Nathalie Tauziat

Nathalie Tauziat

Tauziat (left) and Conchita Martínez
Country (sports)	France
Residence	Anglet, France
Born	(1967-10-17) 17 October 1967 Bangui, Central African Republic
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Turned pro	1984
Retired	2003
Plays	Right-handed (one handed-backhand)
Prize money	$6,650,093
Singles
Career record	606–365 (62.4%)
Career titles	8
Highest ranking	No. 3 (8 May 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 (8 October 2001)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	3R (1993)
French Open	SF (1990, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000)
Wimbledon	SF (2001)
US Open	F (2001)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	W (1997)

Nathalie Tauziat (born 17 October 1967) is a French former professional tennis player. She was the runner-up in women's singles at the 1998 Wimbledon Championships and runner-up in the women's doubles at the 2001 US Open partnering Kimberly Po-Messerli. She reached a career-high ranking of world No. 3 in both singles and doubles.

She currently coaches her countrywoman Harmony Tan and Canadian tennis player Bianca Andreescu.

Early life

Tauziat was born in Bangui, Central African Republic, where she lived for the first eight years of her life. She is a first cousin of Didier Deschamps, former captain and current manager of the French football team. About a week after Tauziat reached the Wimbledon final on 4 July 1998, Deschamps led France to win the World Cup on 12 July 1998.

Career

Tauziat turned professional in 1984. She won her first singles title in 1990. She reached her only Grand Slam singles final at the 1998 Wimbledon Championships, beating Haruka Inoue, Iva Majoli, Julie Halard-Decugis, Samantha Smith, Lindsay Davenport and Natasha Zvereva before losing to Jana Novotná. Her appearance in this final was the first by a Frenchwoman since Suzanne Lenglen in 1925.

Tauziat was runner-up with partner Kimberly Po in the 2001 US Open women's doubles final, losing to the team of Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs. She and partner Alexandra Fusai were doubles runners-up at the 1997 and 1998 Chase Championships. She was also part of the 1997 French Fed Cup team, which won its first title in the history of the competition.

Tauziat reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 3 at the age of 32 years and 6 months in the spring of 2000, making her the oldest woman to debut in the top three and the fourth oldest to be ranked in the top three. She retired from the WTA Tour after the 2003 French Open, after having played only doubles in 2002 and 2003. Tauziat won 8 singles titles and 25 doubles titles on the WTA Tour in her career.

She 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. She was an official WTA Tour mentor to French tennis player Marion Bartoli, beginning in 2003.

Personal

Tauziat married Ramuncho Palaurena on 16 July 2005. The couple have three daughters, one born in 2005 and twin girls in June 2009.

Major finals

Grand Slam tournaments

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1998	Wimbledon	Grass	Jana Novotná	4–6, 6–7(2–7)

Women's doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2001	US Open	Hard	Kimberly Po-Messerli	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	2–6, 7–5, 5–7

Year-end championships

Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1997	New York	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Lindsay Davenport Jana Novotná	7–6(7–5), 3–6, 2–6
Loss	1998	New York	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	7–6(8–6), 5–7, 3–6

WTA career finals

Singles: 22 (8–14)

Winner – Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–1) WTA Championships (0–0) Tier I (1–1) Tier II (3–5) Tier III (3–3) Tier IV (0–3) Tier V (1–1)

Finals by surface Hard (0–4) Grass (3–4) Clay (0–1) Carpet (5–5)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	Jul 1988	Nice, France	Clay	Sandra Cecchini	5–7, 4–6
Loss	2.	Aug 1988	Mahwah, US	Hard	Steffi Graf	0–6, 1–6
Loss	3.	Feb 1990	Wichita, US	Hard (i)	Dinky Van Rensburg	6–2, 5–7, 2–6
Win	1.	Sep 1990	Bayonne, France	Carpet (i)	Anke Huber	6–3, 7–6(10–8)
Loss	4.	Oct 1991	Zürich, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Steffi Graf	4–6, 4–6
Loss	5.	Mar 1992	San Antonio, US	Hard	Martina Navratilova	2–6, 1–6
Loss	6.	Oct 1992	Bayonne, France	Carpet (i)	Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere	7–6(7–4), 2–6, 3–6
Win	2.	Nov 1993	Québec City, Canada	Carpet (i)	Katerina Maleeva	6–4, 6–1
Win	3.	Jun 1995	Eastbourne, UK	Grass	Chanda Rubin	3–6, 6–0, 7–5
Loss	7.	Jun 1996	Birmingham, UK	Grass	Meredith McGrath	6–2, 4–6, 4–6
Win	4.	Jun 1997	Birmingham, UK	Grass	Yayuk Basuki	2–6, 6–2, 6–2
Loss	8.	Oct 1997	Zürich, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	6–7(3–7), 5–7
Loss	9.	Nov 1997	Chicago, US	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	0–6, 5–7
Loss	10.	Jul 1998	Wimbledon, UK	Grass	Jana Novotná	4–6, 6–7(2–7)
Loss	11.	Nov 1998	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (i)	Steffi Graf	3–6, 4–6
Loss	12.	Jun 1999	Birmingham, UK	Grass	Julie Halard-Decugis	2–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss	13.	Jun 1999	Eastbourne, UK	Grass	Natasha Zvereva	6–0, 5–7, 3–6
Win	5.	Oct 1999	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Barbara Schett	2–6, 6–4, 6–1
Win	6.	Nov 1999	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (i)	Květa Hrdličková	6–1, 6–3
Win	7.	Feb 2000	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	Serena Williams	7–5, 6–2
Loss	14.	Feb 2001	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Martina Hingis	4–6, 4–6
Win	8.	Jun 2001	Birmingham, UK	Grass	Miriam Oremans	6–3, 7–5

Doubles: 57 (25–32)

Winner – Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–1) WTA Championships (0–2) Tier I (4–7) Tier II (9–10) Tier III (6–11) Tier IV (5–0) Tier V (0–1) Virginia Slims (1–0)

Finals by surface Hard (6–10) Grass (1–2) Clay (5–8) Carpet (13–12)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	4 Octtber 1987	Paris	Clay	Isabelle Demongeot	Sandra Cecchini Sabrina Goleš	1–6, 6–3, 6–3
Win	2.	15 May 1988	Berlin	Clay	Isabelle Demongeot	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	6–2, 4–6, 6–4
Loss	1.	17 July 1988	Nice	Clay	Isabelle Demongeot	Catherine Suire Catherine Tanvier	4–6, 6–4, 2–6
Win	3.	23 October 1988	Zürich	Carpet (i)	Isabelle Demongeot	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	6–3, 6–3
Loss	2.	30 October 1988	Brighton	Carpet (i)	Isabelle Demongeot	Lori McNeil Betsy Nagelsen	6–7(5–7), 6–2, 6–7(4–7)
Win	4.	7 May 1989	Hamburg	Clay	Isabelle Demongeot	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	w/o
Loss	3.	22 October 1989	Zürich	Carpet (i)	Judith Wiesner	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	3–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss	4.	18 February 1990	Chicago	Carpet (i)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Martina Navratilova Anne Smith	7–6(11–9), 4–6, 3–6
Win	5.	28 October 1990	Brighton	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Jo Durie Natasha Zvereva	6–1, 6–4
Loss	5.	28 April 1991	Barcelona	Clay	Judith Wiesner	Martina Navratilova Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	1–6, 3–6
Loss	6.	4 August 1991	San Diego	Hard	Gigi Fernández	Jill Hetherington Kathy Rinaldi	4–6, 6–3, 2–6
Win	6.	28 September 1991	Bayonne	Carpet (i)	Patricia Tarabini	Rachel McQuillan Catherine Tanvier	6–3, ret.
Loss	7.	26 April 1992	Barcelona	Clay	Judith Wiesner	Conchita Martínez Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	4–6, 1–6
Win	7.	16 January 1993	Melbourne	Hard	Nicole Provis	Cammy MacGregor Shaun Stafford	1–6, 6–3, 6–3
Loss	8.	7 November 1993	Québec City	Carpet (i)	Katerina Maleeva	Katrina Adams Manon Bollegraf	4–6, 4–6
Loss	9.	24 April 1994	Barcelona	Clay	Julie Halard	Larisa Neiland Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	2–6, 4–6
Win	8.	14 August 1994	Los Angeles	Hard	Julie Halard	Jana Novotná Lisa Raymond	6–1, 0–6, 6–1
Win	9.	6 November 1994	Québec City	Carpet (i)	Elna Reinach	Chanda Rubin Linda Wild	6–4, 6–3
Win	10.	26 February 1995	Linz	Carpet (i)	Meredith McGrath	Iva Majoli Petra Schwarz	6–1, 6–2
Loss	10.	18 February 1996	Paris	Clay (i)	Julie Halard-Decugis	Kristie Boogert Jana Novotná	4–6, 3–6
Loss	11.	16 March 1996	Indian Wells	Hard	Julie Halard-Decugis	Chanda Rubin Brenda Schultz-McCarthy	1–6, 4–6
Loss	12.	16 June 1996	Birmingham	Grass	Lori McNeil	Elizabeth Smylie Linda Wild	3–6, 6–3, 1–6
Win	11.	6 October 1996	Leipzig	Carpet (i)	Kristie Boogert	Sabine Appelmans Miriam Oremans	6–4, 6–4
Win	12.	27 October 1996	Luxembourg	Carpet (i)	Kristie Boogert	Barbara Rittner Dominique Van Roost	2–6, 6–4, 6–2
Loss	13.	10 November 1996	Oakland	Carpet (i)	Irina Spîrlea	Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernández	1–6, 3–6
Win	13.	16 February 1997	Linz	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Eva Melicharová Helena Vildová	4–6, 6–3, 6–1
Loss	14.	15 March 1997	Indian Wells	Hard	Lisa Raymond	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	3–6, 2–6
Loss	15.	24 August 1997	Atlanta	Hard	Alexandra Fusai	Nicole Arendt Manon Bollegraf	7–6(7–5), 3–6, 2–6
Loss	16.	26 October 1997	Québec City	Hard (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	4–6, 7–5, 5–7
Win	14.	9 November 1997	Chicago	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Lindsay Davenport Monica Seles	6–3, 6–2
Loss	17.	23 November 1997	Chase Championships	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Lindsay Davenport Jana Novotná	7–6(7–5), 3–6, 2–6
Win	15.	28 February 1998	Linz	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Anna Kournikova Larisa Neiland	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Loss	18.	15 March 1998	Indian Wells	Hard	Alexandra Fusai	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	4–6, 6–2, 4–6
Loss	19.	17 May 1998	Berlin	Clay	Alexandra Fusai	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	3–6, 0–6
Win	16.	24 May 1998	Strasbourg	Clay	Alexandra Fusai	Yayuk Basuki Caroline Vis	6–4, 6–3
Loss	20.	9 August 1998	San Diego	Hard	Alexandra Fusai	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	2–6, 1–6
Win	17.	30 August 1998	New Haven	Hard	Alexandra Fusai	Mariaan de Swardt Jana Novotná	6–1, 6–0
Loss	21.	22 November 1998	Chase Championships	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Lindsay Davenport Natasha Zvereva	7–6(8–6), 5–7, 3–6
Win	18.	14 February 1999	Prostějov	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Květa Hrdličková Helena Vildová	3–6, 6–2, 6–1
Loss	22.	21 February 1999	Hanover	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Serena Williams Venus Williams	7–5, 2–6, 2–6
Loss	23.	9 May 1999	Rome	Clay	Alexandra Fusai	Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova	2–6, 2–6
Win	19.	16 May 1999	Berlin	Clay	Alexandra Fusai	Jana Novotná Patricia Tarabini	6–3, 7–5
Loss	24.	22 May 1999	Strasbourg	Clay	Alexandra Fusai	Elena Likhovtseva Ai Sugiyama	6–2, 6–7(6–8), 1–6
Loss	25.	17 October 1999	Zürich	Hard (i)	Natasha Zvereva	Lindsay Davenport Rennae Stubbs	2–6, 2–6
Loss	26.	6 February 2000	Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Martina Hingis Mary Pierce	4–6, 1–6
Win	20.	24 June 2000	Eastbourne	Grass	Ai Sugiyama	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	2–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–3)
Win	21.	20 August 2000	Montreal	Hard	Martina Hingis	Julie Halard-Decugis Ai Sugiyama	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Win	22.	30 September 2000	Luxembourg	Carpet (i)	Alexandra Fusai	Lubomira Bacheva Cristina Torrens Valero	6–3, 7–6(7–0)
Loss	27.	22 October 2000	Linz	Carpet (i)	Ai Sugiyama	Amélie Mauresmo Chanda Rubin]	4–6, 4–6
Loss	28.	11 February 2001	Paris	Carpet (i)	Kimberly Po	Iva Majoli Virginie Razzano	3–6, 5–7
Loss	29.	18 February 2001	Nice	Carpet (i)	Kimberly Po	Émilie Loit Anne-Gaëlle Sidot	6–1, 2–6, 0–6
Win	23.	31 March 2001	Key Biscayne	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	6–0, 6–4
Loss	30.	17 June 2001	Birmingham	Grass	Kimberly Po-Messerli	Cara Black Elena Likhovtseva	1–6, 2–6
Win	24.	12 August 2001	Los Angeles	Hard	Kimberly Po-Messerli	Nicole Arendt Caroline Vis	6–3, 7–5
Loss	31.	9 September 2001	US Open	Hard	Kimberly Po-Messerli	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	2–6, 7–5, 5–7
Win	25.	30 September 2001	Leipzig	Carpet (i)	Elena Likhovtseva	Květa Hrdličková Barbara Rittner	6–4, 6–2
Loss	32.	16 June 2002	Birmingham	Grass	Kimberly Po-Messerli	Shinobu Asagoe Els Callens	4–6, 3–6

ITF finals

Singles (3–0)

Legend
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	30 March 1987	Limoges, France	Clay	Regina Rajchrtová	6–1, 2–6, 6–1
Winner	2.	9 December 1991	Val-d'Oise, France	Hard	Isabelle Demongeot	3–6, 6–3, 6–1
Winner	3.	7 December 1992	Val-d'Oise, France	Hard	Christina Singer	6–3, 6–3

Doubles (2–2)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	11 June 1984	Lyon, France	Clay	Isabelle Demongeot	Mercedes Paz Ronni Reis	6–1, 3–6, 3–6
Runner-up	2.	31 December 1984	Chicago, United States	Hard	Isabelle Demongeot	Lynn Lewis Wendy Barlow	6–4, 6–7, 5–7
Winner	3.	21 January 1985	San Antonio, United States	Hard	Isabelle Demongeot	Elisabeth Ekblom Marianne van der Torre	6–3, 6–4
Winner	4.	30 March 1987	Limoges, France	Clay	Isabelle Demongeot	Céline Cohen Eva Krapl	7–5, 6–2

Grand Slam performance timelines

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Tournament	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	Career SR	Career win–loss
Australian Open	A	A	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	4R	1R	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	0 / 3	4–3
French Open	1R	3R	2R	4R	4R	1R	4R	QF	4R	3R	2R	3R	2R	3R	1R	2R	3R	1R	0 / 18	30–18
Wimbledon	A	LQ	2R	2R	2R	1R	4R	4R	QF	4R	3R	3R	3R	QF	F	QF	1R	QF	0 / 16	40–16
US Open	A	LQ	1R	2R	2R	3R	4R	1R	2R	4R	2R	3R	2R	1R	4R	3R	QF	4R	0 / 16	27–16
SR	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 1	0 / 53	101–53
Year-end ranking	296	112	66	25	26	25	18	13	14	18	35	27	22	11	10	7	10	13

Doubles

Tournament	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	Career SR
Australian Open	A	A	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	3R	2R	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	A	A	0 / 3
French Open	A	1R	3R	QF	3R	3R	SF	3R	QF	QF	SF	QF	3R	SF	QF	SF	SF	QF	2R	1R	0 / 19
Wimbledon	A	3R	1R	2R	3R	1R	3R	3R	3R	2R	3R	3R	2R	3R	2R	2R	2R	SF	QF	A	0 / 18
US Open	A	2R	1R	1R	1R	3R	2R	3R	3R	2R	1R	QF	1R	QF	2R	3R	3R	F	A	A	0 / 17
SR	0 / 0	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 57
Year-end ranking	272	85	63	40	28	28	18	38	61	29	22	20	14	13	7	14	9	5	105	397

See also

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final

External links

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