Josselin Ouanna (born 14 April 1986) is a retired French
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player.
Biography
Born in
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
and
Guadeloupean
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the tw ...
origin, he was quickly spotted and integrates INSEP with her friends of "blackteam"
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in November 2016. His career hig ...
(of Caribbean origin) and
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
(of
Congolese origin). He was coached by
Jérôme Potier of
CNE Roland Garros. Several injuries have slowed his progress between 2005 and 2007.
After another blank year in 2015, he announced his retirement from professional tennis.
Career
In 2004, Ouanna was the runner-up in the
Australian Open Boys' Singles. He was defeated by his doubles partner and compatriot Frenchman
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in November 2016. His career hig ...
handily. Soon afterwards, he took part his first Challenger tournament in
Cherbourg and reached the quarterfinals. In September of the same year, he won his first professional tournament.
In 2007, he reached the quarterfinals at
Tunica and
Freudenstadt
Freudenstadt (Swabian: ''Fraidestadt'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is capital of the district Freudenstadt. The closest population centres are Offenburg to the west (approx. 36 km away) and Tübingen to the eas ...
tournaments. He won two Futures tournaments in France in this year.
In 2008, he reached the quarterfinals of four Challenger tournaments early in the season. He played his first
Roland Garros as a
lucky loser
A lucky loser is a sports competitor (player or team) who loses a match in a knockout tournament or loses in qualifying, but who then enters the main draw, usually when another competitor withdraws during the tournament because of illness, injury ...
, but lost to Argentina's
Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...
in straight sets in the first round. He then lost twice in the quarterfinals of French Challenger tournaments, before winning the
Rennes Challenger tournament against
Adrian Mannarino
Adrian Mannarino (born 29 June 1988) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 22, attained on 19 March 2018. He won his first ATP Tour singles title at the 2019 Rosmalen Open on grass. He is c ...
. Josselin Ouanna made himself known at the
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
tournament, where he defeated World #46
Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubičić (; born 19 March 1979) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 3 singles ranking on 1 May 2006. His career highlights include reaching a Grand S ...
, then
Nicolás Lapentti
Nicolás Alexander Lapentti Gómez (; born 13 August 1976) is a former professional tennis player from Ecuador. His brothers, Giovanni and Leonardo, uncle Andrés, and cousins Roberto and Emilio also are or were on the pro circuit. His fath ...
before losing to
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. He had a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 6 attained on 5 January 2009. He turned professional in 2002 and won 14 singles titles on the ATP Tour.
...
. This performance qualifies him for the first
Masters France. However, he was eliminated in the pool stage against Julien Benneteau, Gilles Simon and Marc Gicquel.
In April 2009, he won the Challenger tournament in
Saint-Brieuc against
Adrian Mannarino
Adrian Mannarino (born 29 June 1988) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 22, attained on 19 March 2018. He won his first ATP Tour singles title at the 2019 Rosmalen Open on grass. He is c ...
in three sets.
Ouanna was awarded a
wild card for the
2009 French Open
The 2009 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 113th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from May 24 through ...
, granting him a second Grand Slam appearance. He went through the first round by eliminating the Spaniard
Marcel Granollers in five sets. In the second round, he beat one of his childhood heroes, 20th seed and former World #1
Marat Safin
Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; tt-Cyrl, Марат Мөбин улы Сафин; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian retired world No. 1 tennis player an ...
, who was playing his last French Open, in five sets. This victory, his first against a Top 30, made him known to the public. Ouanna then lost in the third round to
Fernando Gonzalez in three sets.
At the
2009 US Open, he lost to González once again, this time in the second round. After the tournament, he entered the Top 100 for the first time.
At the
2010 French Open
The 2010 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 114th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 23 May through ...
, he beat
Łukasz Kubot
Łukasz Kubot (; born 16 May 1982) is a Polish professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2014 Australian Open with Robert Lindstedt, as well as the 2017 W ...
in the first round before losing to
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in the second round.
In 2012, he won the Challenger tournaments of Cherbourg and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and climbed back up 256 places in the ATP rankings throughout the year, reaching 120th place at the end of the year.
After
Nicolas Mahut
Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut (; born 21 January 1982) is a French professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having completed the career Grand Slam with victories at the ...
forfeited his spot for the tournament, Ouanna retrieved a wild-card to take part to the
2013 Australian Open. He lost to
Alejandro Falla
Alejandro Falla Ramírez (; born 14 November 1983) is a retired professional male tennis player from Colombia. The left-hander turned pro in 2000 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 48 in July 2012. At the 2006 Wimbledon t ...
in the first round, in straight sets.
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 19 (9–10)
Doubles: 13 (7–6)
Singles performance timeline
Junior Grand Slam finals
Boys' singles: 1 (1 runner-up)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouanna, Josselin
1986 births
Living people
French male tennis players
French people of Guadeloupean descent
Sportspeople from Suresnes
Sportspeople from Tours, France