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

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and Canadian tennis player

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Early life

Tauziat was born in

Bangui Bangui () (or Bangî in Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the capital and largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a French outpost in 1889 and named after its location on the northern bank of the Ubangi ...

, Central African Republic, where she lived for the first eight years of her life. She is a first cousin of

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, 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 A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

on 12 July 1998.

Career

Tauziat turned professional in 1984. She won her first singles title in 1990. She reached her only

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

singles final at the 1998 Wimbledon Championships, beating

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and

Natasha Zvereva Natallia Marataŭna Zvierava ( be, Наталля Маратаўна Зверава; russian: Наталья Маратовна Зверева, Natalia Maratovna Zvereva; born 16 April 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Belarus ...

before losing to

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. Her appearance in this final was the first by a Frenchwoman since Suzanne Lenglen in 1925. Tauziat was runner-up with partner

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in the 2001 US Open women's doubles final, losing to the team of

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and

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. She and partner

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were doubles runners-up at the 1997 and 1998 Chase Championships. She was also part of the 1997 French

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, 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

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after the

2003 French Open The 2003 French Open was the second Grand Slam event of 2003 and the 107th edition of the French Open. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from May 26 through June 8, 2003. Both Albert Costa and Serena Williams were unsucce ...

, 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 The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

– from French President

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

for her contributions to international tennis. She was an official

mentor to French tennis player

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 ...

, 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)

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

Year-end championships

Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

WTA career finals

Singles: 22 (8–14)

Doubles: 57 (25–32)

ITF finals

Singles (3–0)

Doubles (2–2)

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tauziat, Nathalie 1967 births Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur French female tennis players Hopman Cup competitors Living people Olympic tennis players of France People from Bangui Sportspeople from Var (department) Tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Pyrénées-Atlantiques Central African Republic sportswomen Central African Republic emigrants to France