Arnaud Clement
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2012
2011
Arnaud Clement
A coloboma in one eye, diagnosed at thirteen months old, left Arnaud Clement needing prescription sunglasses for the light; paired with the bandana and a frame built for scrambling rather than power, it made him one of tennis's most recognisable shapes. Unseeded at the 2001 Australian Open, he beat an unseeded Roger Federer and former world No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov to reach the final, where Andre Agassi beat him in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. He was world No. 10 within weeks, the peak of a career built on 4 titles.
Three years later he became a footnote in someone else's history: at Roland Garros in 2004, Clement held a match point against Fabrice Santoro at 5-4 in the fifth set before darkness halted play, and lost the next day 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 16-14, six hours and thirty-three minutes that stood as the longest match in Grand Slam history until Wimbledon 2010. He got his Slam title in doubles instead, winning Wimbledon in 2007 with Michael Llodra, and later captained France's Davis Cup team, 2013 to 2015.