Sébastien Lareau

Sébastien Lareau was a professional tennis player who was the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam title. Lareau specialised as a doubles player, attaining the rank of world #4 in October 1999 and winning Olympic gold the following year.

Lareau won his first ATP doubles title at the 1995 Seoul Open with American Jeff Tarango. He would form a partnership with another American, Alex O’Brien, with the duo going on to win multiple titles. Lareau and O’Brien reached the doubles final at the Australian Open in 1996 and 1997 but lost on both occasions. Two years later the pair were victorious at the 1999 US Open, beating the duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in straight sets.

Lareau competed in the singles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics but lost to Spain’s Albert Costa in the first round. Four years later he returned to the Olympics, competing in both the singles and doubles at the 2000 Sydney Games. He improved slightly in the singles where he reached the second round, but had his best Olympic performance in the doubles when he and Daniel Nestor won the gold medal. He retired from the sport the following year due to injuries and was inducted into the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.