Arthur Cazaux: The will to win

By revealing himself to the world at the Australian Open, young Frenchman Arthur Cazaux officially enters the top 100 at the start of 2024. A well-deserved rise for a player who has never been spared physical problems in his young career. Among the new generation of promising French players, Arthur has made his mark and intends to stay there for many years to come. Here's a look back at the young career of this Australian summer phenomenon.

Benefiting from a Wild Card, the 21-year-old from Montpellier surprised the tennis world in January 2024 by successively eliminating the No.8 and No.28 seeds. The Frenchman had yet to win a Grand Slam match, but his amazing run came to an end in the 1/8th final.

Arthur discovered tennis at the age of 3 thanks to his father, who never missed a Rafael Nadal match at Roland Garros. It was then that he found an idol and, above all, a passion. A fan of the Manacor bull since childhood, he began playing tennis against the wall of his house, as no one in his family played the sport. Inspired by his idol's motivation and competitive spirit, Arthur took it one step at a time to break into the top 100. The man from Montpellier knows there's still a long way to go, but his journey is off to a promising start at the Australian Open.

"Le Jaguar", as he's nicknamed, is making a name for himself on the junior circuit, thanks to his place as world No. 4 and his final appearance at the Australian Open Junior 2020. A positive result on the ITF Junior circuit opened the door to the ATP circuit, where he made his debut at the age of just 18. After moving from Montpellier to the national training center in Paris that year, Arthur Cazaux had a more meandering start on the senior circuit. Always first in endurance and speed tests, he lacked solidity and suffered a series of injuries: abdominal tear, pubalgia... 2021 and 2022 will not spare him. A keen sportsman, he enjoys basketball, motocross, handball, UFC, soccer and horse-riding. But it's in tennis that his talent is obviously best expressed.

"After a difficult year with injuries in which I missed more than 5 months of competition, what gives me the greatest pleasure today is to get back to my level and win by playing this way".

His first victory on the ATP circuit came in May 2021, when, ranked 603rd in the world, he had the luxury of beating American Sebastian Korda in qualifying for the Madrid tournament. He continued to progress mainly on the challenger circuit, taking advantage from time to time of an invitation to a tournament, notably Roland Garros 2021, to try and prove what he could do. His victory over compatriot Adrian Mannarino on his debut in the main draw of the ATP Tour in Geneva 2021 was a landmark moment in his young professional career. The following season marked a turning point for Arthur with his first Challenger title in Thailand in September 2022. An encouraging result that takes the young Frenchman and his Pure Drive towards 2023 with new objectives, his game and his mental strength regained after all his injuries.

Determined, he won his second Challenger title in January 2023 and climbed to 265th in the world rankings. A man who likes to play on all surfaces, he made a remarkable start to the 2023 season on the Challenger circuit, earning another invitation to his favorite tournament, Roland-Garros. Unfortunately, a first-round defeat by his compatriot Corentin Moutet postponed his dream of winning a first match at Roland Garros for another year. He followed this up with two excellent tournaments on grass, including a final against Andy Murray in Nottingham.

Then it was off to the United States to prepare for the American tour, with the aim of qualifying for the final draw of the US Open. After another final at the Lexington Challenger, Arthur Cazaux arrived in New York full of confidence. He made it through the first two qualifying rounds without dropping a set, before failing to reach the final qualifying round. Nevertheless, he was selected as a Lucky Looser to take part in the first round of the main draw. A tough match against world number 5 Andrey Rublev, which concluded several weeks of hard work.

The year 2024 sounds like the year of revelation for Arthur Cazaux. After winning the Nouméa challenger in the first week of January, he arrived in Australia with his confidence boosted, determined to make his name known to the general public. His ambition is clear: to reach the ATP top 50 by the end of the season. Well on his way to surpassing his own expectations, Arthur is rapidly approaching his goal, maintaining the same motivation, confident in his strengths and always with the rage to win.

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