Lucas Pouille was born in Grande-Synthe, France on February 23, 1994, to his parents Pascal and Lena. He started playing tennis at age eight and also enjoyed playing basketball. By 2009, Pouille started entering ITF Futures level events in France before moving on to Challenger tournaments in 2010. In 2011, just before he turned pro, Pouille competed at the Futures and Challenger levels, while he won two Futures titles in Mexico in 2012.
In 2013, Pouille progressed to ATP level and his first taste of Grand Slam tennis came at the Australian Open. However, the French player could not progress past the second qualifying round. He then made his ATP debut at the Open Sud de France and lost in the first round against Viktor Troicki.
After growing in confidence on the ATP Tour, Pouille made his first Grand Slam main draw at the 2013 Roland Garros. He stunned Alex Kuznetsov in round one before losing to Grigor Dimitrov in the second round. Late in 2013, Pouille returned to compete at ITF and Challenger level.
2014 was more consistent and Pouille made main draws at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, but lost in round one at both events. In September, he reached his first Challenger final at Meknes, only to lose the last match. The Frenchman then made his Masters debut in Paris late in the season and lost to Roger Federer in round three.
Pouille established himself at ATP level in 2015. He reached the first round of all four majors and rose to 64th in the ATP rankings following several deep runs at lower-ranked competitions. Despite a first-round exit at the 2016 Australian Open, Pouille responded positively. In April he progressed to his first ATP final at the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy but lost against Fernando Verdasco. He then made his first Masters semi-final at the Italian Open in Rome and lost against Andy Murray in the final four.
However, the French player hit back with consecutive quarter-final runs at Wimbledon and the US Open. Pouille completed a fine 2016 campaign with his first ATP title at the Moselle Open, beating Dominic Thiem. Following an impressive 2016 season, Pouille was named Most Improved Player by his fellow ATP competitors.
This gave the French player confidence as he won three ATP titles in 2017. Victories came at the Hungarian Open, the Boss Open, and the Vienna Open. As a result, Pouille was the only player in 2017 to win titles on three different surfaces. Pouille started 2018 slowly and was eliminated in round one at the Australian Open.
But he hit back by winning his fifth ATP title at the Open Sud de France, beating compatriot Richard Gasquet in the final. Two weeks later, Pouille reached two more finals in Marseille and Dubai but lost both. However, these performances lifted Pouille into the ATP’s top 10 for the first time in his career.
Yet, the French star couldn’t maintain such levels late in 2018 and suffered a round two exit at Wimbledon and lost in round three at the US Open. Pouille started 2019 with one of his best runs at a Grand Slam, where he made it to the semi-finals, but lost to Novak Djokovic.
A dip in form followed for Pouille as he lost in the first round at five consecutive competitions in 2019. He then dropped to Challenger level to rediscover form and returned with some promising performances - reaching the last eight at the Japan Open.
However, Pouille suffered an elbow injury late in 2019 and was out until January 2021. Pouille struggled to find form following his injury and has since suffered several early exits at the Grand Slams and ATP events. However, a first-round win against Daniel Altmaier at the 2024 Indian Wells saw the French player climb into the top 250 for the first time since 2019.
