Matthieu Sarlangue
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Matthieu Sarlangue (born 14 August 1992) is an amateur French
real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...
(jeu de paume) player currently based at the Société Sportive du Jeu de Paume et de Racquets in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. He has won the Raquette d'Or – the French Amateur Championships – on 14 occasions and the British Amateur singles on two occasions. In Open play, he is a former World Championship Doubles semi finalist and was formerly ranked as high as eighth in the world at singles, notably reaching the semi finals of 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. ...
. He is currently the number one ranked French player, professional or amateur, and ranked number 11 in the world.


Career

Sarlangue began playing real tennis as a junior at the Société Sportive du Jeu de Paume et de Racquets in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. A promising young player, he was twice a finalist at the British Junior Open Under 16 championships in 2007 and 2008, losing both times to future World Championship Challenger John Lumley. He made his debut at the Raquette d'Or – the French Amateur Championship – in 2008 aged 15. Also in 2008 he made his Bathurst Cup – the premier international real tennis competition between nations – debut for France, winning both of his matches in the third place playoff against the United States. Sarlangue won the French Junior Championships against future Women's World Champion Claire Fahey in 2009, defending it in 2010, whilst defeating Lumley in the British Junior Under 18 Championship. In 2010, at his second attempt Sarlangue won the Raquette d'Or, a title he would defend a total of fourteen times. Sarlangue was a finalist at the British Under 21's and Under 24's Opens, losing both to Lumley in three sets. He entered the British Amateur for the first time in 2012, struggling through the first round against William Fortune, but cruising comfortably in the semi final against Robert Hird. However, he received a walkover in the semi final after his opponent, Peter Wright had his racquets vandalised (Sarlangue was not considered a suspect). In the final he pushed 19-time champion Julian Snow to five sets losing 6/5 in the fifth. Sarlangue entered the British Open qualifying for the first time later that year, winning through to the main draw but losing in the first round to Chris Chapman. In 2013, he made his French Open debut, losing in the first round to Ricardo Smith. He also entered the World Championship Doubles that year with Paris club professional Rod McNaughtan as the competition was held in lieu of the French Open doubles, but lost in the first round to the former British amateur champions Jamie Douglas and Peter Wright. In 2014, Sarlangue won the British Amateur championships for the first time, defeating Wright in the semi final in 5 sets and Douglas in the final. However, he and doubles partner Alistair Lumsden lost the doubles final to Wright and Douglas in 5 sets, the final set ending 6/5. Sarlangue reached his first Open quarter final at the French Open, defeating rackets
World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
James Stout James Stout (May 6, 1914 - July 12, 1976) was an American Hall of Fame thoroughbred horse racing jockey who won four Triple Crown races. Known as "Jimmy," he began working at a racetrack as a stable boy then in 1930 became a professional jockey ...
in the first round. He did not defend his British Amateur title in 2015, opting instead to challenge and win the US Amateur Championships against Brook Hazelton. He again played for France in the Bathurst Cup in
Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...
, helping defeat the United States to take third place. At the French Open, Sarlangue made consecutive doubles semi finals in 2015 and 2016 with doubles partner Rod McNaughtan, his best result at an Open to date. He won through to the second round of the 2016 British Open in five sets against Darren long. In 2017, Sarlangue played his most recent British Amateur to date, beating Cambridge's Ed Kay in the final in five sets, but losing in the doubles again to Wright and Douglas. He won through to his first doubles quarter final of the British Open, losing to Doubles World Champions Tim Chisholm and Camden Riviere. From 2017 onwards, Sarlangue began a period of entering all Open tournaments in an effort to improve his world ranking and begin to challenge for the World Race. At the start of 2018 he made his Australian Open debut, reaching a quarter final against
Robert Fahey Robert Leo Fahey (born 30 April 1968, in Hobart, Tasmania), nicknamed "Bag", is an Australian real tennis player and the former World Champion of the sport, holding the title from 16 March 1994 to 21 May 2016 and again from 28 April 2018 to ...
, and his US Open debut, though he did not win a match. Later in the year, he qualified through to the main draw of the
Champions Trophy The ICC Champions Trophy, formerly known as the ICC Knock Out Trophy, is an international One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) contested by international men's teams. Inaugurat ...
at the Royal Tennis Court, pushing him into the top 10 of the world rankings. At the start of 2019, Sarlangue entered the Doubles World Champions in
Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...
with Ben Taylor-Matthews. After winning their first round against Graham Hyland and Tony Blom 3 sets to 1, they lost to eventual champions Chisholm and Riviere 3 sets to 1. Sarlangue played at the subsequent Australian Open without winning a match, also getting knocked out of the first round of the US Open. Partnered with Chris Chapman, Sarlangue made semi finals of three of four Opens that year. He won his best singles result to date in an Open competition at the 2019 Champions Trophy, progressing through qualifying and beating Darren Long in the quarter final to reach a semi final against world champion
Robert Fahey Robert Leo Fahey (born 30 April 1968, in Hobart, Tasmania), nicknamed "Bag", is an Australian real tennis player and the former World Champion of the sport, holding the title from 16 March 1994 to 21 May 2016 and again from 28 April 2018 to ...
, losing in four sets. At that year's Bathurst Cup in Racquet Club of Chicago, Sarlangue helped his team reach the final against Great Britain, winning all but one of his matches. In 2020, Sarlangue reached his first Open singles semi final at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, beating CJ White in the first round, but losing to Australian Amateur champion
Kieran Booth Kieran Booth (born 12 July 1980) is an amateur Australian real tennis player currently based at the Royal Melbourne Tennis Club. He has won the Australian Open doubles on four occasions, most recently in 2022 Australian Open (real tennis), 202 ...
, bringing him to his career best singles ranking of 8. International play was paused for the
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between 2020 and 2021. When play resumed, Sarlangue continued his run of quarter final appearances at the French Open in
2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
, and took France to second place to Great Britain at the Bathurst Cup at
Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...
. Sarlangue has not played doubles at tournaments outside the French Open since the pandemic. In 2023, Sarlangue reached the quarterfinals of the US,
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
and British Opens, but has been unable to progress further in these competitions. His world ranking dropped from 8 to 11 following the rise of Robert Shenkman and Leon Smart.


Performance timeline


Singles

''Current through the 2024 French Open''


Doubles


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarlangue, Matthieu Living people 1992 births French real tennis players