2002)
Last updated on: October 13, 2008.

Nathalie Tauziat (born October 17, 1967, in Bangui, Central African Republic) is a former professional tennis player from France.

Career

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Tauziat turned professional in 1984 and lived in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera during the early stages of her career and later moved to Bayonne in the southwest of France. She retired from the WTA Tour tennis circuit after the 2003 French Open, after having played only doubles in 2002 and 2003. Her highest WTA Tour singles and doubles rankings were both World No. 3. Tauziat was coached by Régis de Camaret throughout her professional career. She played mostly the serve-and-volley style.

Tauziat won her first WTA tour singles title in Bayonne in 1990. This was followed by tournament victories in Quebec City, Canada in 1993, Eastbourne, United Kingdom in 1995, and Birmingham, United Kingdom in 1997. In 1991, she reached the French Open singles quarterfinals for the first and only time, becoming the first Frenchwoman to do so since Brigitte Simon reached the semifinals in 1978.

At Wimbledon in 1998, Tauziat reached the only Grand Slam singles final of her career on her 42nd attempt. She lost to Jana Novotná 6–4, 7–6. Her appearance in this final was the first by a Frenchwoman since Suzanne Lenglen in 1925. She finished the year by becoming the first Frenchwoman to earn more than US$1 million in prize money. Tauziat was a relatively late bloomer for a female professional tennis player, moving into the world top ten at 30 years of age in 1998. She was only the third Frenchwoman to do so, the others being Françoise Durr and Mary Pierce. On February 7 1999, Tauziat and two other Frenchwomen were ranked in the singles top ten, the first time France had three women ranked in the top ten simultaneously. (Tauziat was ranked sixth. The other Frenchwomen in the top ten on that date were fifth ranked Pierce and ninth ranked Sandrine Testud.) France was the third nation after the United States and Australia to have more than two players in the singles top ten simultaneously. France repeated this accomplishment between November 15, 1999, and January 9, 2000, when Tauziat, Julie Halard-Decugis, Amélie Mauresmo, and Pierce had simultaneous top ten rankings.

Tauziat became the third-oldest player to win a Tier I WTA tour event since 1981 when she won the tournament in Moscow in 1999. This was followed two weeks later by the singles title at the Tier II tournament in Leipzig, Germany. This was the only year in which she won more than one WTA tour singles title. She reached the semifinals at the season-ending Chase Championships for the second time in 1999 (the first was in 1997). Her career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 was reached at age 32 years and 6 months in the spring of 2000, making her the oldest woman to reach the top three.

She reached her only US Open singles quarterfinal in 2000. In 2001, she competed in singles at the French Open for the 18th and final time, a tournament record that was matched by Conchita Martínez in 2005. She won her eighth and final singles title, and her third on grass, at Birmingham in 2001 to re-enter the top ten and become the oldest winner of a singles title since 1994 at 33 years, 8 months. Two weeks later, she reached the Wimbledon singles quarterfinals for the fifth time, becoming the oldest female Grand Slam tournament quarterfinalist since Martina Navratilova in 1994.

In 2001, Tauziat won her 112th grass-court match, placing her fifth on the open era list (behind Navratilova with 309 victories, Chris Evert with 207 victories, Pam Shriver with 188 victories, and Helena Suková with 125 victories). In the summer of 2001, she won her 600th career singles match en route to a fourth round finish at the US Open, only the 11th player to reach that milestone in the open era. In October 2001, she became at age 34 years, 12 days the fourth-oldest player to qualify in singles for the season-ending Sanex Championships (the ninth time she had done so) and also qualified in doubles for the seventh time. She attained a career-high World No. 3 doubles ranking on October 8, 2001.

Tauziat won 8 WTA tour singles titles and was the runner-up in 14 WTA tour tournaments. She won 25 WTA tour doubles titles and was the runner-up in 32 WTA tour doubles tournaments. Eight of her doubles titles were in partnership with fellow Frenchwoman Alexandra Fusai, and eleven of her doubles runner-ups were with Fusai. Tauziat secured WTA tour doubles titles at least once on four different surfaces - clay, grass, hardcourt, and indoor.

Tauziat represented her country in Fed Cup from 1985 through 2001 and at the Olympic Games in 1988, 1992, and 1996. As of December 31, 2005, she holds the following Fed Cup records for her country: most years played (16), most ties played (40), most total match wins (33), and most doubles match wins (20). She was a member of the Fed Cup-winning team in 1997, in which she won both of her singles matches in the opening round against Japan and her doubles matches against Belgium in the semifinals and against the Netherlands in the final. She made Fed Cup singles history in 1997 when she defeated Japan's Naoko Sawamatsu 7–5, 4–6, 17-15. The final set was the longest set ever in Fed Cup singles, and the 54 games in the match tied the record for the most games in a rubber.

In addition to her 57 career WTA tour finals, Tauziat reached at least the women's doubles quarterfinals in 15 Grand Slam tournaments. Her best doubles performance in a Grand Slam tournament was at the 2001 US Open, where she was the runner-up with Kimberly Po-Messerli. She also played in the season-ending WTA Tour Championships on seven occasions between 1988 and 2001. She was the runner-up with Fusai in 1997 and 1998. She was a WTA tour doubles semifinalist on 42 occasions (excluding Grand Slam tournaments): 1985(3), 1986(1), 1987(2), 1988(3), 1989(5), 1990(1), 1991(1), 1993(2), 1994(2), 1995(3), 1996(1), 1997(2), 1998(4), 1999(4), 2000(3), and 2001(5).

Tauziat wrote a book with the title "Les Dessous du tennis féminin" (published in 2001 in French) in which she gave her insights about life on the women's professional tennis circuit.

In 2004, Tauziat received a state honour - le chevalier de la Légion d'honneur - from French President Jacques Chirac for her contributions to international tennis.

Tauziat has been an official WTA tour mentor to French tennis player Marion Bartoli since 2003.

Tauziat is a first cousin of Didier Deschamps, a former French football player. She married Ramuncho Palaurena on July 16, 2005. The couple have a daughter, born in 2005.

Grand Slam singles finals

Runner-up (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in final	Score in final
1998	Wimbledon	Jana Novotná	6–4, 7–6

WTA Tour singles finals

Wins (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in final	Score in final
1.	September 24, 1990	Bayonne, France	Hard (i)	Anke Huber	6–3, 7–6(8)
2.	November 1, 1993	Quebec City, Canada	Hard (i)	Katerina Maleeva	6–4, 6–1
3.	June 19, 1995	Eastbourne, United Kingdom	Grass	Chanda Rubin	3–6, 6–0, 7–5
4.	June 9, 1997	Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Yayuk Basuki	2–6, 6–2, 6–2
5.	October 18, 1999	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Barbara Schett	2–6, 6–4, 6–1
6.	November 1, 1999	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (i)	Květa Peschke	6–1, 6–3
7.	February 7, 2000	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	Serena Williams	7–5, 6–2
8.	June 11, 2001	Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Miriam Oremans	6–3, 7–5

Runner-ups (14)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in final	Score in final
1.	July 11, 1988	Nice, France	Clay	Sandra Cecchini	7–5, 6–4
2.	August 22, 1988	Mahwah, U.S.	Hard	Steffi Graf	6–0, 6–1
3.	February 5, 1990	Wichita, U.S.	Hard (i)	Dinky van Rensburg	2–6, 7–5, 6–2
4.	October 7, 1991	Zurich, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Steffi Graf	6–4, 6–4
5.	March 23, 1992	San Antonio, U.S.	Hard	Martina Navrátilová	6–2, 6–1
6.	September 28, 1992	Bayonne, France	Hard (i)	Manuela Maleeva	6–7(4), 6–2, 6–3
7.	June 10, 1996	Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Meredith McGrath	2–6, 6–4, 6–4
8.	October 13, 1997	Zurich, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	7–6(3), 7–5
9.	November 3, 1997	Chicago, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	6–0, 7–5
10.	June 22, 1998	Wimbledon	Grass	Jana Novotná	6–4, 7–6(2)
11.	November 2, 1998	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (i)	Steffi Graf	6–3, 6–4
12.	June 7, 1999	Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Julie Halard-Decugis	6–2, 3–6, 6–4
13.	June 14, 1999	Eastbourne, United Kingdom	Grass	Natasha Zvereva	0–6, 7–5, 6–3
14.	February 19, 2001	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Martina Hingis	6–4, 6–4

WTA Tour doubles finals

Wins (25)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in final	Score in final
1.	September 28, 1987	Paris, France	Clay	Isabelle Demongeot	Sandra Cecchini Sabrina Goleš	1–6, 6–3, 6–3
2.	May 9, 1988	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Isabelle Demongeot	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	6–2, 4–6, 6–4
3.	October 17, 1988	Zurich, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Isabelle Demongeot	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	6–3, 6–3
4.	May 1, 1989	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Isabelle Demongeot	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	walkover
5.	October 22, 1990	Brighton, United Kingdom	Carpet	Helena Suková	Jo Durie Natasha Zvereva	6–1, 6–4
6.	September 23, 1991	Bayonne, France	Carpet (i)	Patricia Tarabini	Rachel McQuillan Catherine Tanvier	6–3, retired
7.	January 11, 1993	Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Nicole Bradtke	Cammy MacGregor Shaun Stafford	1–6, 6–3, 6–3
8.	August 8, 1994	Los Angeles	Hard	Julie Halard	Jana Novotná Lisa Raymond	6–1, 0–6, 6–1
9.	October 31, 1994	Quebec City, Canada	Carpet (i)	Elna Reinach	Chanda Rubin Linda Wild	6–4, 6–3
10.	February 22, 1995	Linz, Austria	Carpet (i)	Meredith McGrath	Iva Majoli Petra Schwarz	6–1, 6–2
11.	September 30, 1996	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (i)	Kristie Boogert	Sabine Appelmans Miriam Oremans	6–4, 6–4
12.	October 21, 1996	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Carpet (i)	Kristie Boogert	Dominique Monami Barbara Rittner	2–6, 6–4, 6–2
13.	February 3, 1997	Linz, Austria	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Eva Melicharová Helena Vildová	4–6, 6–3, 6–1
14.	November 3, 1997	Chicago	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Lindsay Davenport Monica Seles	6–3, 6–2
15.	February 23, 1998	Linz, Austria	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Anna Kournikova Larisa Neiland	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
16.	May 18, 1998	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Alexandra Fusai	Yayuk Basuki Caroline Vis	6–4, 6–3
17.	August 24, 1998	New Haven, U.S.	Hard	Alexandra Fusai	Jana Novotná Mariaan de Swardt	6–1, 6–0
18.	February 8, 1999	Prostějov, Czech Republic	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Květa Peschke Helena Vildová	3–6, 6–2, 6–1
19.	May 10, 1999	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Alexandra Fusai	Jana Novotná Patricia Tarabini	6–3, 7–5
20.	June 19, 2000	Eastbourne, United Kingdom	Grass	Ai Sugiyama	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	2–6, 6–3, 7–6(3)
21.	August 14, 2000	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Martina Hingis	Julie Halard-Decugis Ai Sugiyama	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
22.	September 25, 2000	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Lubomira Bacheva Cristina Torrens	6–3, 7–6(0)
23.	March 19, 2001	Miami, U.S.	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	6–0, 6–4
24.	August 6, 2001	Los Angeles	Hard	Kimberly Po	Nicole Arendt Caroline Vis	6–3, 7–5
25.	September 24, 2001	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (i)	Elena Likhovtseva	Květa Peschke Barbara Rittner	6–4, 6–2

Runner-ups (33)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in final	Score in final
1.	July 11, 1988	Nice, France	Clay	Isabelle Demongeot	Catherine Suire Catherine Tanvier	6–4, 4–6, 6–2
2.	October 24, 1988	Brighton, United Kingdom	Carpet	Isabelle Demongeot	Lori McNeil Betsy Nagelsen	7–6(5), 2–6, 7–6(3)
3.	October 16, 1989	Zurich, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Judith Wiesner	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
4.	February 12, 1990	Chicago, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Martina Navrátilová Anne Smith	6–7(9), 6–4, 6–3
5.	April 22, 1991	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Judith Wiesner	Martina Navrátilová Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–1, 6–3
6.	July 29, 1991	San Diego, U.S.	Hard	Gigi Fernández	Jill Hetherington Kathy Rinaldi Stunkel	6–4, 3–6, 6–2
7.	April 20, 1992	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Judith Wiesner	Conchita Martínez Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–4, 6–1
8.	November 1, 1993	Quebec City, Canada	Carpet (i)	Katerina Maleeva	Katrina Adams Manon Bollegraf	6–4, 6–4
9.	April 18, 1994	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Julie Halard-Decugis	Larisa Neiland Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–2, 6–4
10.	February 12, 1996	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	Julie Halard-Decugis	Kristie Boogert Jana Novotná	6–4, 6–3
11.	March 4, 1996	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Julie Halard-Decugis	Chanda Rubin Brenda Schultz	6–1, 6–4
12.	June 10, 1996	Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Lori McNeil	Elizabeth Smylie Linda Wild	6–3, 3–6, 6–1
13.	November 4, 1996	Oakland, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Gigi Fernández	Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernández	6–1, 6–3
14.	March 3, 1997	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Lisa Raymond	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	7–5, 6–2
15.	June 9, 1997	Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Linda Wild	Katrina Adams Larisa Neiland	6–2, 6–3
16.	August 18, 1997	Atlanta, U.S.	Hard	Alexandra Fusai	Nicole Arendt Manon Bollegraf	6–7(5), 6–3, 6–2
17.	October 20, 1997	Quebec City, Canada	Hard (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	6–4, 5–7, 7–5
18.	November 17, 1997	Chase Championships, New York City	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Lindsay Davenport Jana Novotná	6–7(5), 6–3, 6–2
19.	March 2, 1998	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Alexandra Fusai	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 2–6, 6–4
20.	May 11, 1998	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Alexandra Fusai	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 6–0
21.	August 3, 1998	San Diego, U.S.	Hard	Alexandra Fusai	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	6–2, 6–1
22.	November 16, 1998	Chase Championships, New York City	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	6–7(6), 7–5, 6–3
23.	February 15, 1999	Hanover, Germany	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Serena Williams Venus Williams	5–7, 6–2, 6–2
24.	May 3, 1999	Rome, Italy	Clay	Alexandra Fusai	Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova	6–2, 6–2
25.	May 17, 1999	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Alexandra Fusai	Elena Likhovtseva Ai Sugiyama	2–6, 7–6(6), 6–1
26.	October 11, 1999	Zurich, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Natasha Zvereva	Lindsay Davenport Rennae Stubbs	6–2, 6–2
27.	January 31, 2000	Tokyo, Japan	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Martina Hingis Mary Pierce	6–4, 6–1
28.	October 16, 2000	Linz, Austria	Carpet (i)	Ai Sugiyama	Amélie Mauresmo Chanda Rubin	6–4, 6–4
29.	February 5, 2001	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	Kimberly Po	Iva Majoli Virginie Razzano	6–3, 7–5
30.	February 12, 2001	Nice, France	Carpet (i)	Kimberly Po	Émilie Loit Anne-Gaëlle Sidot	1–6, 6–2, 6–0
31.	June 11, 2001	Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Kimberly Po	Cara Black Elena Likhovtseva	6–1, 6–2
32.	August 27, 2001	US Open, New York City	Hard	Kimberly Po	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	6–2, 5–7, 7–5
33.	June 10, 2002	Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Kimberly Po	Shinobu Asagoe Els Callens	6–4, 6–3

WTA Tour Championships

• 1988: Doubles – 1R with Isabelle Demongeot (France)
• 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1993: Singles - 1R
• 1994: Doubles – 1R with Julie Halard-Decugis (France)
• 1995: Doubles - lost playoff match with Halard-Decugis for the final berth
• 1997: Singles - SF; Doubles - RU with Alexandra Fusai (France)
• 1998: Singles - QF; Doubles - RU with Fusai
• 1999: Singles – SF; Doubles – QF with Fusai
• 2000: Singles – QF; Doubles – QF with Fusai
• 2001: Singles – 1R; Doubles – SF with Kimberly Po-Messerli (U.S.)

Grand Slam women's doubles record

Only quarterfinal or better appearances are listed.

• French Open - SF (1990, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000), QF (1987, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1998,2001)
• Wimbledon – SF (2001), QF (2002)
• US Open – RU (2001), QF (1995, 1997)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

NH = tournament not held.

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

External links

• Nathalie Tauziat at the Women's Tennis Association
• Nathalie Tauziat at the Billie Jean King Cup

• Articles lacking sources from October 2008
• 1967 births
• Living people
• People from Bangui
• French tennis players
• Olympic tennis players of France
• People from Var
• Tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics
• Tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics
• Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics