I've always liked Fabrice Santoro, his polite and classy behaviour combined with his incredible shot making and determination, has made him a hugely popular player amongst hard core tennis fans. While he might not have been a house-hold name to the casual follower, Santoro, was still one of the most enjoyable players to watch. He favored spin and placement over aggression and power, he was mostly a defensive player but at times he could go on the offense by coming to the net or adding more spin to his serve. He's also, one of the few players ever to have had a two handed forehand, which is definitely a must see. In case you haven't seen it before, I've included the link to a few of his matches at the bottom of this post so click on them and enjoy.:)
Santoro's, pro career began 20 years ago, at the 1989 French Open, where he lost a five set match to David Wheaton in the first round. This was also the same tournament where he claimed his first (and only) boys jr. grand slam title. In his early years on tour, Santoro managed to get some very credible wins against the best players, he beat Boris Becker in the 1992 Olympics and managed to win 2 of his first 3 meetings with Pete and Andre but despite his success against the top players, Santoro, routinely struggled to get into the later rounds of the majors and was only able to make the second week once in his whole career. Oddly enough, he skipped Wimbledon 7 times but only missed the French Open once.
The late 90s/early 2000s were probably Santoro's best years on tour, he claimed 4 of his 6 singles titles during this time period and in August of 2001, he reached his career high ranking of 17 in the world. In 2003 and 04 Santoro and his doubles partner Michael Llorda, claimed the Australian Open title back to back and managed to reach the French Open finals. Two years later Santoro achieved his best results ever at a singles grand slam, reaching the quarter-finals at the 2006 Australian Open.
Even in his last years on tour, Santoro proved that he was still dangerous, by upsetting high ranked players like Djokovic and big servers like Isner. In 2007 and 08 Santoro claimed the New Port title, making him one of the oldest players ever to win an ATP level singles tournament. Earlier this year Santoro, declared that this would be his last year on tour. And after losing to James Blake today in the Paris Masters tournament, Santoro shook hands at the net, (while exchanging shirts) and left the stadium for the last time, the crowds applause roaring behind him.
Fabrice wins the 1989 French Open boys jr. title
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y28r3eVHaJE&feature=PlayList&p=B3219EAF276965C8&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=45
Santoro defeats Novak Djokovic Paris 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qHMszmc_Ys
Santoro vs Andre 1994
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW-92FPFrn0
Santoro rallies against Federer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmuKzIEkafc&feature=related
Fabrice retrospect on his career:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gtQ1lWr79Y&feature=related
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