Steve Darcis


Steve Darcis is a Belgian retired professional tennis player. He has won two ATP titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 38 on 22 May 2017.

Personal life

Steve Darcis was born in Liège the son of Marie Agnes, a sports instructor, and Alain Darcis, a tennis coach. He has a sister named Céline. Growing up, he looked up at Pete Sampras. On 29 May 2013, his girlfriend Lauranne gave birth to daughter Camille.

Career

Juniors

As a junior, Darcis compiled a singles win/loss record of 73–32, reaching as high as No. 8 in the junior world singles rankings in May 2002. He reached the semifinals at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships boys' singles event.

2007–2009

Darcis won his first ATP World Tour event at the Dutch Open in July 2007 and achieved his first top-100 ranking on 26 November 2007 after winning a Challenger event in Finland.
Darcis competed at the 2008 Australian Open and the French Open, losing in the first round in both. He and Olivier Rochus, however, reached the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament at the French Open. He reached the second round at the US Open. He won a second ATP event at Memphis in March, defeating Robin Söderling in the final. He reached the final of the Dutch Open again, but lost to Albert Montañés.
In 2009, Darcis played in three Grand Slam tournaments, the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open, reaching the second round only at Wimbledon. He also reached the quarterfinals at Queen's Club.

2010–present

Darcis qualified for the 2010 Qatar Open, retiring in his third-round match against Rafael Nadal. He failed to qualify for the Australian Open.
At the 2011 French Open, Darcis advanced to the main draw as a qualifier, and in the first round pulled off a shock victory over 22nd seed Michaël Llodra. Darcis followed this up by beating Philipp Petzschner, to advance into the third round, where he was defeated by Frenchman Gaël Monfils in straight sets.
Darcis made the quarterfinals in Vienna, beating Nikolay Davydenko on the way, but was defeated by Daniel Brands.
In 2012, Darcis made the final of the Dallas Challenger tournament but lost to Jesse Levine. At the Eastbourne International, he defeated Matthew Ebden, Marcos Baghdatis, and Marinko Matosevic to face Andy Roddick in the semifinals. Darcis retired a set down at 1–3 due to a back injury.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Darcis beat Tomáš Berdych in the first round.
In the first round at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships on 24 June, Darcis defeated fifth-seeded Rafael Nadal in straight sets. This made him the first player ever to defeat Nadal in the first round of any major tournament. Darcis was ranked 130 places lower than Nadal. At the time, he was the lowest-ranked player ever to beat Nadal in a Grand Slam tournament. It was announced prior to his second-round match that he had withdrawn due to a shoulder injury sustained in the Nadal match.
In the 2017 Australian Open, Darcis defeated Sam Groth and Diego Schwartzman both in four sets to reach the third round, tying his best Grand Slam result to date. He was taken out by Andreas Seppi despite winning the first set of the match.
In October 2019, Darcis confirmed he plans to retire after the 2020 Australian Open due to elbow pain since the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

ATP career finals

Singles: 3 (2–1)

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Winner1.16 July 2007Dutch Open, AmersfoortClay Werner Eschauer6–1, 7–6
Winner2.2 March 2008Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, MemphisHard Robin Söderling6–3, 7–6
Runner-up3.20 July 2008Dutch Open, AmersfoortClay Albert Montañés6–1, 5–7, 3–6

Challenger and Futures finals

Singles: 39 (19–20)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1Great Britain F10, GlasgowFuturesHard Andy Murray3–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win1–1Czech Rep. F6, HrotoviceFuturesCarpet Jan Mašík3–6, 6–2, 6–2
Loss1–2Italy F5, PadovaFuturesClay José Antonio Sánchez de Luna3–6, 7–6, 6–7
Loss1–3Germany F11, TrierFuturesClay Éric Prodon3–6, 3–6
Loss1–4Germany F1, NußlochFuturesCarpet Robin Vik2–6, 3–6
Win2–4France F1, DeauvilleFuturesClay Olivier Vandewiele6–2, 6–1
Win3–4France F2, FeucherollesFuturesHard Jean-Michel Péquery6–4, 7–6
Win4–4France F4, LilleFuturesHard Roman Valent7–5, 6–3
Loss4–5Kolding, DenmarkChallengerHard Dmitry Tursunov3–6, 4–6
Loss4–6Eckental, GermanyChallengerCarpet Michael Berrer3–6, 6–4, 4–6
Loss4–7France F7, AngersFuturesClay Stéphane Bohli6–7, 7–6, 3–6
Win5–7France F6, AngersFuturesClay Xavier Pujo3–6, 6–4, 6–4
Win6–7Turkey F3, BelekFuturesClay Dušan Karol6–3, 6–3
Win7–7Helsinki, FinlandChallengerHard Tobias Kamke6–3, 1–6, 6–4
Loss7–82009 UniCredit Czech Open – Singles|Prostějov, Czech RepublicChallengerClay Jan Hájek2–6, 6–1, 4–6
Loss7–92010 Open Barletta – Singles|Barletta, ItalyChallengerClay Pere Riba3–6, 0–0 ret.
Win8–92010 Zucchetti Kos Tennis Cup – Singles|Cordenons, ItalyChallengerClay Daniel Muñoz de la Nava6–2, 6–4
Loss8–102010 Ethias Trophy – Singles|Mons, BelgiumChallengerHard Adrian Mannarino5–7, 2–6
Win9–102011 The Hague Open – Singles|Scheveningen, NetherlandsChallengerClay Marsel İlhan6–3, 4–6, 6–2
Win10–102011 Trani Cup – Singles|Trani, ItalyChallengerClay Leonardo Mayer4–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss10–112012 Challenger of Dallas – Singles|Dallas, United StatesChallengerHard Jesse Levine4–6, 4–6
Loss10–122013 Prosperita Open – Singles|Ostrava, Czech RepublicChallengerClay Jiří Veselý4–6, 4–6
Win11–12Netherlands F5, EnschedeFuturesClay Thomas Schoorel7–6, 6–1
Loss11–13Belgium F1, DammeFuturesClay Joris De Loore5–7, 3–6
Loss11–14Belgium F7, MiddelkerkeFuturesClay Niels Desein3–6, 6–3, 6–7
Win12–14Belgium F10, EupenFuturesClay Richard Becker7–6, 6–1
Win13–14Belgium F14, ArlonFuturesClay Scott Griekspoor6–2, 6–2
Loss13–152014 Ethias Trophy – Singles|Mons, BelgiumChallengerHard David Goffin3–6, 3–6
Win14–152014 Open de Rennes – Singles|Rennes, FranceChallengerHard Nicolas Mahut6–2, 6–4
Win15–152015 BNP Paribas de Nouvelle-Calédonie – Singles|Nouméa, New CaledoniaChallengerHard Adrián Menéndez Maceiras6–3, 6–2
Win16–152016 Open Sopra Steria de Lyon – Singles|Lyon, FranceChallengerClay Thiago Monteiro3–6, 6–2, 6–0
Loss16–162016 Internationaux de Tennis de Blois – Singles|Blois, FranceChallengerClay Carlos Berlocq2–6, 0–6
Loss16–172016 Svijany Open – Singles|Liberec, Czech RepublicChallengerClay Arthur De Greef6–7, 3–6
Win17–172016 STRABAG Challenger Open – Singles|Trnava, SlovakiaChallengerClay Jordi Samper Montaña6–3, 6–4
Loss17–182016 WHB Hungarian Open – Singles|Budapest, HungaryChallengerHard Marius Copil4–6, 2–6
Win18–182016 Bauer Watertechnology Cup – Singles|Eckental, GermanyChallengerCarpet Alex de Minaur6–4, 6–2
Win19–182017 BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux – Singles|Bordeaux, FranceChallengerClay Rogério Dutra Silva7–6, 4–6, 7–5
Loss19–192019 Challenger La Manche – Singles|Cherbourg, FranceChallengerHard Ugo Humbert7–6, 3–6, 3–6
Loss19–202019 Challenger Eckental – Singles|Eckental, GermanyChallengerHard Jiří Veselý4-6, 6-4, 3-6

Doubles: 10 (6–4)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Czech Rep. F5, Frýdlant nad OstravicíFuturesHard Bart de Gier Flavio Cipolla
Alessandro da Col		7–6, 6–7, 6–3
Loss1–1France F8, BloisFuturesClay Stefan Wauters Brian Dabul
Diego Hartfield		5–7, 4–6
Win2–1France F1, DeauvilleFuturesClay Stefan Wauters Steven Korteling
Nick van der Meer		6–4, 6–4
Win3–1Montauban, FranceChallengerClay Stefan Wauters Gabriel Trujillo Soler
Lovro Zovko		6–4, 6–7, 6–4
Loss3–2Scheveningen, NetherlandsChallengerClay Kristof Vliegen Julien Benneteau
Édouard Roger-Vasselin		7–5, 5–7, 6–7
Win4–2Turkey F2, ManavgatFuturesClay Fred Hemmes Brett Ross
Arnar Sigurdsson		6–2, 6–4
Loss4–3Turkey F3, BelekFuturesClay Fred Hemmes Dušan Karol
Jeroen Masson		3–6, 6–7
Loss4–4San Remo, ItalyChallengerClay Stefan Wauters Sanchai Ratiwatana
Sonchat Ratiwatana		6–7, 3–6
Win5–42010 Morocco Tennis Tour – Tanger – Doubles|Tanger, MoroccoChallengerClay Dominik Meffert Uladzimir Ignatik
Martin Kližan		5–7, 7–5,
Win6–42013 Prosperita Open – Doubles|Ostrava, Czech RepublicChallengerClay Olivier Rochus Tomasz Bednarek
Mateusz Kowalczyk		7–5, 7–5

Performance timelines

Singles

Current through the 2019 Swiss Open Gstaad.
''* Darcis withdrew before the second round match at the 2013 Wimbledon.

Doubles

Wins over top-10 opponents