Guy Forget (; born 4 January 1965) is a French

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

administrator and retired professional player. During his career, he helped France win the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

in both 1991 and 1996. Since retiring as a player, he has served as France's Davis Cup team captain.

Career

Forget first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding junior player who won the French Open junior title in 1982. He turned professional later that year. His breakthrough year on the professional tour was 1986 when he made it to the fourth round of Roland Garros, his best grand slam at that point, and won his first top-level singles title in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, where both his father and grandfather had won, respectively in 1966 and 1946, and where he won again in 1991 and 1992. He was also part of the French team which won the

World Team Cup The World Team Cup was the international men's team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The inaugural edition of the tournament was contested in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica and was called the Nations Cup. No tourname ...

. Forget also won six doubles titles in 1986, reaching his career-high doubles ranking of World Number 3 in August that year, finishing in the runner-up spot with partner

Yannick Noah Yannick Noah (; born 18 May 1960) is a French former professional tennis player and singer. Noah won the French Open in 1983, and is currently the captain of both France's Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams. During his nearly two-decade ...

at the 1986 ATP Tour World Championships tournament. In 1987, Forget and

finished runners-up in the men's doubles at the French Open. In 1990, Forget partnered with

Jakob Hlasek Jakob Hlasek ( cz, Jakub Hlásek; born 12 November 1964) is a Swiss former professional tennis player of Czech origin. He won a major doubles title at the 1992 French Open, partnering Marc Rosset. Career The major highlights of Hlasek's career c ...

to win the ATP Tour World Championships doubles title. 1991 was the most memorable year of Forget's career. He won six singles titles that year, the biggest coming at the

ATP Masters Series The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...

events in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In both finals, he defeated

Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...

. He reached his career-high singles ranking of World Number 4 in March that year. Forget was a member of the French team which won the 1991 Davis Cup. In the final, France faced the United States. Forget teamed up with

Henri Leconte Henri Leconte (born 4 July 1963) is a French former professional tennis player. He reached the men's singles final at the French Open in 1988, won the French Open men's doubles title in 1984, and helped France win the Davis Cup in 1991. Leconte's ...

to win the doubles rubber, and then won the decisive singles rubber against

as France shocked the heavily favoured US team to win 3–1. 1996 was another notable year in Forget's career. Partnering Jakob Hlasek, he again finished runner-up in the men's doubles event at the French Open. He also won what proved to be his last career singles title in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. For a second time, he was on a French team which won the

. In the final, he teamed-up with

Guillaume Raoux Guillaume Raoux (born 14 February 1970) is a retired tennis player from France. Career Raoux reached the Wimbledon junior singles final in 1988. He turned professional in 1989. Pro tour The right-hander won one singles career title (Queensland ...

to win a critical doubles rubber, as France defeated

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

3–2. Forget played for France's Davis Cup team for 12 years, compiling a 38–11 record. Forget retired from the professional tour in 1997. During his career, he won a total of 11 top-level singles titles and 28 doubles titles. His career prize-money earnings totalled US$5,669,934. After retiring as a player, Forget served as France's Davis Cup team captain. He also served as France's

Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...

team captain from 1999 to 2004; his best result was France's performance in 2003 (with a squad including

Mary Pierce Mary Caroline Pierce (born 15 January 1975) is a retired tennis professional who represented France internationally in team competitions and the Olympics. She was born in Canada to an American father and a French mother, and holds citizenship of ...

Amélie Mauresmo Amélie Simone Mauresmo (; born 5 July 1979) is a French former world No. 1 tennis player and tournament director. Mauresmo won two major singles titles at the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships, and also won the silver medal in s ...

Émilie Loit Émilie Loit (; born 9 June 1979) is a retired tennis player from France. Besides her three career singles titles, all on clay, included Estoril and Casablanca both in 2004, and Acapulco in 2007, she won 16 doubles titles on the WTA Tour. Her hi ...

& Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro) when they defeated USA in the final. However, he resigned in 2004 to focus on his Davis Cup duties, and the French team then lost to Russia in the final (when

Marion Bartoli Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title after previously being runner-up in 2007, and was a semifinalist at the 2011 French Open. She als ...

& Émilie Loit lost to

Anastasia Myskina Anastasia Andreyevna Myskina ( rus, Анастасия Андреевна Мыскина ; born 8 July 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Myskina won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian woman to wi ...

Vera Zvonareva Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲɛrə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian professional tennis player. She was introduced to tennis at ...

in the last, deciding doubles match). In 2011, the

International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there a ...

(ITF) presented him with its highest accolade, the

Philippe Chatrier award The Philippe Chatrier Award is an annual International Tennis Federation (ITF) award. It was introduced in 1996 to recognise individuals or organisations considered to have made outstanding contributions to tennis globally, both on and off the cou ...

, for his contributions to tennis. He joined the directing committee of the French Open in 2011, and in 2012 he became director of the Masters of Paris Bercy. In 2016, he became director of the French Open after the dismissal of Gilbert Ysern. To ensure he will never be forgotten, Forget has been immortalized in the song "Guy Forget" by the band

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...

, with the lyrics "I never met a man I could not forget, except for Guy Forget".

Grand Slam finals

Doubles (2 runner-ups)

ATP World Championships finals

Doubles (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Career finals

Singles (11 titles, 8 runners-up)

Doubles

Titles (28)

Runners-up (17)

Performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forget, Guy 1965 births French expatriate sportspeople in the United States French male tennis players Hopman Cup competitors Living people Olympic tennis players of France Sportspeople from Boca Raton, Florida Sportspeople from Casablanca Tennis players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics People named in the Pandora Papers