Nicolás Pereira

Nicolás Pereira (born September 29, 1970) is a former tennis player from Venezuela, who became International Tennis Federation Junior World Champion in 1988 after winning the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

Nicolás Pereira
Country (sports) Venezuela
ResidenceCaracas, Venezuela
Born (1970-09-29) 29 September 1970
Salto, Uruguay
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro1987
Retired1997
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$1,077,159
Singles
Career record81–125
Career titles2
5 Challenger, 0 Futures
Highest rankingNo. 74 (22 July 1996)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (1990, 1995)
French Open2R (1989)
Wimbledon2R (1994, 1996)
US Open3R (1995)
Doubles
Career record114–133
Career titles3
7 Challenger, 1 Futures
Highest rankingNo. 44 (19 November 1990)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (1991, 1996)
French Open3R (1990)
Wimbledon3R (1989)
US Open3R (1996)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French Open2R (1991)
Wimbledon1R (1990, 1993)
Last updated on: 11 December 2021.

Professional career

In the fall of 1988, Pereira registered wins on the pro tour against Brad Gilbert and Amos Mansdorf. He finished 1988 ranked no. 151 in the world rankings.

In April 1989, Pereira reached the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Japan Open, beating no. 21 ranked Andrés Gómez, then lost to no. 1 ranked Ivan Lendl. In June, he beat world no. 3 Stefan Edberg in straight sets in the first round of the Queens Club grass court tournament.

A few weeks later, in the first round of Wimbledon, he took Lendl to five sets before losing. Later that summer, he reached the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix event at Montreal, the Canadian Open. There he beat no. 10 ranked Tim Mayotte, then lost to no. 14 ranked Jay Berger. Pereira, at 19 years of age, finished 1989 ranked no. 121.

However, Pereira's progress was 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 did win the Lins and São Paulo-4 Challengers in back-to-back weeks, and was ranked no. 146 at year's end. 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, he reached the second round where he lost a thrilling five set match to no. 18 Andre Agassi. In September, Pereira beat Mauricio Hadad at the ATP Bogotá to register his first ATP tournament 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 by qualifying, then beating world no. 5 Boris Becker 7–6, 6–7, 7–6 in round two. In March, Pereira again caused an upset when he beat world no. 1 Thomas Muster in straight sets at the Masters Series tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida. In July, Pereira won his second career ATP title when he beat Grant Stafford on the grass courts at Newport, Rhode Island.

He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on July 22, 1996 when he became the no. 74 player in the world. He represented Venezuela at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Pereira had mediocre results during the rest of the 1996 season, and finished the year ranked no. 110. Reportedly suffering from injuries, Pereira retired in September 1997, ranked around world no. 400.

ATP career finals

Singles: 2 (2 titles)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (2–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (1–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (2–0)
Indoors (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Sep 1994 Bogotá, Colombia World Series Clay Mauricio Hadad 6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Win 2–0 Jul 1996 Newport, United States World Series Grass Grant Stafford 4–6, 6–4, 6–4

Doubles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–0)
ATP Championship Series (0–1)
ATP World Series (3–3)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–2)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–1)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (3–3)
Indoors (0–1)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Jan 1990 Wellington, New Zealand World Series Hard Kelly Evernden Sergio Casal
Emilio Sánchez Vicario
6–4, 7–6
Loss 1–1 Mar 1990 Rotterdam, Netherlands World Series Carpet Diego Nargiso Leonardo Lavalle
Jorge Lozano
6–7, 4–6
Win 2–1 Jan 1991 Wellington, New Zealand World Series Hard Luiz Mattar John Letts
Jaime Oncins
4–6, 7–6, 6–2
Loss 2–2 Apr 1991 Orlando, United States World Series Hard Pete Sampras Luke Jensen
Scott Melville
7–6(7–5), 6–7(6–8), 3–6
Loss 2–3 Aug 1995 New Haven, United States Championship Series Hard Leander Paes Rick Leach
Scott Melville
3–6, 7–5, 4–6
Loss 2–4 Mar 1996 Mexico City, Mexico World Series Clay Emilio Sánchez Donald Johnson
Francisco Montana
2–6, 4–6
Win 3–4 Jan 1991 Bogotá, Colombia World Series Clay David Rikl Pablo Campana
Nicolás Lapentti
6–3, 7–6


ATP Challenger and ITF Futures Finals

Singles: 10 (5–5)

Legend
ATP Challenger (5–5)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–2)
Clay (3–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Aug 1991 Lins, Brazil Challenger Clay Luis Lobo 2–6, 6–3, 7–6
Win 2–0 Aug 1991 São Paulo, Brazil Challenger Clay Martin Stringari 6–3, 6–2
Loss 2–1 Sep 1991 Madeira, Portugal Challenger Hard Byron Black 3–6, 4–6
Loss 2–2 Aug 1992 São Paulo, Brazil Challenger Clay Martin Stringari 3–6, 6–3, 2–6
Win 3–2 Sep 1992 Guarujá, Brazil Challenger Hard Roberto Jabali 6–4, 6–4
Loss 3–3 Sep 1993 São Paulo, Brazil Challenger Hard Fernando Meligeni 5–7, 2–6
Loss 3–4 Oct 1993 Cali, Colombia Challenger Clay Mauricio Hadad 6–7, 6–7
Win 4–4 Apr 1994 San Luis Potosi, Mexico Challenger Clay Luis Herrera 6–7, 6–2, 6–2
Win 5–4 Aug 1995 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Challenger Hard Joao Cunha-Silva 7–5, 6–3
Loss 5–5 Nov 1995 Santiago, Chile Challenger Clay Nicolas Lapentti 6–7, 3–6

Doubles: 14 (8–6)

Legend
ATP Challenger (7–6)
ITF Futures (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–4)
Clay (4–2)
Grass (1–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Jul 1991 Salerno, Italy Challenger Clay Marcos Ondruska Emilio Benfele-Alvarez
Pietro Pennisi
6–4, 6–4
Win 2–0 Aug 1992 Lins, Brazil Challenger Clay Joao Cunha-Silva Cassio Motta
Fernando Roese
6–3, 6–4
Loss 2–1 Aug 1992 Sao Paulo, Brazil Challenger Clay Joao Cunha-Silva Pablo Albano
Cassio Motta
walkover
Win 3–1 Sep 1992 Bogota, Colombia Challenger Clay Mario Tabares William Kyriakos
Fernando Meligeni
7–6, 7–5
Loss 3–2 Oct 1992 Ponte Vedra, United States Challenger Hard Daniel Vacek Jared Palmer
Jim Pugh
6–1, 3–6, 2–6
Win 4–2 Jul 1993 Belo Horizonte, Brazil Challenger Hard Ricardo Acioly Fernando Roese
Felipe Rivera
7–6, 5–7, 6–3
Loss 4–3 Sep 1993 Caracas, Venezuela Challenger Hard Doug Flach Richard Matuszewski
John Sullivan
6–7, 5–7
Loss 4–4 Dec 1993 Paget, Bermuda Challenger Clay Maurice Ruah Mark Knowles
Jared Palmer
1–6, 3–6
Win 5–4 Apr 1994 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Challenger Hard Pablo Albano Paul Kilderry
Simon Youl
6–4, 3–6, 7–6
Win 6–4 Jul 1995 Annenheim, Austria Challenger Grass Diego Nargiso Karsten Braasch
Joern Renzenbrink
6–7, 6–4, 7–6
Win 7–4 Aug 1995 Brasilia, Brazil Challenger Hard Jean-Philippe Fleurian Noam Behr
Lior Mor
7–6, 6–2
Loss 7–5 Aug 1995 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Challenger Hard Jean-Philippe Fleurian Joao Cunha-Silva
Oscar Ortiz
5–7, 6–4, 1–6
Loss 7–6 Oct 1995 Monterrey, Mexico Challenger Hard David Rikl Mark Knowles
Daniel Nestor
6–3, 1–6, 4–6
Win 8–6 May 2001 USA F12, Hallandale Beach Futures Clay Jose De Armas Steve Berke
Kyle Porter
6–4, 2–6, 6–2

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (3 titles)

Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win1988French OpenClay Magnus Larsson7–6, 6–3
Win1988WimbledonGrass Guillaume Raoux7–6, 6–2
Win1988US OpenHard Nicklas Kulti6–1, 6–2

Performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Tournament1988198919901991199219931994199519961997SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 2R Q3 A 1R A 2R Q2 1R 0 / 4 2–4 33%
French Open A 2R 1R A A A A A 1R Q2 0 / 3 1–3 25%
Wimbledon Q1 1R A A Q2 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 0 / 6 2–6 25%
US Open A 1R A A Q1 2R 1R 3R 1R Q2 0 / 5 3–5 38%
Win–loss 0–0 1–3 1–2 0–0 0–0 1–3 1–2 3–3 1–3 0–2 0 / 18 8–18 31%
ATP Masters Series
Miami A 1R 1R A A A 1R A 3R A 0 / 4 2–4 33%
Rome A Q1 A A A A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0   
Canada A QF A A A A 2R A A A 0 / 2 4–2 67%
Cincinnati A A 2R A A A Q1 A A A 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Paris A A A A A Q2 A A A A 0 / 0 0–0   
Win–loss 0–0 3–2 1–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–2 0–0 2–1 0–0 0 / 7 7–7 50%

Doubles

Tournament1988198919901991199219931994199519961997SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 1R 2R A 1R A 1R 2R 1R 0 / 6 2–6 25%
French Open A 1R 3R 1R A A A A 1R 1R 0 / 5 2–5 29%
Wimbledon Q1 3R 2R A Q1 2R 1R A 2R 1R 0 / 6 5–6 45%
US Open A 2R 1R A A 1R 1R 1R 3R 1R 0 / 7 3–7 30%
Win–loss 0–0 3–3 3–4 1–2 0–0 1–3 0–2 0–2 4–4 0–4 0 / 24 12–24 33%
ATP Masters Series
Miami A A 1R 2R 1R A 2R A 2R A 0 / 5 3–5 38%
Rome A 2R A 2R A A A A A A 0 / 2 2–2 50%
Canada A 1R 2R A A A 2R A A A 0 / 3 2–3 40%
Cincinnati A A 1R A A A 1R A A A 0 / 2 0–2 0%
Win–loss 0–0 1–2 1–3 2–2 0–1 0–0 2–3 0–0 1–1 0–0 0 / 12 7–12 37%

See also

List of Grand Slam Boys' Singles champions

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