Genius or luck? How an island outcast became a tennis champion

In this first part of Against All Odds, Robert Davis tells the fascinating story of a young player from a remote Pacific island.

Jean-Philippe Fleurian was only fourteen years old when the French Tennis Federation (F.F.T) rejected him for national team training. The young Fleurian was told he did not possess the talent, the physical fitness, or the mental capacity to be included in their selection. That may sound a bit harsh, but based on their criteria one could hardly blame the coaches at the Federation. At the time, Jean-Philippe Fleurian was not very good.

So, how did a player with not enough tennis talent, physical strength or mental toughness end up beating Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Andre Agassi? And along the way achieving an ATP Tour career high ranking of no. 37 singles ranking. And in what must have been a very satisfying feeling for Fleurian to be selected to the French Davis Cup teams from 1986-1996 which included two titles (1991 & 1996).

Fleurian’s success can be broken down into three reasons. Geography, methodology, and tennis parent wisdom.

Jean-Philippe Fleurian was raised in a chain of small islands far away in the South Pacific. The islands referred to as New Caledonia, was a French territory better known for its penal colony and convicts, not tennis players. Though he was one of the best tennis players on the island being champion of a penal colony was not on the French Federation’s radar. However, the isolation in a tropical paradise far from the reality of tennis rankings, played a great advantage to young Jean-Philippe. Why? Because Jean-Philippe had no idea how difficult it was to become a professional tennis player. New Caledonia’s remoteness was the perfect seedling bed for Jean-Philippe’s dream to take root and prosper.

Secondly, what the F.F.T. could not have known is that their bitter assessment of Jean-Philippe meant to discourage him from pursuing a tennis career, had the opposite effect. Oblivious to the F.F.T.’s negativity, Fleurian carefully examined their evaluation of his abilities. That assessment would end up being the very foundation of Fleurian’s tennis methodology. Years later, Fleurian would call it the Tiga Method, named after one of the smallest, weakest, and least known of the New Caledonia islands. The Tiga Method is based on consistent self-assessment, deliberate target training, and goal setting.

The return flight from Paris to Noumea, New Caledonia would take Jean-Philippe twenty-nine hours. That was just long enough for young Fleurian to formulate a plan. In his mind, the reason he was not good enough was that he was lacking tennis training time. School was the cause of his lack of development, not his natural skills. Jean-Philippe proposed to his father, Renee, that he quit school and dedicate full time to becoming a professional tennis player. Renee Fleurian must have thought his son had gone mad.

The final piece to the puzzle was a stroke of genius from the father. What Renee Fleurian did next is a lesson for all tennis parents whose children aspire to become professional tennis players. Rather than squash his son’s dream, Renee came up with a plan that would allow his son to pursue his dream but with accountability. Goals and milestones would be set with big-picture planning. Failure to achieve the goals or be near the milestones would mean that Jean-Philippe did not have a realistic chance of becoming a professional player. According to the agreement drafted by the father and signed by the son, that would mean back to school full-time. Quite simply, the father would provide the opportunities, but the responsibility for the success of the dream would land squarely on the shoulders of the son.

Thrilled with the opportunity Jean-Philippe Fleurian went to work.

“My father accepted that I stop school when I was 14 years old and gave me four years of freedom to develop,” recalls Jean-Philippe. “However, at the same time, he gave me quarterly and yearly objectives. I had to be close to these in terms of KPIs and if I was too far from the objectives then I was not going to achieve the level of a professional. I had no chance, then I would be going to school.”

Fleurian eventually made his way to the Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Yet, even there, he was overlooked. Fleurian was sent to practice on the backcourts. By now Fleurian was used to being rejected. Yes, his feelings were hurt, but he used that pain as fuel to propel his hard work. That lesson would stay with him for life, for it would not be the last time Fleurian would be rejected by others.

“I had my tennis books and I had to record every day not only what I did, but how I did it,” says Fleurian. “It became automatic to me. It was a natural way to improve and try to find perfection in every detail. It became an obsession to do better than the day before.”

Those who saw the teenage Jean-Philippe each day spending hours playing alone against the wall or hitting into zones with the ball machine while writing down notes in his little book thought he was nuts. Others said he was a tennis nerd, and even one coach called him neurotic.

The only thing incredible about Jean-Philippe’s 15-year ATP Tour career is that he had one at all. Yes, there were highlight wins over Boris Becker and Andre Agassi, plus being on two Davis Cup-winning teams. Fleurian’s victory over Stefan Edberg at the 1996 Australian Open best defines his tennis journey while offering hope to all the players who feel as if they have been overlooked and discarded.

Jean-Philippe Fleurian proved to all those tennis experts who doubted his ability, that the power of persistence combined with methodology, accountability, and parental wisdom eventually pays off.

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