Jérémy Chardy

Jérémy Chardy has been one of the most consistent French players of his generation, behind the Monfils – Tsonga – Gasquet – Simon quartet, peaking at world No 25 in 2013, with one ATP title and an unforgettable victory over Roger Federer at the Rome Masters 1000. Blessed with a great serve and an exceptional forehand, he was coached by Patrick Mouratoglou in 2012. Now a young retiree and coach to the successful Ugo Humbert, Chardy is helping to develop UTS, the competition launched by Patrick Mouratoglou.

Jérémy Chardy played his first professional match at the age of 15. It was in September 2002 on the outdoor hard courts of the Bagnères-de-Bigorre Future tournament, when he lost to Cyril Mokaiesh. He made his debut on the main circuit less than four years later, in May 2006, when he was ranked 522nd in the world, defeating 87th-ranked Jimmy Wang on the clay of Estoril. His run then came to an end against ATP No 4 David Nalbandian after a hard-fought second set: 6-1, 7-6 (0).
 

Chardy has won 12 times against members of the top 10, including four against world No4s, his best performance. Ranked 25th in the world at his peak at the end of January 2013 after a quarter-final run at the Australian Open – his greatest Grand Slam effort – he has also won one ATP title, on the clay of Stuttgart in 2009. He also played in the Davis Cup final, which France lost to Croatia in 2018.

In doubles, Chardy has won seven titles and reached the final of the 2019 French Open with his friend Fabrice Martin. His career lasted until 2023, at the age of 36, and ended with a prestigious first-round duel at Wimbledon, on Centre Court, against the world No 1 and eventual winner: Carlos Alcaraz. He is now devoting his time to his role as coach to Ugo Humbert – whom he began supporting in 2022 – and player coordinator for UTS, as well as director of the Challenger tournament in his home town of Pau, which he launched in 2019.

Coached by Patrick Mouratoglou during his career, Chardy has kept in touch with the Academy and is working to develop the UTS circuit.
 

Junior career: Wimbledon winner, world nO 3

In 2005, Jérémy Chardy had a hugely successful year as a junior, winning the Wimbledon title against Robin Haase and losing the US Open final to Ryan Sweeting, after eliminating Marin Čilić in the quarter-finals. Enough to reach No 3 in the world, his best ranking in this age category, at the end of the New York major. He turned pro that year.

ATP career:

Chardy first came to public attention when he beat David Nalbandian, ranked 7th in the world, in the second round of the 2008 French Open, aged 21, as a wildcard and ranked 145th in the world. He then knocked off 33rd-ranked Dmitry Tursunov before his epic run came to an end against 20th-ranked Nicolás Almagro in his first Grand Slam round of 16.

He has reached this stage of the competition twice more in a major (Wimbledon 2014, beaten by Marin Čilić; French Open 2015, stopped by Andy Murray) and has played in one quarter-final (again defeated by Murray, in the 2013 Australian Open, where he eliminated seventh-ranked Juan Martín del Potro in five sets in the third round. 

His best performance, in terms of rankings, came against a number 4. Four times: by beating Daniil Medvedev at Paris-Bercy in 2019, Grigor Dimitrov in Miami in 2018, Andy Murray in Cincinnati in 2012, reaching the quarter-finals, and, above all, Roger Federer in Rome in 2014 – his only victory against one of the Big Three – where he then also reached the quarters.

His second-most convincing result came in a Masters 1000, where he made the semi-finals in Montreal in 2015, eventually losing out to Novak Djokovic. Chardy broke into the top 100 in July 2008 at the age of 21. Until November 2021, he was out of the top 100 for only two short periods, in 2011 and 2012, peaking at 25th (the week of 28 January 2013, then again from 11 February to 21 April of the same year).

Chardy finally left the elite ranks after a right knee operation and, according to his public statements, a bad reaction to the covid vaccine, which kept him off the courts for a year and four months in the wake of the Tokyo Olympics, where he reached the quarter-finals. After the 2021 US Open, he did not play again in competition until the 2023 Australian Open.

ATP honours list: one title, two finals

Jérémy Chardy won his only main tour title on the clay courts of the ATP 250 in Stuttgart in 2009, thanks to a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Victor Hănescu in the final.

He played in two other ATP 250 finals, losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on hard court in Johannesburg in 2009, and to Richard Gasquet on grass in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2018. 

With France, he played in the 2018 Davis Cup final, losing to Croatia in Villeneuve-d’Asq. He had lost to Borna Ćorić in the first singles.

Jérémy Chardy lives in London, where he leads a fulfilling family life. Married to Suzanne since 2017, he became the father of a baby boy in 2020. Chardy exudes a certain joviality, particularly through the big smile on his face during TV appearances and interviews. It is this PSG fan’s charm that has undoubtedly helped make him “the most handsome (player) on the circuit” in the eyes of Roger Federer, with whom he also gets on very well off the court. This Franco-Swiss camaraderie enabled him to take part in the 2018 Laver Cup as a substitute for Team Europe. As a sign of his human qualities, which are appreciated by his former colleagues on the circuit, he was elected to the ATP Players Council in 2020.