The Open Era
Venezuela · born Salto, Uruguay, 1970 · right-handed · Wimbledon boys' champion 1988 and Newport champion 1996
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3
Junior Grand Slam singles titles in 1988: French Open, Wimbledon and US Open
2
ATP singles titles: Bogotá 1994 and Newport 1996, the second on grass
74
Career-high ranking, 22 July 1996, the week after Newport
2R
Best Wimbledon singles result, 1994 and 1996
Nicolás Pereira was born in Salto, Uruguay, in 1970 and played for Venezuela. In 1988 he won the boys' singles at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open and was the ITF junior world champion. In the autumn of that year he beat Brad Gilbert and Amos Mansdorf on the senior tour.
The early promise did not turn into a steady professional career. After a strong 1989, with a win over Stefan Edberg at Queen's, his ranking fell back and he spent much of 1990 to 1993 on the Challenger circuit. He won his first tour title on clay in Bogotá in 1994. In 1996 he beat Boris Becker in Doha and the world No. 1, Thomas Muster, in Key Biscayne, won the Newport title on grass, reached his career-high No. 74 and played the Olympic Games in Atlanta, where Leander Paes beat him in the second round.
He played Davis Cup for Venezuela from 1987 to 1997 and retired in 1997. He won three tour titles in doubles, the first in Wellington in 1990, and reached No. 44 in doubles that November. Since 2001 he has commentated on tennis for ESPN International and ESPN Deportes.
| Wimbledon boys' final 1988 | As sixth seed, beat the 13th seed Guillaume Raoux 7-6, 6-2 |
|---|---|
| Newport 1996 | Unseeded, beat Grant Stafford 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the final, in a draw whose seeds included Byron Black and Patrick Rafter |
| Queen's 1989 | Beat the world No. 3, Stefan Edberg, in straight sets in the first round |
| Wimbledon | 1989: took Ivan Lendl, the eventual semi-finalist, to five sets in the first round. 1994: lost a five-set second-round match to Andre Agassi |
| Newport, Rhode Island | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Men's singles Hall of Fame Open | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. † single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
The person behind the player.
1988
Pereira won the boys' singles at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year. Olympedia's biography adds that he did not achieve that promise as a professional, though he won two singles titles and three in doubles.
Source: OlympediaQueen's Club, June 1989
In June 1989 the 18-year-old beat the world No. 3, Stefan Edberg, in straight sets in the first round at Queen's. A few weeks later he took the world No. 1, Ivan Lendl, to five sets in the first round at Wimbledon.
Source: WikipediaNewport, July 1996
Pereira came through a draw led by Byron Black, Shuzo Matsuoka and Michael Joyce, none of whom reached the final, and beat the South African Grant Stafford from a set down, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Source: WikipediaAtlanta, 1996
Born in Uruguay, Pereira played Davis Cup for Venezuela for a decade and won two gold medals at the 1993 Central American and Caribbean Games. At the 1996 Olympics he reached the second round of the singles, losing to the eventual bronze medallist Leander Paes.
Source: OlympediaBehind the microphone
He joined ESPN in 2001 as a tennis commentator for ESPN International and ESPN Deportes and has covered all four majors. He speaks Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian and French.
Source: ESPN Press RoomFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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