Nicolás Pereira (born September 29, 1970) is a commentator for the
Tennis Channel and former professional tennis player, who became the
ITF Junior World Champion in 1988 after winning the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
,
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
and the
US Open.
Professional career
In the fall of 1988, Pereira registered wins on the pro tour against
Brad Gilbert
Brad Gilbert (born August 9, 1961) is an American former professional tennis player, tennis coach, and tennis commentator and analyst for ESPN. During his career, he won 20 singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 ...
and
Amos Mansdorf. He finished 1988 ranked No. 151 in the world rankings.
In April 1989, Pereira reached the quarterfinals of the
Japan Open, defeating No. 21 ranked
Andrés Gómez
Andrés Gómez Santos (; born 27 February 1960) is an Ecuadorian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 4 in singles and world No. 1 in doubles. Gómez won 21 singles titles and 33 doubles titles during his caree ...
before losing to No. 1 ranked
Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl (; born March 7, 1960) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player and coach. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis ...
. In June, he defeated world No. 3
Stefan Edberg
Jan Stefan Edberg (; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in both men's singles and men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), one of two players in the ...
in straight sets in the first round of the
Queens Club grass-court tournament.
A few weeks later, in the first round of
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
, he took eventual semifinalist Lendl to five sets before losing. Later that summer, he reached the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix event in Montreal, the
Canadian Open. There he beat No. 10 ranked
Tim Mayotte
Timothy Mayotte (born August 3, 1960) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Mayotte won twelve singles titles during his career.
...
, then lost to No. 14 ranked
Jay Berger. Pereira, at 19 years of age, finished 1989 ranked No. 121.
However, Pereira's progress stalled over the next three years. In 1990, he lost most of his matches in the first round of
ATP level tournaments and finished the year ranked No. 238. In 1991, he won the Lins and São Paulo-4 Challengers in back-to-back weeks, and ended the year ranked No. 146. He won the Guarujá Brazil Challenger in September 1992 and was ranked No. 138 at the end of the year.
In 1993, Pereira defeated
Aaron Krickstein in the first round at the
Bermuda Challenger. At the end of 1993, Pereira was ranked No. 141.
1994 marked a resurgence for Pereira. In March, he won the
San Luis Potosí Challenger. At
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
, he reached the second round where he lost a thrilling five-set match to No. 18
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 101 ...
. In September, Pereira defeated
Mauricio Hadad in the final of the
Bancolombia Open to win his first ATP singles title. He closed out 1994 ranked No. 110. 1995 was a mixed year for Pereira. In July, he won the Rio Brazil Challenger title by defeating
João Cunha e Silva in straight sets. The next week at New Haven, he defeated
MaliVai Washington in the second round, then lost to No. 10
Marc Rosset.
At the U.S. Open, Pereira reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. At the end of the year, Nicolas was ranked No. 134.
1996 was another inconsistent year for Pereira. He started the year well in
Doha
Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...
by qualifying, then defeated world No. 5
Boris Becker
Boris Franz Becker (; born 22 November 1967) is a German former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Becker won 49 c ...
7–6, 6–7, 7–6 in the second round to reach the quarterfinals. In March, Pereira again caused an upset when he defeated world No. 1
Thomas Muster
Thomas Muster (born 2 October 1967) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Muster ...
in straight sets at the
Masters Series tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida. In July, Pereira won his
second ATP title, defeating
Grant Stafford on the grass courts at Newport, Rhode Island. He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 74 the following week on July 22, 1996.
Pereira represented Venezuela at the
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
in Atlanta, losing in the second round to eventual bronze medalist
Leander Paes
Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player and the first Asian man to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players of all-tim ...
. He finished the year ranked No. 110.
Pereira retired in September 1997.
ATP career finals
Singles: 2 (2 titles)
Doubles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runner-ups)
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures Finals
Singles: 10 (5–5)
Doubles: 14 (8–6)
Junior Grand Slam finals
Singles: 3 (3 titles)
Performance timelines
Singles
Doubles
See also
List of Grand Slam Boys' Singles champions
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pereira, Nicolas
1970 births
Living people
French Open junior champions
Olympic tennis players for Venezuela
People from Salto, Uruguay
Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Venezuelan male tennis players
US Open (tennis) junior champions
Wimbledon junior champions
Pan American Games silver medalists in tennis
Pan American Games silver medalists for Venezuela
Tennis players at the 1995 Pan American Games
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles
Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in tennis
Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Venezuela
Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Venezuela