Nicolás Pereira

Nicolás Pereira (born September 29, 1970) is a Venezuelan former professional tennis player and commentator. As a player, Pereira became the ITF Junior World Champion in 1988 after winning the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. He won two ATP Tour singles titles and three in doubles. Since retirement, he has been a commentator for the Tennis Channel.

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 Japan Open, defeating No. 21 ranked Andrés Gómez before losing to No. 1 ranked Ivan Lendl. In June, he defeated 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 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, 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, he reached the second round where he lost a thrilling five-set match to No. 18 Andre Agassi. 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 by qualifying, then defeated world No. 5 Boris Becker 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 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 in Atlanta, losing in the second round to eventual bronze medalist Leander Paes. He finished the year ranked No. 110.

Pereira retired in September 1997.

ATP career finals

Singles: 2 (2 titles) LegendGrand 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 surfaceHard (0–0)Clay (1–0)Grass (1–0)Carpet (0–0)Finals by settingOutdoors (2–0)Indoors (0–0)

Doubles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runner-ups) LegendGrand 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 surfaceHard (2–2)Clay (1–1)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–1)Finals by settingOutdoors (3–3)Indoors (0–1)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures Finals

Singles: 10 (5–5) LegendATP Challenger (5–5)ITF Futures (0–0)Finals by surfaceHard (2–2)Clay (3–3)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)

Doubles: 14 (8–6) LegendATP Challenger (7–6)ITF Futures (1–0)Finals by surfaceHard (3–4)Clay (4–2)Grass (1–0)Carpet (0–0)

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (3 titles)

Performance timelines

Singles

Doubles