French left-handed tennis player in the 1980s and 1990s. As a junior he won the famous Orange Bowl in Miami in 1982, which led him to start his professional career, finishing his first year at 70th place in the world ATP rankings. In 1986, he won his first single ATP tournament in Toulouse, where both his father and grandfather had won, respectively in 1946 and 1966, and where he won again in 1991 and 1992. In 1987, he reached the French Open final in doubles with Yannick Noah, showing that he was going to be one of the best players in doubles. In 1989, he won another single title in Nancy and became World Doubles Champion with Swiss player Jakob Hlasek.His best year was clearly 1991 when he won 6 single titles (including a Master Series in Paris-Bercy), reached the ATP 4th rank (the second best rank for a French player after Noah), reached the quarter-finals in both Australian Open and Wimbledon, and beat Pete Sampras in the 4th match of the Davis Cup final in Lyon, allowing his country to hold the Cup for the first time since 1932. After a knee injury in 1993 he struggled to recover his form and reached ATP 34th place in 1996 after his last single win in Marseille and a second Davis Cup win in Sweden. He decided to stop his career in June 1997, with a credit of 11 ATP titles in single (+ 8 lost finals) and 28 in doubles, and more than 5.5 million dollars in prize money. He was also famous for being a simple and nice man, receiving in 1990 the "Prix Orange", given by the French press to the most pleasant player of the year.He eventually became the captain of the French Davis Cup team (final in 1999 and 2002, win in 2001) and the French Fed Cup team (final in 2004, win in 2003).
