Guy Forget
Guy Forget is a French tennis administrator and retired professional tennis player. During his career, he helped France win the Davis Cup in both 1991 and 1996. Since retiring as a player, he has served as France's Davis Cup team captain.
Career
Forget first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding junior player who won the French Open junior title in 1982. He turned professional later that year.His breakthrough year on the professional tour was 1986 when he made it to the fourth round of Roland Garros, his best grand slam at that point, and won his first top-level singles title in Toulouse, and was also part of the French team which won the World Team Cup. Forget also won six doubles titles in 1986, reaching his career-high doubles ranking of World Number 3 in August that year, finishing in the runner-up spot with partner Yannick Noah at the 1986 ATP Tour World Championships tournament.
In 1987, Forget and Yannick Noah finished runners-up in the men's doubles at the French Open. In 1990, Forget partnered Jakob Hlasek to win the ATP Tour World Championships doubles title.
1991 was the most memorable year of Forget's career. He won six singles titles that year, the biggest coming at the ATP Masters Series events in Cincinnati and Paris. In both finals, he defeated Pete Sampras. He reached his career-high singles ranking of World Number 4 in March that year.
Forget was a member of the French team which won the 1991 Davis Cup. In the final, France faced the United States. Forget teamed up with Henri Leconte to win the doubles rubber, and then won the decisive singles rubber against Pete Sampras as France shocked the heavily favoured US team to win 3–1.
1996 was another notable year in Forget's career. Partnering Jakob Hlasek, he again finished runner-up in the men's doubles event at the French Open. He also won what proved to be his last career singles title in Marseille. For a second time, he was on a French team which won the Davis Cup. In the final, he teamed-up with Guillaume Raoux to win a critical doubles rubber, as France defeated Sweden 3–2.
Forget played for France's Davis Cup team for 12 years, compiling a 38–11 record.
Forget retired from the professional tour in 1997. During his career, he won a total of 11 top-level singles titles and 28 doubles titles. His career prize-money earnings totalled US$5,669,934.
After retiring as a player, Forget served as France's Davis Cup team captain. He also served as France's Fed Cup team captain from 1999–2004; his best result was France's performance in 2003 when they defeated USA in the final. However, he resigned in 2004 to focus on his Davis Cup duties, and the French team then lost to Russia in the final.
In 2011, the International Tennis Federation presented him with its highest accolade, the Philippe Chatrier award, for his contributions to tennis.
He joined the directing committee of the French Open in 2011, and in 2012 he became director of the Masters of Paris Bercy.
In 2016, he became director of the French Open after the dismissal of Gilbert Ysern.
To ensure he will never be forgotten, Forget has been immortalized in the song "Guy Forget" by the band Phish, with the lyrics "I never met a man I could not forget, except for Guy Forget".
Grand Slam finals
Doubles (2 runner-ups)
Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score | ||||
Loss | 1987 | French Open | Clay | Yannick Noah | Anders Järryd Robert Seguso | 7–6, 7–6 | Clay | Jakob Hlasek | Yevgeny Kafelnikov Daniel Vacek | 2–6, 3–6 |
ATP World Championships finals
Doubles (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Career finals
Singles (11 titles, 8 runners-up)
Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
Win | 1/0 | Oct 1986 | Toulouse, France | Hard | Jan Gunnarsson | 4–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
Win | 2/0 | Mar 1989 | Nancy, France | Hard | Michiel Schapers | 6–3, 7–6 |
Loss | 2/1 | Nov 1989 | Wembley, England | Carpet | Michael Chang | 2–6, 2–6, 1–6 |
Loss | 2/2 | Apr 1990 | Nice, France | Clay | Juan Aguilera | 6–2, 3–6, 4–6 |
Win | 3/2 | Sep 1990 | Bordeaux, France | Clay | Goran Ivanišević | 6–4, 6–3 |
Win | 4/2 | Jan 1991 | Sydney Outdoor, Australia | Hard | Michael Stich | 6–3, 6–4 |
Win | 5/2 | Feb 1991 | Brussels, Belgium | Carpet | Andrei Cherkasov | 6–3, 7–5, 3–6, 7–6 |
Loss | 5/3 | Mar 1991 | Indian Wells, USA | Hard | Jim Courier | 6–4, 3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–7 |
Win | 6/3 | Aug 1991 | Cincinnati, USA | Hard | Pete Sampras | 2–6, 7–6, 6–4 |
Win | 7/3 | Sep 1991 | Bordeaux, France | Hard | Olivier Delaître | 6–1, 6–3 |
Win | 8/3 | Oct 1991 | Toulouse, France | Hard | Amos Mansdorf | 6–2, 7–6 |
Win | 9/3 | Nov 1991 | Paris, France | Carpet | Pete Sampras | 7–6, 4–6, 5–7, 6–4, 6–4 |
Loss | 9/4 | Jan 1992 | Sydney Outdoor, Australia | Hard | Emilio Sánchez | 3–6, 4–6 |
Win | 10/4 | Oct 1992 | Toulouse, France | Hard | Petr Korda | 6–3, 6–2 |
Loss | 10/5 | Nov 1992 | Stockholm, Sweden | Carpet | Goran Ivanišević | 6–7, 6–4, 6–7, 2–6 |
Loss | 10/6 | Nov 1992 | Paris, France | Carpet | Boris Becker | 6–7, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6 |
Loss | 10/7 | Jul 1994 | Gstaad, Switzerland | Clay | Sergi Bruguera | 6–3, 5–7, 2–6, 1–6 |
Loss | 10/8 | Jun 1995 | London/Queen's Club, England | Grass | Pete Sampras | 6–7, 6–7 |
Win | 11/8 | Feb 1996 | Marseille, France | Hard | Cédric Pioline | 7–5, 6–4 |
Singles performance timeline
Doubles titles (28)
Runners-up (17)
Doubles performance timeline
A = did not attend tournamentNH = tournament not held