Next is Kristina Mladenovic. Former world No. 1 doubles player, she's 29.
Mladenovic played junior tennis. She played her first junior game in 2006 and won the European Under-14 singles title in 2007.
Next is 37-year-old Gilles Simon. He's a world No. 6 ATP singles player.
Simon started playing tennis at 6 with his parents' encouragement and turned pro in 2002. In his rookie year, he played in many Futures competitions. He debuted at the 2005 French Open. First-round loss against Olivier Patience in four sets. He then played other games.
Mary Pierce was a tennis player. Her American father and French mother raised her in Montreal, Quebec. She has three citizenships. Pierce, 47, represented France in international and Olympic games. By age 12, Pierce was No. 2 in the country in her age group.
Richard Gasquet, 36, is a tennis pro. At 12, he played in a junior match.
In 2002, Gasquet was the world's No. 1 junior. In the same year, he won the Junior French and US Opens. Gasquet reached the Australian Open semifinals. 2002 was his ATP Tour debut at the Tennis Masters Series.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is France's No. 6 tennis player. He began his tennis career as a junior. First junior match in the Netherlands, 2000. He won the US Open boys singles title in 2003. Tsonga reached No. 2 that year. The next year, he turned pro and won three China Open singles qualifiers. Tsonga impressed at the 2008 Australian Open.
Gal Monfils is France's top-ranked tennis player. 36 Monfils began playing tennis as a youth in 2002. First junior match: Sweden, grade 4. 2004 junior world champion. In the same year, Monfils won the Australian Open, the French Open, and Wimbledon. He was ITF juvenile world champion.
She began playing tennis as a junior in 1979. Mauresmo had a solid junior career thanks to her one-handed backhand and net skills. 1996 junior French Open and Wimbledon champion. In 1996, the ITF recognized her Junior World Champion. Mauresmo was the second Frenchman to reach the Australian Open final.
End of famous French tennis players list. Number 3 is retired tennis pro Yannick Noah. 18 May 1960-born Noah is a singer. Arthur Ashe and Charlie Pasarell noticed him at age 11. In 1977, Noah went pro. A year after turning pro, he won his first singles title in Manila. Noah won the French Open in 1983, becoming a notable French tennis player.
Suzanne Lenglen, born in 1899, revolutionized tennis. She's the first female athlete to go global. Wimbledon moved because of Lenglen's popularity. She established men's professional tours till Open-Era. Lenglen started playing tennis at 11 and was dubbed La Divine by the French press. At 15, she won the 1914 World Hard Court Championship.
We're on our first French tennis player. René Lacoste is France's top tennis player. Lactose was born in 1904 and nicknamed "the crocodile." Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, and Henri Cochet were The Four Musketeers. They dominated tennis in the 1920s and 1930s.