and as his ranking plummeted, this was a hard time for Mathieu. Nonetheless, much to his and his fans’ relief, Mathieu’s recovery went well. PHM made his comeback on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2012, competing in three tournaments, before he earned a wild card to Roland Garros.

The French crowd welcomed its prodigal son back with open arms. Mathieu stunned the tennis world by coming back from two-sets-to-love down to beat Germany’s Bjorn Phau, ranked 176 places above the Frenchman. After wild celebrations at the end of the match, PHM did not stop there. In the next round, he came up against John Isner, who was ranked at #11, going into the tournament. After 5 hours and 40 minutes out on court, saving seven match points, Mathieu haddone it again. Although he succumbed to Marcel Granollers in the next round, Mathieu’s run at Roland Garros 2012 was one of his greatest-ever performances in a tournament. Mathieu had proved his fitness and mental strength, having come back from a serious injury. It appeared as though he had been through Hell and come out stronger, and the French crowd loved him for it.

Mathieu would go on to reach two more finals on the ATP World Tour, in Kitzbühel in 2015 and Montpellier in 2016, but he could not repeat the consistent performances that his fans were used to witnessing. Announcing his retirement from the sport prior to the Paris Masters in Bercy this year, Mathieu said that he would like to spend time with his family. PHM