Henri Leconte

Henri Leconte (born 4 July 1963) is a French former 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.

Henri Leconte
Henri Leconte in 2011
Country (sports) France
ResidenceGeneva, Switzerland
Born (1963-07-04) 4 July 1963
Lillers, France
Height1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Turned pro1980
Retired1996
PlaysLeft-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$3,440,660
Singles
Career record377–269
Career titles9
Highest rankingNo. 5 (22 September 1986)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open4R (1985)
French OpenF (1988)
WimbledonSF (1986)
US OpenQF (1986)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsRR (1985, 1986, 1988)
Grand Slam CupQF (1990, 1992)
Doubles
Career record200–141
Career titles10
Highest rankingNo. 6 (18 March 1985)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian OpenQF (1990)
French OpenW (1984)
Wimbledon2R (1985, 1987)
US OpenF (1985)
Team competitions
Davis CupW (1991)

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. In singles in 1985, Leconte reached the quarterfinals 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 US, 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 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 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
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
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 Q 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

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. He also appeared as a contestant on BBC Celebrity Masterchef 2017, reaching the semifinals.

Major finals
Leconte at the 2015 Australian Open

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)
Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss1988French OpenClay Mats Wilander5–7, 2–6, 1–6

Doubles: 2 (1–1)
Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win1984French OpenClay Yannick Noah Pavel Složil
Tomáš Šmíd		6–4, 2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss1985US OpenHard Yannick Noah Ken Flach
Robert Seguso		7–6(7–5), 6–7(1–7), 6–7(6–8), 0–6

Masters Series finals

Doubles: 2 (1–1)
Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1991 Indian Wells Hard Guy Forget Jim Courier
Javier Sánchez		 6–7(1–7), 6–3, 3–6
Win 1993 Indian Wells Hard Guy Forget Luke Jensen
Scott Melville		 6–4, 7–5

Career finals

Singles: 16 (9–7)
Result No Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. 1982 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Mats Wilander 7–6(7–4), 6–3
Loss 1. 1983 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Guillermo Vilas 6–7, 6–4, 4–6
Loss 2. 1983 Sydney Indoor, Australia Hard (i) John McEnroe 1–6, 4–6, 5–7
Loss 3. 1984 Memphis, United States Carpet (i) Jimmy Connors 3–6, 6–4, 5–7
Win 2. 1984 Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany Clay Gene Mayer 7–6(11–9), 6–0, 1–6, 6–1
Win 3. 1985 Nice, France Clay Víctor Pecci 6–4, 6–4
Loss 4. 1985 Sydney Indoor, Australia Hard (i) Ivan Lendl 4–6, 4–6, 6–7(6–8)
Win 4. 1985 Sydney Outdoor, Australia Grass Kelly Evernden 6–7(6–8), 6–2, 6–3
Loss 5. 1986 Bristol, United Kingdom Grass Vijay Amritraj 6–7(6–8), 6–1, 6–8
Win 5. 1986 Geneva, Switzerland Clay Thierry Tulasne 7–5, 6–3
Win 6. 1986 Hamburg Masters, Germany Clay Miloslav Mečíř 6–2, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2
Win 7. 1988 Nice, France Clay Jérôme Potier 6–2, 6–2
Loss 6. 1988 Hamburg Masters, Germany Clay Kent Carlsson 2–6, 1–6, 4–6
Loss 7. 1988 French Open, Paris Clay Mats Wilander 5–7, 2–6, 1–6
Win 8. 1988 Brussels, Belgium Carpet (i) Jakob Hlasek 7–6(7–3), 7–6(8–6), 6–4
Win 9. 1993 Halle, Germany Grass Andriy Medvedev 6–2, 6–3

Doubles: 19 (10–9)
Result No Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. 1981 Bologna, Italy Carpet (i) Sammy Giammalva Jr. Tomáš Šmíd
Balázs Taróczy		 7–6, 6–4
Win 2. 1982 Nice, France Clay Yannick Noah Paul McNamee
Balázs Taróczy		 5–7, 6–4, 6–3
Loss 1. 1982 Bournemouth, England Clay Ilie Năstase Paul McNamee
Buster Mottram		 6–3, 6–7, 3–6
Win 3. 1982 Basel, Switzerland Hard (i) Yannick Noah Fritz Buehning
Pavel Složil		 6–2, 6–2
Win 4. 1982 Vienna, Austria Carpet (i) Pavel Složil Mark Dickson
Terry Moor		 6–1, 7–6
Loss 2. 1983 Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco Clay Yannick Noah Heinz Günthardt
Balázs Taróczy		 2–6, 4–6
Win 5. 1983 Aix-en-Provence, France Clay Gilles Moretton Iván Camus
Sergio Casal		 2–6, 6–1, 6–2
Loss 3. 1984 Philadelphia, United States Carpet (i) Yannick Noah Peter Fleming
John McEnroe		 2–6, 3–6
Win 6. 1984 French Open, Paris Clay Yannick Noah Pavel Složil
Tomáš Šmíd		 6–4, 2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Win 7. 1984 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Pascal Portes Colin Dowdeswell
Wojtek Fibak		 2–6, 7–6, 7–6
Win 8. 1984 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Tomáš Šmíd Vijay Amritraj
Ilie Năstase		 3–6, 7–6, 6–4
Loss 4. 1985 US Open, New York Hard Yannick Noah Ken Flach
Robert Seguso		 7–6, 6–7, 6–7, 0–6
Win 9. 1988 Nice, France Clay Guy Forget Heinz Günthardt
Diego Nargiso		 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss 5. 1988 Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco Clay Ivan Lendl Sergio Casal
Emilio Sánchez		 0–6, 3–6
Loss 6. 1990 Queen's Club, England Grass Ivan Lendl Jeremy Bates
Kevin Curren		 2–6, 6–7
Loss 7. 1991 Indian Wells Masters, United States Hard Guy Forget Jim Courier
Javier Sánchez		 6–7, 6–3, 3–6
Loss 8. 1992 Toulouse, France Hard (i) Guy Forget Brad Pearce
Byron Talbot		 1–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win 10. 1993 Indian Wells Masters, United States Hard Guy Forget Luke Jensen
Scott Melville		 6–4, 7–5
Loss 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.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Florence Arthaud
Max Morinière
Daniel Sangouma
Jean-Charles Trouabal
Bruno Marie-Rose		 French Sportsperson of the Year
1991
(with Guy Forget)		 Succeeded by
Marie-José Pérec
Preceded by
Jimmy Connors		 ATP Comeback Player of the Year
1992		 Succeeded by
Mikael Pernfors
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