Laurent Prades is a former professional tennis player from France. Prades qualified for his first Grand Slam tournament, at the Australian Open. He played West German Hans-Dieter Beutelin the opening round and was beaten, despite winning the first two sets. It wasn't until French Open that he got another chance to play a Grand Slam, entering the event as a wildcard. He defeated Byron Black in the first round and then met third seed Pete Sampras. The American won in straight sets, although Prades did manage to force two of those sets into tiebreaks.