Ronald Jean-Martin Agénor (born November 13, 1964) is a former professional tennis player who represented Haiti during his playing career. He is the only Haitian to have ever earned a Top 25 world ranking in singles, reaching a highest singles ranking of world No. 22 in May 1989. During his career he won three ATP tour singles titles.
Early life and junior tennis Agénor was born on November 13, 1964, in Rabat, Morocco, the son of Frédéric Agénor, a former Haitian Diplomat at the United Nations and Minister of Agriculture of Haiti. He is the youngest of a family of six children and learned how to play tennis in Lubumbashi, Zaire (current Congo) in 1974 and discovered competitive tennis in Bordeaux, France in 1978 under the wing of his brother, Lionel. He was ranked No. 8 junior player in the world in 1982 and won 2 Junior titles in Charleroi, Belgium and Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Pro tennis career
Agénor joined the professional tennis circuit in 1983. In 1989 he reached the quarterfinals of the French Open where he was defeated by eventual-champion Michael Chang in four sets, and won his first top-level singles title at Athens. In 1990, Agénor won two further tour singles titles at Berlin and Genoa.
He competed in three Summer Olympic Games, in 1984 (a demonstration event), 1988 and 1996.
In 1999, Agénor finished the year ranked World No. 98 and became the first player aged over 35 to finish in the top-100 since Jimmy Connors in 1992.
Agénor competed in his penultimate ATP-sanctioned tour event in July 2006 at the Aptos Futures event after a four-year layoff from tour tennis, losing 3–6, 4–6 in the first round.
In a career spanning 19 years, he reached the quarter finals at the French Open in 1989 by beating Carl Limberger, Tim Mayotte, Claudio Pistolesi and Sergi Bruguera before losing to champion Michael Chang. He also got to the fourth round of both the US Open and French Open in 1988. He represented Haiti in the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984, in Seoul in 1988, and in Atlanta in 1996 and won 3 ATP Tour World titles in Athens, Genoa, and Berlin. At the French Open in 1994, he defeated David Prinosil, 14/12 in the fifth set and broke the previous record of the longest match in the number of games in the history of the French Open since the open era previously held by Emilio Sanchez. In 1987, his final at the Swiss Indoors against Yannick Noah from France, was the first ATP World Tour tennis final between two players of color in men's professional tennis history. After a break from the pro circuit, Agénor made a comeback in 1999 becoming, at 35 years of age, the oldest player to reach top 100 (ATP ranked #88) in the world since Jimmy Connors did it in 1991. In 2000, he represented and led the Lido Luzern Tennis Club in Switzerland to its first Swiss National title in 100 years. In 2001, at 37 years of age, he finished the year ATP ranked #186 appearing in a final against David Nalbandian from Argentina.
Agénor retired from professional tennis in 2002 and opened the Ronald Agenor Tennis Academy in Los Angeles, California.
In 2009, he entered qualifying for the Genova Challenger in singles, but retired in the first round.
In 2012, Agénor entered the doubles draw of Futures events in Casablanca, Innisbrook, and Edwardsville. Partnering Takanyi Garanganga, he came up short in his final match.
ATP career finals
Singles: 8 (3 titles, 5 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam Tournaments (0–0)ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP World Tour Masters Series (0–0)ATP Championship Series (0–0)ATP World Series (3–5)Finals by surfaceHard (0–0)Clay (2–4)Grass (0–0)Carpet (1–1)Finals by settingOutdoors (2–4)Indoors (1–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Gstaad, SwitzerlandGrand PrixClay Emilio Sánchez2–6, 3–6, 6–7(5–7)Loss0–2Bordeaux, FranceGrand PrixClay Emilio Sánchez7–5, 4–6, 4–6Loss0–3Basel, SwitzerlandGrand PrixCarpet Yannick Noah6–7(6–8), 4–6, 4–6Loss0–4Bordeaux, FranceGrand PrixClay Thomas Muster3–6, 3–6Win1–4Athens, GreeceGrand PrixClay Kent Carlsson6–3, 6–4Win2–4Genoa, ItalyWorld SeriesClay Tarik Benhabiles3–6, 6–4, 6–3Win3–4Berlin, GermanyWorld SeriesCarpet Alexander Volkov4–6, 6–4, 7–6(10–8)Loss3–5Båstad, SwedenWorld SeriesClay Horst Skoff5–7, 6–1, 0–6
Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam Tournaments (0–0)ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP Masters Series (0–0)ATP Championship Series (0–0)ATP World Series (0–2)Finals by surfaceHard (0–0)Clay (0–2)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)Finals by settingOutdoors (0–2)Indoors (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Bordeaux, FranceGrand PrixClay Mansour Bahrami Jordi Arrese David de Miguel5–7, 4–6Loss0–2Jakarta, IndonesiaWorld SeriesClay Shuzo Matsuoka David Adams Andrei Olhovskiy5–7, 3–6
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 15 (9–6) LegendATP Challenger (6–6)ITF Futures (3–0)Finals by surfaceHard (1–3)Clay (8–3)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Hossegor, FranceChallengerClay Rodolphe Gilbert4–6, 4–6Win1–1Marseille, FranceChallengerClay Martin Střelba5–7, 6–4, 6–2Win2–1Yvetot, FranceChallengerClay Alex Corretja6–4, 2–6, 7–5Win3–1La Possession, Réunion IslandChallengerHard Jeff Tarango6–3, 6–4Loss3–2Andorra la Vella, AndorraChallengerHard Joern Renzenbrink4–6, 7–5, 3–6Win4–2USA F1, Delray BeachFuturesClay Michael Hill6–3, 6–3Win5–2USA F2, Vero BeachFuturesClay Nicolás Massú6–3, 3–6, 6–3Win6–2USA F3, Boca RatonFuturesClay Nicolás Massú6–1, 6–2Win7–2Fürth, GermanyChallengerClay Tomas Zib6–2, 7–6Loss7–3Lugano, SwitzerlandChallengerClay Michal Tabara7–6(7–3), 4–6, 2–6Win8–3Contrexéville, FranceChallengerClay Gerard Solves7–6, 6–2Loss8–4Newcastle, United KingdomChallengerClay Jeff Tarango6–3, 0–6, 6–7Win9–4Birmingham, United StatesChallengerClay Paradorn Srichaphan7–5, 6–3Loss9–5San Antonio, United StatesChallengerHard Xavier Malisse6–7(3–7), 3–6Loss9–6Salinas, EcuadorChallengerHard David Nalbandian4–6, 2–6
Performance timelines
Singles Tournament198419851986198719881989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001SRW–LWin %Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAAAAAA2RAA1RA1RAAAA1RQ20 / 41–4French OpenA1R1R1R4RQF1R2R1R1R3RQ3Q3AAQ32RQ20 / 1111–11WimbledonAQ31RAA2RAAA2R1RAAAAA1RQ20 / 52–5US OpenA1R1R2R4R3R1R1RA2R2RAQ1AQ2Q2Q1Q30 / 98–9Win–loss0–00–20–31–26–27–31–31–20–12–43–30–10–00–00–00–01–30–00 / 2922–29Olympic GamesSummer Olympics1RNot Held1RNot HeldANot Held1RNot HeldANH0 / 30–3ATP Tour Masters 1000Indian WellsAAAAAA1RAAAAAAAAAQ2A0 / 10–1MiamiAA2R2R1R1R3RA2RAAAAAA1RQ2Q10 / 74–7Monte CarloAAQF2R1RQF3R2RAA1RQ3Q3AAAAA0 / 79–7HamburgAAA1RAA2R3RA1RAAQ1AAAAA0 / 43–4RomeAA3R3RSF1R1R1R1RQ31RAAAAAAA0 / 88–8CanadaAAAAAAAAA1R1RAAQ2Q2AA1R0 / 30–3CincinnatiAA1R1RAAA1RAAAAAAAAAQ10 / 30–3ParisAA2RA2R2R2R1RQ1AQ2AAAAAAA0 / 54–5Win–loss0–00–07–54–55–43–45–63–51–20–20–30–00–00–00–00–10–00–10 / 3828–38Career statisticsTitles / finals0 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 30 / 11 / 12 / 20 / 00 / 00 / 10 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 1Overall win–loss0–217–1420–2225–2024–1824–1735–2516–275–1619–2515–2310–140–50–11–13–76–161–3221–256Win %0%0%0%50%Year-end ranking41849744428372974132587114632651123796137188$2,014,601
Doubles Tournament1985198619871988198919901991199219931994SRW–LWin %Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAAAAAAAAAA0 / 00–0French OpenA1RA1RAAAAAA0 / 20–2WimbledonQ1AAAAAAAAA0 / 00–0US OpenA1RAAAAAAAA0 / 10–1Win–loss0–00–20–00–10–00–00–00–00–00–00 / 30–3ATP Masters SeriesMiamiA1R1RAAAAAAA0 / 20–2Monte CarloAAAA1R1RAAAQ20 / 20–2HamburgAA1RAAAAAQ1A0 / 10–1CanadaAAAAAAAAQ1A0 / 00–0CincinnatiA2RAAAAAAAA0 / 11–1Win–loss0–01–20–20–00–10–10–00–00–00–00 / 61–6
After tennis Agénor has also recorded music as a rock musician .
Agenor was once Honorary Consul of Haiti in Bordeaux, France (1989) and speaks several languages fluently. He is a member of the 'Champions for Peace' club, a group of high level sportsmen personally committed to the peace through sport movement, which is part of Peace and Sport, an organization under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco. In 1989, he was Honorary Consul of Haiti in Bordeaux, France. In 2006, the city of Castelnau de Médoc, in wine country region of Bordeaux in France, named its newly built tennis facility after Ronald "Salle Ronald Agénor". In 2018, he was inducted into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame in a ceremony held at George Washington University, in Washington DC, and the tennis court “Court Ronald Agénor” was inaugurated in the Bordeaux Wine region, at Sainte Terre Tennis Club, France.
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