Sébastien LeBlanc (born 27 December 1973) is a former Canadian tour professional tennis player. Leblanc captured three junior Grand Slam titles and played Davis Cup for Canada. More of a doubles specialist, he won five Challenger events in doubles and reached a career-high doubles ranking of World No. 127.[3][4]

Sébastien LeBlanc
Country (sports) Canada
Born (1973-12-27) 27 December 1973 (age 50)
Montreal, Canada
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro1994
Retired1997
PlaysLeft-handed
Prize money$97,899
Singles
Career record2–4[1]
Career titles0
0 Challenger, 0 Futures
Highest ranking361 (5 August 1996)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ1 (1996, 1997)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games2R (1992)
Doubles
Career record8–22
Career titles0
5 Challenger, 0 Futures
Highest ranking127 (18 November 1996)[1]
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open1R (1997)[2]
US OpenQ1 (1995)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games2R (1992)
Last updated on: 18 December 2021.

Junior career edit

Leblanc teamed with fellow Québécois and Montrealer Sébastien Lareau to capture first the 1990 French Open junior doubles title and then a month later the 1990 Wimbledon junior doubles title. In both finals they defeated the South African duo of Marcos Ondruska and Clinton Marsh in three sets, 6–7, 7–6, 9–7 at Roland Garros and 7–6(5) 4–6 6–3. Then in August Leblanc teamed with another Montrealer, Greg Rusedski, to capture the U.S. Open junior doubles crown, defeating Mårten Renström and Mikael Tillström in the final, 6–7 6–3 6–4. Leblanc did not compete in the 1990 Australian Open missing out on a chance for completing the 'Grand Slam'. In singles he lost in the first round at both Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows and reached the third round of Wimbledon, falling to eventual champion Leander Paes in three sets.[5]

Senior career edit

Leblanc won the 1991 Montebello Challenger partnering Lareau and the 1995 Santiago Challenger playing with Brandon Coupe. The resident of Saint-Bruno, Quebec won the Aptos Challenger three times in succession – from 1995 through 1997 – the first time playing with Brian MacPhie and the later two times partnering fellow Québécois and Montrealer Jocelyn Robichaud. In ATP Tour and Grand Slam events, Leblanc posted a career win–loss of 8 and 22 with his best result being reaching the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open in 1991, partnering Lareau. Leblanc also reached the second round of the 1992 Summer Olympics tournament, partnering Brian Gyetko. He played in the main draw of one Grand Slam event at senior level, the 1997 Australian Open – he and partner Mark Keil lost in the first round.

In singles, Leblanc reached a career-high ranking of World No. 361, in August 1996. His career Challenger event win–loss record stood at 3 wins, 9 losses, while at ATP Tour level it was 1 and 4. His sole top flight match win was over World No. 18 Tim Henman in the opening round of the Canadian Open.[6]

Davis Cup edit

Leblanc sole rubber appearance came surprisingly in singles, in a 1997 America Group I semi-final tie versus Venezuela, played in April. He defeated José de Armas in a dead rubber, 2–6, 7–6(2), 6–0 in a tie Canada swept 5–0.[7] The victory allowed gave Canada a place in qualifying for the World Group. They lost the qualifying tie in September however to Slovakia 1–4, despite playing the tie at home (in Jarry Stadium).[8]

Junior Grand Slam finals edit

Doubles: 3 (3 titles) edit

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1990 French Open Clay   Sébastien Lareau   Clinton Marsh
  Marcos Ondruska
7–6, 6–7, 9–7
Win 1990 Wimbledon Grass   Sébastien Lareau   Clinton Marsh
  Marcos Ondruska
7–6(7–5), 4–6, 6–3
Win 1990 US Open Hard   Greg Rusedski   Mårten Renström
  Mikael Tillström
6–7, 6–3, 6–4

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures Finals edit

Doubles: 9 (5–4) edit

Legend
ATP Challenger (5–4)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (4–1)
Clay (1–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Sep 1991 Graz, Austria Challenger Clay   Markus Naewie   Jan Apell
  Raviv Weidenfeld
3–6, 3–6
Win 1–1 Jul 1994 Montebello, Canada Challenger Hard   Sébastien Lareau   Sergio Gomez-Barrio
  Brian Gyetko
6–2, 6–3
Loss 1–2 Jun 1995 Eisenach, Germany Challenger Clay   Chris Woodruff   Dirk Dier
  Lars Koslowski
6–3, 3–6, 6–7
Win 2–2 Jul 1995 Aptos, United States Challenger Hard   Brian Macphie   Bill Barber
  Ari Nathan
6–3, 6–2
Win 3–2 Nov 1995 Santiago, Chile Challenger Clay   Brandon Coupe   Nicolás Lapentti
  Gabriel Silberstein
3–6, 7–5, 6–4
Loss 3–3 Apr 1996 Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Clay   Aleksandar Kitinov   Donald Johnson
  Francisco Montana
6–3, 3–6, 1–6
Win 4–3 Jul 1996 Aptos, United States Challenger Hard   Jocelyn Robichaud   Neville Godwin
  Geoff Grant
7–6, 6–7, 7–5
Loss 4–4 Sep 1996 Aruba, Aruba Challenger Hard   Grant Stafford   Mahesh Bhupathi
  Leander Paes
2–6, 2–6
Win 5–4 Jul 1997 Aptos, United States Challenger Hard   Jocelyn Robichaud   David Caldwell
  Adam Peterson
7–6, 6–4

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Sébastien LeBlanc ATP profile". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  2. ^ "Sébastien Leblanc ITF profile". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Sebastien Leblanc | Overview |". ATP Tour. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Sebastien LeBlanc". Tennis Canada. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Sebastien Leblanc Juniors Singles Activity". itftennis.com. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Sébastien Leblanc | Player Activity | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Davis Cup – Players". daviscup.com. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  8. ^ "Davis Cup – Teams". daviscup.com. Retrieved 17 April 2020.

External links edit