Éric Prodon
Eric Prodon (born June 27, 1981 in Paris, France) is a French professional tennis player.
Juniors career
Prodon had a long career in Juniors, playing from 1997 to 1999 and reaching year-end #28 in 1998. In matches against future top pros, he beat Mikhail Youzhny and Julien Benneteau in 1997. Early in 1998, he lost to Jarkko Nieminen, and late in the year, he beat Roger Federer, Karol Beck, and Guillermo Coria in successive rounds at Eddie Herr before losing to David Nalbandian in the final. He then beat Youzhny again after that in the Orange Bowl. Early in 1999, he had a great Australian hard court run, beating Nieminen and splitting matches with Kristian Pless in finals two weeks in a row. In March, 1999, he lost to Coria and [Paul-Henri Mathieu]] in successive finals. In May, he lost to Nieminen again, but beat him and Karol Beck the next week in the French Open before losing again to Nalbandian in the quarters. In June in England on the grass, he lost to Mardy Fish in a final. In the summer, back on clay, he beat Tommy Robredo and Boris Pashanski but lost to Igor Kunitsyn. And finally in his next to last match as a junior, he lost to Danai Udomchoke in September in Canada.[1]
Professional career
2000 to 2006
Prodon's transition to the pro tour was a rocky one. While he first entered the top-300 in late 2000 as a 19 year old, he spent most of 2001 in the 300's before getting back down into the 230's late in 2002. He faded again to the 300's in 2003 and 2004 before getting back down to the 230's again in late 2004 and early 2005, but an injury in February kept him out for 7 months. Another injury in April, 2006 kept him off the court the rest of the year. So he spent most of 2005 and 2006 ranked outside the top-500.