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Nathalie DechyFrench tennis player
Date of Birth: 21.02.1979
Country:  France |
Content:
- Biography of Nathalie Dechy
- Early Years
- Personal Tournaments
- Career in the National Team and National Tournaments
Biography of Nathalie Dechy
Sporting CareerNathalie Dechy is a French tennis player who has achieved success in both singles and doubles tournaments. She has won two Grand Slam titles in doubles (US Open-2006, -2007) and one in mixed doubles (Roland Garros-2007). In singles, she reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2005. Dechy has also won eight WTA tournaments, one of which was in singles. She was a member of the winning French team in the Fed Cup in 2003. In doubles, she reached a career-high ranking of eighth in the world. In the junior category, Dechy was a finalist in one Grand Slam singles tournament (Australian Open-1996) and reached the semifinals in two others (Wimbledon-1996, Roland Garros-1997).
Early Years
Nathalie Dechy, the daughter of Franco-Canadian parents, François Dechy (a physical education teacher) and Michel Dechy (a mathematics teacher), was one of three children. Her older brother is named Nicolas, and her younger sister is named Isabelle. Tennis runs in the family, as her father had tried his hand at coaching at one point. Dechy started playing tennis at the age of six and prefers to play from the baseline. Her favorite surface is hard court, and her best shot is an overhead smash.
Personal Tournaments
Dechy's early years were marked by success in junior tournaments. In 1996-1997, she reached the finals of three Grand Slam tournaments in the junior category. Her best result during this period was reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 1996, where she defeated her compatriot Amelie Mauresmo but lost in the final to Magdalena Grzybowska.
In 1994, Dechy made her debut in the professional tour and reached the final in her first tournament. Within a year, she gained enough consistency to break into the top 300 in the singles rankings. In 1995, she made her first appearances in the main draw of both singles and doubles tournaments at Roland Garros. Although she only won one match in each category, she showed promise by winning a set against the fifth-seeded pair in the doubles draw. Dechy continued to improve, breaking into the top 100 in the singles rankings by the end of the year. She reached her first quarterfinal in a WTA tournament in Surabaya, where she lost to Nana Miyagi.
In 1997, Dechy maintained her position in the singles rankings, and in doubles, she twice came close to reaching the finals of WTA tournaments. She reached the semifinals in Strasbourg with Lea Ghirardi and in Surabaya with Sarah Pitkowski, defeating higher-ranked opponents along the way.
From 1998 onwards, Dechy continued to improve in singles, reaching the third round of Roland Garros and the fourth round of the US Open in 1998. She also had success on the smaller WTA tournaments, reaching the semifinals in Quebec City and winning a $50,000 tournament in Cergy-Pontoise. These results helped her break into the top 50 by the end of the year.
From 1999 to 2009, Dechy consistently performed well in singles, reaching a career-high ranking of 11th in the world. In doubles, she had occasional victories in specific matches but mostly focused on smaller tournaments. Her breakthrough in doubles came in 2006-2007 when she won back-to-back US Open titles with Vera Zvonareva and Dinara Safina. She also had success in mixed doubles, reaching the finals of Grand Slam tournaments twice with Andy Ram and winning one title.
In 2009, Dechy's singles results declined, and she contemplated leaving the top 100. Considering her desire to continue traveling and competing in smaller tournaments, she decided to retire from professional tennis. In her final years, she partnered with Mara Santangelo, winning a title in Rome in 2007 and reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2009.
Career in the National Team and National Tournaments
Dechy made her debut in the French Fed Cup team in 2000, winning her first match against Nicole Pratt of Australia. She continued to represent France in the Fed Cup, playing a total of 18 tie matches and winning 17 matches (13 in singles). France reached the final of the Fed Cup three times with Dechy's contribution, winning the title in 2003.
Dechy also represented France in two Olympic Games. In 2000, she competed in the singles tournament, reaching the second round before losing to Monica Seles. In 2004, she played in both singles and doubles, losing to Paola Suarez in both events. In the doubles, she and Sandrine Testud defeated the top-seeded pair to reach the third round.
In 2009, Dechy retired from the national team. In her last match, she and Amelie Mauresmo won the decisive doubles match to secure France's place in the top group for the following year.
After retiring, Dechy briefly worked as a coach before focusing on her family life. She is married to Antoine Metra-Devalo, and they have a son named Lucas, born in 2010.
