Nicolas Mahut officially retires from tennis after 25-years on the court, bows-out in defeat at Paris Masters

After a 25-year stint in tennis, Nicolas Mahut has finally hanged up his racket after saying farewell to his home crowd in the Paris Masters, stepping down alongside Grigor Dimitrov in a defeat against Hugo Nys and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4, 5-7 [10-4].

The 43-year-old teamed up for the maiden time with his close friend Dimitrov, whilst also facing off Roger-Vasselin whom he had won his final doubles title with back in Florence in 2022. This time, he would be against his old teammate for one final time.

There was no fairytale ending for the great Frenchman, who has won an incredible five Grand Slam titles in doubles, with a brace of them coming at Roland Garros. Perhaps most famously, he will be remembered for his involvement in the longest tennis match ever played against John Isner in 2010 at Wimbledon, with the match catching a number of headlines.

Mahut made his first foray into Grand Slam tennis back in 2000, making his debut at Roland Garros. To show off his longevity, this was before Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner had been born. He would start to make inroads in the doubles game, winning his first title at the Moselle Open in 2003 before reaching the US Open semi-finals a year later. He repeated this feat in 2007 prior to reaching his first singles final, narrowly losing out to Andy Roddick at Queens in a remarkably tight match.

Mahut propelled himself into the mainstream after an agonising defeat in the first-round of Wimbledon in 2010, losing out to fellow big server John Isner in five sets, with the final set ending 70-68. The energy-draining contest was played over three days, with the American finally getting over the line against the heartbroken Mahut.

This marathon match hit the headlines, with Wimbledon changing its rules to prevent a scenario similar to this from ever occurring again. It is still being talked about to this day, with Mahut now seeing the positive side of events. "I now enjoy talking about that match because it was a crazy experience. It brought me a lot as a player and as a man," Mahut said. "But I can be associated with that match and I can talk about it easily because I know that after that… I managed to win."

Mahut reached his first Grand Slam final in Paris, losing to American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan. It would be another two years before the Frenchman had another chance of glory, this time with Pierre-Hugues Herbert. While the duo could not clinch the title in Melbourne, they managed to get over the line in New York for Mahut's first Grand Slam triumph.

The pair would continue their stunning partnership into Wimbledon, where Mahut wrote the wrongs of six years ago by winning the title in an all-French final, defeating Julien Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin. This title shot him up to the number one ranked doubles player, with so much glee and happiness still seeping through from that merry day. "That's a source of pride," he said. "I perhaps wasn’t strong enough to leave my mark on the tennis world through my record, but I found a way to be associated, for eternity, with Wimbledon, which for me is the greatest [tournament] in the world. When I went this year with my son, walking through the aisles, he saw his name after all, because it’s also his. It gives me a little pride and ultimately there’s nothing more beautiful for me."

The duo would go on to claim the French Open title twice in front of their adoring home supporters in 2018 and 2021, with victory in the Australian Open being sandwiched in between in 2019. Along with that, Mahut came ultimately close to another Wimbledon triumph, losing out to Colombian pair Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal, with four tiebreakers being played out before Farah and Cabal eventually wrapped up proceedings.

Mahut and Herbert would also win the ATP Finals in 2018 and 2021. Added to this, Mahut claimed seven Masters 1000 titles and helped France lift their 10th and most recent Davis Cup back in 2017. Overall, it has been a mind-blowing career from Mahut, who bows-out as one of the greatest doubles players not just in this generation, but in history.