Steve Darcis (,
born 13 March 1984) is a
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...
retired professional
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 ...
player. In his career, he won two ATP titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 38 on 22 May 2017.
Personal life
Steve Darcis was born in
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
the son of Marie Agnes, a sports instructor, and Alain Darcis, a tennis coach. He has a sister named Céline. Growing up, he looked up at
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 ...
.
On 29 May 2013, his girlfriend Lauranne gave birth to daughter Camille.
Career
Juniors
As a junior, Darcis compiled a singles win–loss record of 73–32, reaching as high as No. 8 in the junior world singles rankings in May 2002 (and No. 15 in doubles). He reached the semifinals at the
2002 Wimbledon Championships
The 2002 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 116th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fr ...
boys' singles event.
2007–2009
Darcis won his first
ATP World Tour
The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organis ...
event at the
Dutch Open Dutch Open may refer to:
*Dutch Open (tennis), an ATP tennis tournament from 1957 to 2008
*Dutch Open (golf), an annual golf tournament on the European Tour
*Dutch Open (badminton)
*Dutch Open (darts)
The Dutch Open is amongst the longest running ...
in July 2007 and achieved his first top-100 ranking on 26 November 2007 after winning a
Challenger
Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to:
Entertainment
Comics and manga
* Challenger (character), comic book character
* ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga
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event in Finland.
Darcis competed at the
2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 throug ...
and the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, losing in the first round in both. He and
Olivier Rochus
Olivier Rochus (; born 18 January 1981) is a retired Belgian tennis player. He is the younger brother of Christophe Rochus, also a former top-40 tennis player.
Rochus won two singles titles in his career and in 2004 French Open – Men's double ...
, however, reached the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament at the French Open. He reached the second round at the
US Open. He won a second ATP event at
Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
in March, defeating
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 4 singles ranking on 15 November 2010. His career highlights include rea ...
in the final.
He reached the final of the
Dutch Open Dutch Open may refer to:
*Dutch Open (tennis), an ATP tennis tournament from 1957 to 2008
*Dutch Open (golf), an annual golf tournament on the European Tour
*Dutch Open (badminton)
*Dutch Open (darts)
The Dutch Open is amongst the longest running ...
again, but lost to
Albert Montañés
Albert Montañés Roca (; born 26 November 1980) is a retired professional tennis player from Spain.
He first entered the top 100 in 2001. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 22 in 2010 and has won six singles titles and two ...
.
In 2009, Darcis played in three Grand Slam tournaments, the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
,
Wimbledon
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* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, and the
US Open, reaching the second round only at Wimbledon. He also reached the quarterfinals at
Queen's Club
The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships men's grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "cinch Championships" for sponsorship reas ...
.
2010–present
Darcis qualified for the
2010 Qatar Open, retiring in his third-round match against
Rafael Nadal. He failed to qualify for the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
.
At the 2011 French Open, Darcis advanced to the main draw as a qualifier, and in the first round pulled off a shock victory over 22nd seed
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
. Darcis followed this up by beating
Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner (born 24 March 1984) is a retired German professional tennis player. He was known for his hard-hitting forehand and bursts of speed around the court. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 9, which he achieved in ...
, to advance into the third round, where he was defeated by Frenchman
Gaël Monfils in straight sets.
Darcis made the quarterfinals in Vienna, beating
Nikolay Davydenko on the way, but was defeated by
Daniel Brands.
In 2012, Darcis made the final of the Dallas Challenger tournament but lost to
Jesse Levine
Jesse Levine (born October 15, 1987) is an American-Canadian former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles rank of world No. 69 on October 1, 2012. Levine represented the United States through 2012, and he represented Can ...
. At the
Eastbourne International, he defeated
Matthew Ebden
Matthew Ebden (born 26 November 1987) is an Australian professional tennis player.
He is a two-time Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam champion, having won the 2022 Wimbledon Championships – Men's doubles, 2022 Wimbledon Championships in men's ...
,
Marcos Baghdatis, and
Marinko Matosevic to face
Andy Roddick in the semifinals. Darcis retired a set down at 1–3 due to a back injury.
At the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, Darcis beat
Tomáš Berdych in the first round.
In the
first round
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
at the
2013 Wimbledon Championships
The 2013 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 127th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fro ...
on 24 June, Darcis defeated fifth-seeded
Rafael Nadal in straight sets. This made him the first player ever to defeat Nadal in the first round of any major tournament. Darcis was ranked 130 places lower than Nadal. At the time, he was the lowest-ranked player ever to beat Nadal in a Grand Slam tournament. It was announced prior to his second-round match that he had withdrawn due to a shoulder injury sustained in the Nadal match.
In the
2017 Australian Open
The 2017 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 16 and 29 January 2017. It was the 105th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of event ...
, Darcis defeated
Sam Groth and
Diego Schwartzman
Diego Sebastián Schwartzman (, ; born 16 August 1992) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He has won four ATP singles titles and reached his career-high singles ranking of world 8 in October 2020. As a clay court specialist, his be ...
both in four sets to reach the third round, tying his best Grand Slam result to date (in singles). He was taken out by
Andreas Seppi despite winning the first set of the match.
In October 2019, Darcis confirmed he plans to retire after the
2020 Australian Open
The 2020 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, from 20 January to 2 February 2020. It was the 108th edition of the Australian Open, the 52nd in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the year. T ...
due to elbow pain since the
2019 Wimbledon Championships
The 2019 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The main tournament began on Monday 1 July 2019 and finished on Sunday 14 J ...
.
ATP career finals
Singles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)
Challenger and Futures finals
Singles: 39 (19–20)
Doubles: 10 (6–4)
Performance timelines
Singles
''Current through the
2019 Swiss Open Gstaad
The 2019 Swiss Open Gstaad (also known as the 2019 J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 52nd edition of the Swiss Open, and part of the ATP Tour 250 S ...
.''
''* Darcis withdrew before the second round match at the 2013 Wimbledon
The 2013 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 127th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fro ...
.
Doubles
Wins over top-10 opponents
References
External links
*
*
*
Darcis Recent Match ResultsDarcis World Ranking History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darcis, Steve
1984 births
Living people
Belgian male tennis players
Olympic tennis players of Belgium
Sportspeople from Liège
Walloon sportspeople
Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics