Julie Halard-Decugis

Julie Halard-Decugis (born 10 September 1970) is a French former professional tennis player.

Tennis career Halard-Decugis lived in La Baule, France, during the initial stages of her career and later moved to Pully, Switzerland. She turned professional in 1986. She won the French Open junior singles title in 1988 and was the Wimbledon junior singles runner-up in 1987. She retired from the WTA Tour tennis circuit at the end of the 2000 season. Her highest WTA Tour singles and doubles rankings was number seven and number one respectively. She had been coached by Arnaud Decugis since 1989.

Halard-Decugis won her first WTA Tour singles title in Puerto Rico. She enjoyed her best season in 1996, when she won her first WTA Tour Tier II singles title in Paris and finished the year with a career-high season-ending singles ranking of No. 15 and as the No. 1 singles player from France. This occurred despite the fact that her playing schedule in the second half of 1996 was curtailed because of a wrist injury sustained during the Fed Cup semifinal match against Spain. She only played two tournaments in late 1997 because of injuries.

By winning the singles title in Rosmalen in 1998, she became the 20th player to have won singles titles on all four surfaces in the Open Era. Halard also won the singles and doubles titles in Pattaya that year, and broke into the top 10 singles ranking in August 1999, becoming the fifth Frenchwoman after Françoise Dürr, Mary Pierce, Nathalie Tauziat and Amélie Mauresmo to do so. In 1999, she won WTA Tour singles titles in Auckland and Birmingham and was runner-up on three other occasions. Between 15 November 1999 and 9 January 2000, Julie Halard, Nathalie Tauziat, Amélie Mauresmo and Mary Pierce were all ranked inside the singles top 10, the first time France had four players ranked among the singles top 10.

2000 was to be the final and perhaps the finest year of Halard's professional playing career. She reached the Australian Open singles quarterfinal for the second time, captured the second WTA Tour Tier II title of her career in Eastbourne and reached her career-high singles ranking of No. 7 in February. Halard was also runner-up in Tokyo's Princess Cup in October and won the doubles title with Ai Sugiyama. The following week, she won both the singles and doubles titles at the Japan Open in Tokyo, saving three match points in the final to defeat the defending champion Amy Frazier.

On her 30th birthday, Halard won the 2000 US Open women's doubles title with Ai Sugiyama, her only Grand Slam title as a professional. The pair also reached the final at Wimbledon, the semifinal at the French Open and the quarterfinal at the Australian Open that year. Halard-Decugis won nine other doubles titles in 2000, five of them with Sugiyama, and became the first Frenchwoman to attain the No. 1 doubles ranking in the Open Era. Halard-Decugis represented her country in the Federation Cup Fed Cup from 1990 to 2000 and in the Olympic Games in 1992 and 2000.

Personal life She married her coach, Arnaud Decugis, on 22 September 1995. Arnaud Decugis is the great nephew of Max Decugis, a leading tennis player from France during the early 20th century. The couple have three children

Grand Slam finals Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 2000 Wimbledon Grass Ai Sugiyama Serena Williams Venus Williams 3–6, 2–6Win 2000 US Open Hard Ai Sugiyama Cara Black Elena Likhovtseva 6–0, 1–6, 6–1

WTA career finals Singles: 21 (12 titles, 9 runner-ups) Legend Grand Slam tournaments Virginia Slims Tier I Tier II Tier III Tier IV & V

ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Oct 1987 Athens Open, Greece Clay Katerina Maleeva 0–6, 1–6Loss 0–2 Aug 1991 Albuquerque, U.S. Hard Gigi Fernández 0–6, 2–6Win 1–2 Oct 1991 San Juan Open, Puerto Rico Hard Amanda Coetzer 7–5, 7–5Win 2–2 Apr 1992 Taranto Trophy, Italy Clay Emanuela Zardo 6–0, 7–5Loss 2–3 Feb 1994 Paris Indoors, France Carpet (i) Martina Navratilova 5–7, 3–6Win 3–3 Apr 1994 Taranto, Italy Clay Irina Spîrlea 6–2, 6–3Win 4–3 May 1995 Prague Open, Czech Republic Clay Ludmila Richterová 6–4, 6–4Win 5–3 Jan 1996 Hobart International, Australia Hard Mana Endo 6–1, 6–2Win 6–3 Feb 1996 Paris, France Carpet (i) Iva Majoli 7–5, 7–6(7–4)Loss 6–4 Feb 1996 Linz Open, Austria Carpet (i) Sabine Appelmans 2–6, 4–6Loss 6–5 May 1998 Internationaux de Strasbourg, France Clay Irina Spîrlea 6–7(5–7), 3–6Win 7–5 Jun 1998 Rosmalen Championships, Netherlands Grass Miriam Oremans 6–3, 6–4Win 8–5 Nov 1998 Pattaya Open, Thailand Hard Li Fang 6–1, 6–2Win 9–5 Jan 1999 Auckland Open, New Zealand Hard Dominique Monami 6–4, 6–1Loss 9–6 Apr 1999 Bol Ladies Open, Croatia Clay Corina Morariu 2–6, 0–6Loss 9–7 May 1999 German Open, Berlin Clay Martina Hingis 0–6, 1–6Win 10–7 Jun 1999 Birmingham Classic, UK Grass Nathalie Tauziat 6–2, 3–6, 6–4Loss 10–8 Aug 1999 Los Angeles Classic, U.S. Hard Serena Williams 1–6, 4–6Win 11–8 Jun 2000 Eastbourne International, UK Grass Dominique Monami 7–6(7–4), 6–4Loss 11–9 Oct 2000 Tokyo Cup, Japan Hard Serena Williams 5–7, 1–6Win 12–9 Oct 2000 Tokyo Championships, Japan Hard Amy Frazier 5–7, 7–5, 6–4

Doubles: 25 (15 titles, 10 runner-ups) ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 Sep 1991 Clarins Open Paris, France Clay Alexia Dechaume Petra Langrová Radka Zrubáková 4–6, 4–6Loss 0–2 Apr 1994 Barcelona Open, Spain Clay Nathalie Tauziat Larisa Neiland Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 2–6, 4–6Win 1–2 Aug 1994 Los Angeles Classic, US Hard Nathalie Tauziat Jana Novotná Lisa Raymond 6–1, 0–6, 6–1Win 2–2 Sep 1994 Tokyo International, Japan Hard Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Amy Frazier Rika Hiraki 6–1, 0–6, 6–1Win 3–2 Jan 1996 Auckland Open, New Zealand Hard Els Callens Jill Hetherington Kristine Kunce 6–0, 6–1Loss 3–3 Feb 1996Paris Indoors, France Carpet (i) Nathalie Tauziat Kristie Boogert Jana Novotná 4–6, 3–6Loss 3–4 Mar 1996 Indian Wells Open, US Hard Nathalie Tauziat Chanda Rubin Brenda Schultz 1–6, 4–6Loss 3–5 Sep 1997 Tokyo Cup, Japan Hard Chanda Rubin Monica Seles Ai Sugiyama 1–6, 0–6Loss 3–6 Jan 1998 Auckland Open, New Zealand Hard Janette Husárová Nana Miyagi Tamarine Tanasugarn 6–71, 4–6Loss 3–7 Jan 1998 Hobart International, Australia Hard Janette Husárová Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez 6–76, 3–6Win 4–7 Jun 1998 Birmingham Classic, UK Grass Els Callens Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs 2–6, 6–4, 6–4Win 5–7 Nov 1998 Pattaya Open, Thailand Hard Els Callens Rika Hiraki Aleksandra Olsza 3–6, 6–2, 6–2Loss 5–8 Oct 1999 Kremlin Cup, Russia Carpet (i) Anke Huber Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs 0–6, 1–6Win 6–8 Jan 2000 Gold Coast Hardcourts, Australia Hard Anna Kournikova Sabine Appelmans Rita Grande 6–3, 6–0Win 7–8 Jan 2000 Sydney International, Australia Hard Ai Sugiyama Martina Hingis Mary Pierce 6–0, 6–3Win 8–8 Feb 2000 Paris Indoors, France Carpet (i) Sandrine Testud Émilie Loit Åsa Carlsson 3–6, 6–3, 6–4Win 9–8 Mar 2000 Miami Masters, US Hard Ai Sugiyama Nicole Arendt Manon Bollegraf 4–6, 7–5, 6–4Win 10–8 May 2000 Bol Ladies Open, Croatia Clay Corina Morariu Tina Križan Katarina Srebotnik 6–2, 6–2Loss 10–9 Jun 2000 Wimbledon, UK Grass Ai Sugiyama Serena Williams Venus Williams 3–6, 2–6Loss 10–10 Aug 2000 Rogers Cup Montreal, Canada Hard Ai Sugiyama Martina Hingis Nathalie Tauziat 3–6, 6–3, 4–6Win 11–10 Aug 2000 Connecticut Open, US Hard Ai Sugiyama Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez 6–4, 5–7, 6–2Win 12–10 Aug 2000 US Open Hard Ai Sugiyama Cara Black Elena Likhovtseva 6–0, 1–6, 6–1Win 13–10 Oct 2000 Tokyo Cup, Japan Hard Ai Sugiyama Nana Miyagi Paola Suárez 6–0, 6–2Win 14–10 Oct 2000 Tokyo Championships, Japan Hard Corina Morariu Tina Križan Katarina Srebotnik 6–1, 6–2Win 15–10 Oct 2000 Kremlin Cup, Russia Carpet (i) Ai Sugiyama Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova 4–6, 6–4, 7–65

ITF Circuit finals Singles: 2 (2–0) Legend $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWinner 1. 13 July 1987 ITF Erlangen, West Germany Clay Wiltrud Probst 4–6, 6–4, 6–2Winner 2. 27 July 1987 ITF Neumünster, West Germany Clay Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 6–2, 6–4

Doubles: 4 (2–2) OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWinner 1. 20 July 1987 ITF Vaihingen, West Germany Clay Virginie Paquet Hana Fukárková Denisa Krajčovičová 6–4, 6–3Winner 2. 3 December 1990 ITF Le Havre, France Clay Agnès Zugasti Gaby Coorengel Amy van Buuren 6–3, 6–0Runner-up 1. 7 December 1992 ITF Val-d'Oise, France Hard (i) Sabine Appelmans Isabelle Demongeot Catherine Suire 5–7, 4–6Runner-up 2. 7 December 1997 ITF Cergy-Pontoise, France Hard (i) Anne-Gaëlle Sidot Kristie Boogert Miriam Oremans 5–7, 4–6

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles Tournament19871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000SRW–L Australian OpenA2R1R3R2R1RQF2R1R3RAA2RQF0 / 1116–11 French Open2R2R1R3R2R3R3RQF3R2RA2R4R1R0 / 1320–13 WimbledonA1R2R2R2R4R1R1R1RAA3R3R1R0 / 1110–11 US Open3R1R2R2R2R2R2R2R2RAA1R4R1R0 / 1212–12Overall win–loss3–22–42–46–44–46–47–46–43–43–20–03–39–44–40 / 4758–47Career statisticsTitles0000110113012212Finals1000210214025321Year-end ranking627511841202729215120–22915

Doubles Tournament19871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000SRW–L Australian OpenA1R2R2RA1R1R1R2R3RAA3RQF0 / 1010–10 French OpenA1R2R1R3R2R1RSFQF3RA2R1RSF0 / 1218–12 WimbledonAAAA1R1R2R3R3RAAQF2RF0 / 814–8 US OpenAAAA1R1R1R1RQFAA3R3RW1 / 813–7Overall win–loss0–00–22–21–22–31–41–46–49–44–20–06–35–418–31 / 3855–37

Head-to-head records Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 4—8 Dominique Monami 2—2 Serena Williams 0—4 Martina Hingis 0—5 Venus Williams 1—1 Anna Kournikova 1—1 Elena Dementieva 1—0 Jelena Dokic 1—0 Steffi Graf 1—9 Lindsay Davenport 2—9 Mary Pierce 3-0

References

External links