Nicolas Devilder

Titles Won:

Nicolas Devilder is a professional tennis player from France. He began playing tennis at the age of eight and turned professional in 2000. His favourite surface is clay and considers his speed and fitness to be his greatest attributes. Devilder began by playing on the Futures tour and in 2000 he reached the final of the Vina Del Mar Futures, losing to Colombia's Mauricio Hadad in straight sets. He also reached a quarter final at a Futures event in Poitiers, France (l. Coutelot) and a semi-final at Budapest in Hungary (l. Peya). In 2001 he continued to play on the Futures circuit, with his best results coming with two quarter finals in France. In 2002, Devilder continued his rise up the rankings by winning his first professional title at Valescure in France (d. Contzler). He also reached the quarter final stages or better in four other Futures events. In 2003, the Frenchman posted an 8-6 record in Challenger play with his best result being a semi-final at Sassuolo. Devilder made his ATP debut in 2004 as a qualifier at the Masters Series event in Monte Carlo. He reached the second round with a win over Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic before falling to Wayne Arthurs. He also reached two Challenger semi-finals at St. Brieuc (l. Mutis) and Scheveningen (l. Tenconi). On the Futures tour he won his first title of the season in Lille, defeating fellow countryman Marc Gicquel in the final.

Devilder started the 2005 season by qualifying for ATP events at Chennai, losing in the second round to Paradorn Srichaphan and advancing to the same stage at Acapulco (l. Canas). In April, Devilder reached the Challenger final at Monza, losing to Italian Alessio Di Mauro in three sets. Just two weeks later he reached the final of the Challenger at Ostrava (l. Dlouhy). In August, Devilder won his first Challenger title at Pamplona in Spain, defeating compatriot David Guz in the final 6-2, 6-1. In 2006, Devilder finished in the Top 100 for the first time, highlighted by four Challenger titles in five final appearances. On the Challenger circuit he posted a 44-18 record, with all of his titles coming on clay. His first title came in April when he defeated Italian Flavio Cipolla to take the Monza Challenger. He won his second Challenger title in Bergamo just two weeks later, defeating Austrian Werner Eschauer in the final. His other titles came at Kosice (l. Fraile) and Timisoara (l. Santos). In 2007, the Frenchman started the season by playing at the Australian Open, making an early first round exit to countryman Florent Serra in straight sets. In February he reached the quarter final at the ATP event in Buenos Aires (l. Hartfield). He reached a secound ATP quarter final at the end of April in Munich, losing to world number 12 Tomas Berdych 4-6, 0-6. At Wimbledon, Devilder defeated Mariano Zabaleta in the first round before falling to Marcos Baghdatis in four sets. In October he won his first title of the season at the Belo Horizonte Challenger, defeating Spain's Marcel Granollers in the final.

In 2008, Devilder finished in the Top 100 for the second time in three years, with his best results coming in Challenger play where he compiled a 35-11 record. During the season he won three titels in four ginals between June and July. His first title came at Braunschweig in Germany (d. Roitman) and then going on to win titles at Constanta (d. Ungur) and Poznan (d. Phau). In Grand Slam he qualified for Roland Garros where he reached the second round before losing to eventual champion and world number two Rafa Nadal in straight sets. He also advanced to the same stage of the US Open, falling to American Sam Querrey in four sets. His best result in ATP action came at Kitzbuhel when he reached the quarter final, losing to Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro.