Henri Leconte

Henri Leconte

Henri Leconte in 2011
Country (sports)  France
Residence Geneva, Switzerland
Born (1963-07-04) 4 July 1963
Lillers, France
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 12 in)
Turned pro 1980
Retired 1996
Plays Left-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money $3,440,660
Singles
Career record 377–269
Career titles 9
Highest ranking No. 5 (22 September 1986)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 4R (1985)
French Open F (1988)
Wimbledon SF (1986)
US Open QF (1986)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals RR (1985, 1986, 1988)
Grand Slam Cup QF (1990, 1992)
Doubles
Career record 200–141
Career titles 10
Highest ranking No. 6 (18 March 1985)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open QF (1990)
French Open W (1984)
US Open F (1985)

Henri Leconte (born 4 July 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. Leconte's career-high singles ranking was world No. 5.

Biography and career

Leconte at the 2015 Australian Open

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. In singles in 1985, Leconte reached the quarter-finals of the French Open and Wimbledon, the latter run of which included a dazzling win over world no. 2, Ivan Lendl, in the fourth round of Wimbledon.

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 that won the World Team Cup that year.

In 1988, Leconte reached the men's singles final at the French Open beating Simon Youl, Bruno Orešar, Horacio de la Peña, Boris Becker, Andrei Chesnokov and Jonas Svensson. 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.

In 1991, Leconte was involved in the Davis Cup final for a second time. France again faced the U.S., and this time Leconte defeated Pete Sampras in straight sets in a critical singles rubber, and also teamed with Guy Forget to win the doubles rubber, as France upset the heavily-favoured U.S. team 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), winning his last 14 doubles matches (from March 1985 to July 1993).

Leconte won his final top-level singles title in 1993 in Halle. He also won his final doubles title 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 10 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 opened a tennis academy in Fès, Morocco, in 2006.

Since 2010, Leconte has appeared on Australian television as a commentator on the Seven Network's coverage of the 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]

In 2014, Leconte appeared as a commentator for the 2014 Australian Open. One match he commentated was the third round match between Frenchmen Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He has since appeared regularly as a commentator for matches involving French players in the men's draw.

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament19801981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996SRW–L
Australian Open A LQ A A A 4R NH 3R 3R 1R 3R A 1R A 2R A A 0 / 7 8–7
French Open 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R QF SF 1R F A QF 2R SF 1R 1R A 1R 0 / 15 27–15
Wimbledon LQ 2R 1R 2R A QF SF QF 4R A 2R 3R 3R 4R 1R 1R A 0 / 13 26–13
US Open A A 1R A 3R 4R QF 4R 3R A 2R A 3R 1R A A A 0 / 9 17–9
Win–Loss 0–1 1–2 0–3 2–2 3–2 13–4 14–3 8–4 13–4 0–1 8–4 3–2 9–4 3–3 1–3 0–1 0–1 0 / 44 78–44

A = Absent from tournament

NH = Tournament not held

LQ = Lost in Qualifying Round

SR = the ratio of the number of tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

Trivia

He participated in 2005 in the second season of La Ferme Célébrités, a TV reality game show. In 2007, his son Maxime also participated in the TV reality game show 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-up1988 French Open Clay Sweden 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 1984French OpenClayFrance Yannick NoahCzechoslovakia Pavel Složil
Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd
6–4, 2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Runner-up1985 US OpenHardFrance Yannick NoahUnited States Ken Flach
United States 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 France Guy Forget United States Jim Courier
Spain Javier Sánchez
6–7(1), 6–3, 3–6
Winner 1993 Indian Wells Hard France Guy Forget United States Luke Jensen
United States Scott Melville
6–4, 7–5

Singles finals 16 (9-7)

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

Doubles finals 19 (10-9)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final
Winner 1. 1981 Bologna, Italy Carpet United States Sammy Giammalva Jr. Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd
Hungary Balázs Taróczy
7–6, 6–4
Winner 2. 1982 Nice, France Clay France Yannick Noah Australia Paul McNamee
Hungary Balázs Taróczy
5–7, 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up 1. 1982 Bournemouth, England Clay Romania Ilie Năstase Australia Paul McNamee
United Kingdom Buster Mottram
6–3, 6–7, 3–6
Winner 3. 1982 Basel, Switzerland Hard (i) France Yannick Noah United States Fritz Buehning
Czechoslovakia Pavel Složil
6–2, 6–2
Winner 4. 1982 Vienna, Austria Carpet Czechoslovakia Pavel Složil United States Mark Dickson
United States Terry Moor
6–1, 7–6
Runner-up 2. 1983 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay France Yannick Noah Switzerland Heinz Günthardt
Hungary Balázs Taróczy
2–6, 4–6
Winner 5. 1983 Aix-en-Provence, France Clay France Gilles Moretton Chile Iván Camus
Spain Sergio Casal
2–6, 6–1, 6–2
Runner-up 3. 1984 Philadelphia, U.S. Carpet France Yannick Noah United States Peter Fleming
United States John McEnroe
2–6, 3–6
Winner 6. 1984 French Open, Paris Clay France Yannick Noah Czechoslovakia Pavel Složil
Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd
6–4, 2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Winner 7. 1984 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay France Pascal Portes United Kingdom Colin Dowdeswell
Poland Wojtek Fibak
2–6, 7–6, 7–6
Winner 8. 1984 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd India Vijay Amritraj
Romania Ilie Năstase
3–6, 7–6, 6–4
Runner-up 4. 1985 U.S. Open, New York Hard France Yannick Noah United States Ken Flach
United States Robert Seguso
7–6, 6–7, 6–7, 0–6
Winner 9. 1988 Nice, France Clay France Guy Forget Switzerland Heinz Günthardt
Italy Diego Nargiso
4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 5. 1988 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Czechoslovakia Ivan Lendl Spain Sergio Casal
Spain Emilio Sánchez
0–6, 3–6
Runner-up 6. 1990 London/Queen's Club, England Grass Czechoslovakia Ivan Lendl United Kingdom Jeremy Bates
United States Kevin Curren
2–6, 6–7
Runner-up 7. 1991 Indian Wells, U.S. Hard France Guy Forget United States Jim Courier
Spain Javier Sánchez
6–7, 6–3, 3–6
Runner-up 8. 1992 Toulouse, France Hard (i) France Guy Forget United States Brad Pearce
South Africa Byron Talbot
1–6, 6–3, 3–6
Winner 10. 1993 Indian Wells, U.S. Hard France Guy Forget United States Luke Jensen
United States Scott Melville
6–4, 7–5
Runner-up 9. 1994 Halle, Germany Grass South Africa Gary Muller France Olivier Delaître
France 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.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Henri Leconte.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Florence Arthaud
Max Morinière
Daniel Sangouma
Jean-Charles Trouabal
Bruno Marie-Rose
French Sportperson of the Year
1991
(with Guy Forget)
Succeeded by
Marie-José Pérec
Preceded by
United States Jimmy Connors
ATP Comeback Player of the Year
1992
Succeeded by
Sweden Mikael Pernfors


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