Nicolas Coutelot (born 9 February 1977) is a retired professional male

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 from France who reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 87 in May 2002. He also failed a drugs test in 2004 and was suspended for two months (cannabis).

1996–2004

At the 2001 French Open Coutelot caused a major upset when he knocked out former World No. 1

Marcelo Ríos Marcelo Andrés Ríos Mayorga (; born 26 December 1975) is a Chilean former world No. 1 tennis player. Nicknamed ''"El Chino"'' ("The Chinese") and ''"El zurdo de Vitacura"'' ("The Lefty from Vitacura"), he became the first Latin American play ...

in straight sets in the second round. But he lost a five set battle to Wayne Arthurs in the next round. In 2002 at the French Open Coutelot caused controversy when he claimed that

Juan Carlos Ferrero Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year became the 21st player to hold the top ranking, which he h ...

had feigned injury, after he lost their second round encounter in the final set. However, Ferrero really was injured as he took a tumble whilst practicing against

Tommy Robredo Tomás Robredo Garcés, known as Tommy Robredo (, ; born 1 May 1982), is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the Hamburg Masters ea ...

. At the US Open Coutelot made his best appearance by reaching the first round before losing in straight sets to defending champion and World No. 1

Lleyton Hewitt Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He is the most recent Australian man to win a major singles title, with two at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon Championships. In November 200 ...

. Coutelot again reached the third round of the French Open when he bundled out

David Nalbandian David Pablo Nalbandian (; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine retired professional tennis player who played on the ATP Tour from 2000 until his retirement in 2013. He reached the highest ranking in singles of world No. 3 in March 2006. Nalban ...

in five sets, despite being two sets to love up, before winning the final set. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 87.

Drugs suspension

Coutelot was suspended for two months in 2004 after he tested positive for cannabis when attempting to qualify for the

Movistar Open The Chile Open (also known as the Chile Dove Men+Care Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional men's tennis tournament played on outdoor red clay courts in Santiago, Chile. In its history it was held alternately in Viña del Mar city and ...

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 19 (12–7)

Doubles: 3 (1–2)

Performance Timeline

Singles

References

External links

* * 1977 births Living people French male tennis players Sportspeople from Hauts-de-Seine Sportspeople from Strasbourg Doping cases in tennis French sportspeople in doping cases {{France-tennis-bio-stub