Claude N'Goran (born 18 March 1975) is a former professional tennis player from the Ivory Coast.

Claude N'Goran
Full nameClaude N'Goran
Country (sports) Ivory Coast
Born (1975-03-18) 18 March 1975 (age 49)
Adzopé, Cote d'Ivoire
PlaysLeft-handed
Prize money$44,203
Singles
Career record9–14
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 200 (7 August 1995)
Doubles
Career record4–13
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 161 (15 April 1996)

Biography

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Born in Adzopé, N'Goran grew up in a family of 13 in the city of Abidjan, the son of an auto factory worker and a homemaker.[1] He learned to play tennis with self-made wooden paddles, as they couldn't afford proper rackets.[1] One of his seven brothers is tennis player Clement N'Goran.[1]

N'Goran, a big serving left-handed player, is the most capped Ivorian Davis Cup representative in history. In total he featured in 94 matches across 45 ties, from 1990 to 2008, for 53 overall wins, 37 in singles. He also represented the Ivory Coast at the 1996 Summer Olympics, in the men's doubles competition.[2] Partnering his brother, Clement, the Ivorians won their first round match over Chinese Taipei, then exited in the round of 16 to the third seeded Dutch pairing, Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis.[3] He was a member of Ivory Coast's gold medal winning team at the 1999 All-Africa Games.[4]

During his professional career he played mostly on the Challenger and Futures/Satellite circuits. He had a win over Carlos Moyá at the Tampere Open in 1995 and won a total of four Challenger titles, all in doubles.[5] At ATP Tour level he appeared in the main draw of three tournaments, the first was the 1995 Lipton Championships (Miami Masters), which he entered as a qualifier and lost in the first round to MaliVai Washington.[6] His next appearances were in the doubles events in Toulouse, where he was based. He participated in the tournament twice, with brother Clement in 1996 and Lionel Barthez in 2000.[7][8]

Challenger titles

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Doubles: (4)

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No. Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
1. 1995 Asunción, Paraguay Clay   Francisco Montana   Paulo Carvallo
  Francisco Rodríguez
6–2, 6–3
2. 1995 Cali, Colombia Clay   Francisco Montana   Otávio Della
  Gustavo Kuerten
6–3, 3–6, 6–4
3. 1996 Salinas, Ecuador Hard   Juan Carlos Bianchi   Daniel Orsanic
  Laurence Tieleman
7–5, 6–4
4. 1996 Montauban, France Clay   Gilles Bastié   Clinton Ferreira
  Andrei Pavel
6–4, 1–6, 7–6

References

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  1. ^ a b c Wine, Steven (26 July 1996). "Brothers Show Tennis Not Just for Rich in Africa". Associated Press. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Men's Doubles". The Des Moines Register. 28 July 1996. p. 36. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Claude N'Goran Bio, Stats, and Results - Olympics". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Mathyila forced to settle for silver". Independent Online. 18 September 1999. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  5. ^ "ITF Tennis - Pro Circuit - Tampere Challenger - 24 July - 30 July 1995". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  6. ^ "Lipton Championships". The Courier-Journal. 19 March 1995. p. 36. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  7. ^ "ITF Tennis - Pro Circuit - Toulouse - 14 October - 20 October 1996". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  8. ^ "ITF Tennis - Pro Circuit - Toulouse - 16 October - 22 October 2000". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
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