Henri Leconte

Henri Leconte

Henri Leconte at the 2010 AFAS Tennis Classics
Country  France
Residence Geneva, Switzerland
Born July 4, 1963 (1963-07-04) (age 48)
Lillers, France
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro 1980
Retired 1996
Plays Left-handed (one-handed backhand)
Career prize money $US3,440,660
Singles
Career record 377–269
Career titles 9
Highest ranking 5 (September 22, 1986)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open 4R (1985)
French Open F (1988)
Wimbledon SF (1986)
US Open QF (1986)
Doubles
Career record 200–141
Career titles 10
Highest ranking 6 (1986)
Last updated on: June 10, 2007.

Henri Leconte (born July 4, 1963) is a former French professional tennis player. He reached the men's singles final at the French Open in 1988, won the French Open men's doubles title in 1984, and helped France win the Davis Cup in 1991.

Contents

Biography and career

Leconte first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding junior player who won the French Open junior title in 1981. He turned professional that year and won his first career doubles title at Bologna, and his first top-level singles title the following year, 1982, in Stockholm. Leconte played in the Davis Cup final for the first time in 1982, when France was defeated 4–1 by the United States.

Leconte teamed up with Yannick Noah to win the men's doubles title at the French Open in 1984. In 1985, Leconte and Noah reached a second Grand Slam doubles final at the US Open, where they finished runners-up. Leconte reached his career-high doubles ranking of World No. 6 in 1985.

1986 saw Leconte reach two Grand Slam singles semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon, and attain his career-high singles ranking of World No. 5. Leconte also played on the French team which won the World Team Cup in the same year.

In 1988, Leconte reached the men's singles final at the French Open. In the final, despite strong support from the French crowd, Leconte could not overcome two-time former champion Mats Wilander who defeated him in straight sets 7–5, 6–2, 6–1.

In 1991, Leconte was involved in the Davis Cup final for a second time where France again faced the US. And this time Leconte defeated Pete Sampras in straight sets in a critical singles rubber and also teamed-up with Guy Forget to win the doubles rubber as France upset the heavily-favoured US team to win 3–1.

In total, Leconte played for France's Davis Cup team for a total of 13 consecutive years, compiling a 41–25 record. He compiled a doubles record of 17–5 and was undefeated with Guy Forget (11 wins), having won his last 14 doubles (from March 1985 to July 1993).

Leconte won his final top-level singles title in 1993 in Halle. His final doubles title was also won that year at Indian Wells.

Leconte (Better known in some circles as Ryo), who currently sports a full beard, retired from the professional tour in 1996, having won a total of nine career singles titles and ten doubles titles. Playing on the ATP Champions Tour for over-35's, he formed a doubles partnership with the Iranian player Mansour Bahrami.

He is now the manager of an event company (HL Event) based in Belgium, and is due to open a tennis academy in Fès, Morocco, in 2006.

In 2010, Leconte appeared on Australian television as a commentator for the 2010 Australian Open. There, he obtained a cult following as a result of a zany exhibition doubles performance, and his passionate and often parochial commentary – especially for compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whose winning shots he routinely described as "unbelievable!"[1]

Trivia

He participated in 2005 in La Ferme Célébrités season 2, a game of reality TV. In 2007, his son Maxime also participated in a game of reality TV, Secret Story, the French version of Big Brother.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1988 French Open Clay Mats Wilander 5–7, 2–6, 1–6

Doubles: 2 (1–1)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponent in the final Score in the final
Winner 1984 French Open Clay Yannick Noah Pavel Složil
Tomáš Šmíd		 6–4, 2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Runner-up 1985 US Open Hard Yannick Noah Ken Flach
Robert Seguso		 7–6(5), 6–7(1), 6–7(6), 0–6

Masters Series finals

Doubles: 2 (1–1)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1991 Indian Wells Hard Guy Forget Jim Courier
Javier Sánchez		 6–7(1), 6–3, 3–6
Winner 1993 Indian Wells Hard Guy Forget Luke Jensen
Scott Melville		 6–4, 7–5

Singles finals (16)

Wins (9)

Outcome No. Date Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Winner 1. 1982 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Mats Wilander 7–6(4), 6–3
Runner-up 1. 1983 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Guillermo Vilas 6–7, 6–4, 4–6
Runner-up 2. 1983 Sydney Indoor, Australia Hard (i) John McEnroe 1–6, 4–6, 5–7
Runner-up 3. 1984 Memphis, U.S. Carpet Jimmy Connors 3–6, 6–4, 5–7
Winner 2. 1984 Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany Clay Gene Mayer 7–6(9), 6–0, 1–6, 6–1
Winner 3. 1985 Nice, France Clay Víctor Pecci 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 4. 1985 Sydney Indoor, Australia Hard (i) Ivan Lendl 4–6, 4–6, 6–7(6)
Winner 4. 1985 Sydney Outdoor, Australia Grass Kelly Evernden 6–7(6), 6–2, 6–3
Runner-up 5. 1986 Bristol, United Kingdom Grass Vijay Amritraj 6–7(6), 6–1, 6–8
Winner 5. 1986 Geneva, Switzerland Clay Thierry Tulasne 7–5, 6–3
Winner 6. 1986 Hamburg, Germany Clay Miloslav Mečíř 6–2, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2
Winner 7. 1988 Nice, France Clay Jérôme Potier 6–2, 6–2
Runner-up 6. 1988 Hamburg, Germany Clay Kent Carlsson 2–6, 1–6, 4–6
Runner-up 7. 1988 French Open, Paris Clay Mats Wilander 5–7, 2–6, 1–6
Winner 8. 1988 Brussels, Belgium Carpet Jakob Hlasek 7–6(3), 7–6(6), 6–4
Winner 9. 1993 Halle, Germany Grass Andriy Medvedev 6–2, 6–3

Doubles finals (19)

Wins (10)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final
Winner 1. 1981 Bologna, Italy Carpet Sammy Giammalva Jr. Tomáš Šmíd
Balázs Taróczy		 7–6, 6–4
Winner 2. 1982 Nice, France Clay Yannick Noah Paul McNamee
Balázs Taróczy		 5–7, 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up 1. 1982 Bournemouth, England Clay Ilie Năstase Paul McNamee
Buster Mottram		 6–3, 6–7, 3–6
Winner 3. 1982 Basel, Switzerland Hard (i) Yannick Noah Fritz Buehning
Pavel Složil		 6–2, 6–2
Winner 4. 1982 Vienna, Austria Carpet Pavel Složil Mark Dickson
Terry Moor		 6–1, 7–6
Runner-up 2. 1983 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Yannick Noah Heinz Günthardt
Balázs Taróczy		 2–6, 4–6
Winner 5. 1983 Aix-en-Provence, France Clay Gilles Moretton Ivan Camus
Sergio Casal		 2–6, 6–1, 6–2
Runner-up 3. 1984 Philadelphia, U.S. Carpet Yannick Noah Peter Fleming
John McEnroe		 2–6, 3–6
Winner 6. 1984 French Open, Paris Clay Yannick Noah Pavel Složil
Tomáš Šmíd		 6–4, 2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Winner 7. 1984 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Pascal Portes Colin Dowdeswell
Wojtek Fibak		 2–6, 7–6, 7–6
Winner 8. 1984 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Tomáš Šmíd Vijay Amritraj
Ilie Năstase		 3–6, 7–6, 6–4
Runner-up 4. 1985 U.S. Open, New York Hard Yannick Noah Ken Flach
Robert Seguso		 7–6, 6–7, 6–7, 0–6
Winner 9. 1988 Nice, France Clay Guy Forget Heinz Günthardt
Diego Nargiso		 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 5. 1988 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Ivan Lendl Sergio Casal
Emilio Sánchez		 0–6, 3–6
Runner-up 6. 1990 London/Queen's Club, England Grass Ivan Lendl Jeremy Bates
Kevin Curren		 2–6, 6–7
Runner-up 7. 1991 Indian Wells, U.S. Hard Guy Forget Jim Courier
Javier Sánchez		 6–7, 6–3, 3–6
Runner-up 8. 1992 Toulouse, France Hard (i) Guy Forget Brad Pearce
Byron Talbot		 1–6, 6–3, 3–6
Winner 10. 1993 Indian Wells, U.S. Hard Guy Forget Luke Jensen
Scott Melville		 6–4, 7–5
Runner-up 9. 1994 Halle, Germany Grass Gary Muller Olivier Delaître
Guy Forget		 4–6, 7–6, 4–6

References

  1. ^ "Henri Leconte in Fine Form in the Commentary Box During the Australian Open". Herald Sun. Published and accessed January 27, 2010.

External links