Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 6, 2026

Patrick Proisy

Patrick Proisy is a French former professional tennis player best remembered for reaching the final of the French Open in 1972. He added to that one more final and singles titles in Hilversum, 1977 and Perth, 1972. Proisy reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 16 in October 1972.

Last revised
Jun 6, 2026
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Patrick Proisy
Country (sports) France
ResidenceParis, France
Born (1949-09-10) 10 September 1949
Évreux, France
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro1968
Retired1981
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record200–176 (Open era)
Career titles2
Highest rankingNo. 16 (23 October 1972)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenSF (1973)
French OpenF (1972)
Wimbledon2R (1971, 1972, 1974)
US Open2R (1972, 1977)
Doubles
Career record72–120 (Open era)
Career titles0
Medal record
Representing  France
Men's Tennis
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1970 Turin Singles

Patrick Proisy (French: [patʁik pʁwazi]; born 10 September 1949) is a French former professional tennis player best remembered for reaching the final of the French Open in 197212 (where he beat top seed and defending champion Jan Kodeš in the quarter-finals and fourth seed Manuel Orantes in the semi-finals before losing the final against sixth seeded Spaniard Andrés Gimeno in four sets).3 He added to that one more final (in Florence, 1976) and singles titles in Hilversum, 1977 and Perth, 1972. Proisy reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 16 in October 1972.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1972 French Open Clay Spain Andrés Gimeno 6–4, 3–6, 1–6, 1–6

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Tournament 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 SR
Australian Open A A A A 2R SF A A A A A A A A A 0 / 2
French Open 2R 1R 1R QF F 1R 3R 3R A 2R 2R 1R 1R 2R 0 / 13
Wimbledon Q1 Q2 1R 2R 2R A 2R 1R 1R A A A A A 0 / 6
US Open A 1R A 1R 3R 1R A 1R 1R 2R A A A A 0 / 7
Strike rate 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 28

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

Career finals

Singles: 5 (2–3)

Legend (Titles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (2)
Result W–L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jun 1972 Paris, France Clay Spain Andrés Gimeno 6–4, 3–6, 1–6, 1–6
Win 1–1 Dec 1972 Perth, Australia Grass France Wanaro N'Godrella 7–6, 6–4, 6–3
Loss 1–2 May 1975 Bournemouth, England Clay Spain Manuel Orantes 3–6, 6–4, 2–6, 5–7
Loss 1–3 May 1976 Florence, Italy Clay Italy Paolo Bertolucci 7–6, 6–2, 3–6, 2–6, 8–10
Win 2–3 Jul 1977 Hilversum, Netherlands Clay Argentina Lito Álvarez 6–2, 6–0, 6–2

Post-playing career

From 1997 to 2003, Proisy was president of RC Strasbourg football club. In 2016, he received a ten-month suspended prison sentence for irregularities in transfers during his tenure; parts of transfer fees were received by the British branch of owners IMG instead of the club, who suffered on the pitch and were relegated to Ligue 2 in 2001. His sentence was reduced to six months on appeal in 2019, and part of the charges were put to a retrial in 2021. He was made to reimburse the club for €440,000.4

References

References

  1. Djata, Sundiata A. (March 2008). Blacks at the net: Black achievement in the history of tennis. Syracuse University Press. pp. 5–. ISBN 978-0-8156-0898-1. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  2. Collins, Bud; Hollander, Zander (1994). Bud Collins' modern encyclopedia of tennis. Gale Research. p. 424. ISBN 978-0-8103-8988-5. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  3. "French Open 1972". tennis.co.nf.
  4. "RC Strasbourg : L'ancien président du club Patrick Proisy va être rejugé pour des irrégularités dans des transferts de joueurs" [RC Strasbourg: Former club president Patrick Proisy will be retried for irregularities in player transfers]. 20 minutes (in French). 11 March 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
External links