39 Facts About Francisco Clavet

Francisco Clavet won eight singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 1992 Indian Wells Masters and the 1999 Miami Masters, and achieved a career-high ranking of world No 18 in July 1992.

Francisco Clavet reached No 16 at the Champions Race, after winning in Scottsdale in 2001.

Francisco Clavet was coached by his brother, Jose Francisco Clavet, until 1999.

Francisco Clavet turned pro in 1988 and won his first ATP singles title two years later at the Dutch Open in Hilversum.

Francisco Clavet won five consecutive matches to capture the title.

Francisco Clavet is one of the few people to accomplish this since 1978.

Francisco Clavet reached the quarterfinals three times in clay-court tournaments.

Francisco Clavet played two finals, losing to Alberto Berasategui in 1994.

Francisco Clavet won the Amsterdam Open in 1996, and reached the semifinals in Mexico and Bologna.

Francisco Clavet reached the quarterfinals in: Antwerp, Estoril, St Polten, Gstaad, Stuttgart, Bucharest, and Palermo.

Francisco Clavet had won in Sicilia the year before, but this time lost to Karim Alami.

Francisco Clavet played the final in Estoril losing to countryman Alex Corretja.

Francisco Clavet won two other titles in 1998: Santiago and Bucharest.

Francisco Clavet managed to reach two other semifinals: Mexico and Kitzbuhel.

Francisco Clavet repeated his best achievements at Roland Garros and the Australian Open and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, delivering a surprise upset by defeating the second-seeded, and world No 2, Marcelo Rios, in a five-set match in the first round.

Rios underestimated Francisco Clavet and lamented the lost match by attacking the grass surface.

Francisco Clavet reached the semifinals of the Miami Masters and Barcelona Open, which were his best performances.

Francisco Clavet reached the quarterfinals in Dubai, at St Polten, Gstaad, Umag and the Mallorca Open.

Francisco Clavet began improving his hard-court game and was called to play for the Davis Cup for the first time, facing a difficult qualifying round but playing well.

Francisco Clavet came close to defeating his nemesis Pete Sampras, who was top-ranked for most of Clavet's career, in the 1999 Paris Open.

Francisco Clavet was considered the best male Spanish player on hard and indoor courts in the early 1990s, and the best male Spanish player on grass courts during the 1990s and the early years of the 2000s.

Francisco Clavet was the best male Spanish player at Wimbledon during the 90s, reaching the fourth round in 1998, with victories over second-seeded Marcelo Rios in the first round in five sets and Thomas Johansson in the third round.

Francisco Clavet reached the third round in Wimbledon 1999 and played an excellent match in 2001 against Pete Sampras, losing the second set due to a controversial point that Clavet saw out, but was awarded to Sampras.

Francisco Clavet reached the semifinal in Kitzbuhel and the quarterfinals at the Hamburg Masters and at Rosmalen.

Francisco Clavet reached the final at the Auckland Open losing to Dominik Hrbaty.

Francisco Clavet won in Scottsdale, defeating Agassi in the first round, Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinals and Magnus Norman in the final.

At age 34, Francisco Clavet decided to retire at the end of the 2003 season.

Francisco Clavet established the record for the lowest-ranked man to defeat a number-one-ranked player until Thanasi Kokkinakis defeated Roger Federer in 2018.

Francisco Clavet won easily over Brett Steven in three sets, showing a powerful and accurate style, and had favourable results in the playoff defeating Mark Nielsen in straight sets, losing only four games.

In 2000, Francisco Clavet played for the Spanish Davis Cup Team in the first round of the Davis Cup against Italy in Murcia.

In national competitions, Francisco Clavet played in singles finals from 1994 to 1997 at the National Tennis Masters competition in Spain, losing all of them.

Francisco Clavet used to play in the back of the court behind the baseline, but he often used his drive to move his opponent out wide with balls that took the opponent off the court.

Francisco Clavet used to finish the point by approaching the net and volleying or smashing.

Francisco Clavet's best shot was his powerful, open stance forehand drive.

Francisco Clavet's backhand was quite good and consistent, but not as powerful as his drive.

Francisco Clavet was known as an exceptional fighter on the court.

Former tennis player and commentator for Spanish public television Andres Gimeno said about him: "Francisco Clavet never gives up, he reaches all the balls, you must beat him each point".

Francisco Clavet is a reference in tennis in the capital of Spain, Madrid.

Francisco Clavet inspired me because he was always focused, professional and working hard.