Henry Bernet

Bernet was born in Basel to father Robert and mother Michèle. He has a brother, Louis, and a sister, Amy.^[2][3] He began playing tennis at the age of four, introduced to the sport by his brother.^[4][5] He also played youth football with BSC Old Boys and FC Basel.^[6] In tennis, he represented TC Old Boys, of which his aunt, Marianne Bernet, is the club president.^[7][8] In 2022, he moved to Biel to train at the Swiss Tennis National Tennis Center under coach Kai Stentenbach.^[9][10]

Bernet had successful results on the ITF junior circuit, maintaining a 106–38 singles win-loss record.^{[citation needed]} In May 2022, he won the J5 event in Jönköping, Sweden after defeating top seed Saba George Nanobashvili in the final.^[11] In July, he was selected to represent Switzerland at the 2022 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival.^[12] Later that year, he won the J4 event in Rhodes, Greece and both the singles and doubles titles at the J5 event in Leimen, Germany.^[13][14]

In January 2023, Bernet won the J100 Salk Open in Bromma, defeating top seed Albert Saar in the final.^[15] In May, he and partner Tymur Bieldiugin won the doubles title at the J200 Panaceo ITF Junior Cup in Villach, Austria.^[16] In August, he reached the final of the J200 Baublies Jugend Cup in Renningen-Rutesheim, but lost to wildcard Tom Sickenberger.^[17] The following month, he reached the semifinals of the U16 Tennis European Junior Championships in singles and won the doubles title with compatriot Flynn Thomas.^[18]

In January 2024, he reached the final of the J200 Slovak Junior Indoor event in Bratislava, but lost to top seed Denis Peták. In April, he reached the final of the J300 Tournoi de Tennis ITF Junior in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France but lost to Nicolai Budkov Kjær.^[19] The following month, he made his major jr. debut after qualifying for the French Open.^[20] In singles, he upset third seed Budkov Kjær in the first round and reached the quarterfinals, where he lost to eventual champion Kaylan Bigun.^[21][22]

In January 2025, Bernet won the J300 Traralgon International without dropping a set.^[23][24] He had his best result at junior-level later that month, when he lifted the boys' singles trophy at the Australian Open, having only dropped one set in his title run.^[9][25] He was the first Swiss player to win a junior singles title at the Australian Open and the sixth Swiss player to win a junior singles title at any major.^[26][27]

He reached an ITF junior combined ranking of world No. 1 on 26 May 2025.^[28]

In August 2023, Bernet qualified for his first professional tournament at the M25 Muttenz Open, where he reached the second round.^[29]

In July 2024, he made his ATP Challenger Tour debut with a wildcard into the main draw of the Zug Open.^[30] He upset Juan Pablo Varillas the second round, making him the first player born in 2007 or later to reach the quarterfinals of a Challenger tournament.^[31][32] Later that year, he made his ATP Tour doubles debut as a wildcard into the doubles main draw of the Swiss Indoors with compatriot Jérôme Kym. They defeated Alejandro Tabilo and Nicolás Jarry in the first round.^[33][34] In singles, he reached the second round of the qualifying competition as a wildcard with a win over Fabio Fognini, but lost to Kym in the second round.^[35][36]

In early 2025, Bernet ended his coaching relationship with Kai Stentenbach and hired Sven Swinnen as his coach. Severin Lüthi also works with him in an advisory capacity.^[6][37] Later that year, ranked No. 481, he made his ATP Tour singles debut with a wildcard into the main draw of the Swiss Indoors in Basel, but lost in the first round to Jakub Menšík.^[38][39]

In January 2025, Bernet signed a five-year deal with On, becoming the first active Swiss tennis player to sign with the brand.^[40][41][42] He is sponsored by Wilson for racquets.^[1][43]

Being a Swiss player from Basel who employs a one-handed backhand and represented TC Old Boys, Bernet has often drawn comparisons to Roger Federer.^[21][44][45]