Pierre Darmon

Last updated
Pierre Darmon
Pierre Darmon et Roy Emerson.jpg
Darmon (right) with Roy Emerson
Country (sports)Flag of France.svg France
Born (1934-01-14) 14 January 1934 (age 89)
Tunis, Tunisia
Turned pro1950 (amateur tour)
Retired1968
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career titles92
Highest rankingNo. 8 (1963, World's Top 10) [1]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open QF (1965)
French Open F (1963)
Wimbledon 4R (1958, 1960, 1962, 1966)
US Open 4R (1963)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon F (1963)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games SF – 3rd (1968, demonstration)

Pierre Darmon (born 14 January 1934) is a French former tennis player. He was ranked No.8 in the world in 1963, and also reached the top ten in 1958 and 1964. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life

Darmon was born in Tunis, Tunisia. [3] He moved to France at 17 years of age. [3]

Tennis career

Darmon was French national junior champion in 1950.[ citation needed ] He was France's top-ranked tennis player from 1957 to 1969, and won the national title nine times in that period. [1] [4] He also won the French national doubles championship in 1957 (with Paul Rémy), 1958 (with Robert Haillet), 1961 (with Gérard Pilet), and 1966 (with François Jauffret).

In 1963, Darmon was the runner-up in singles at the French Open, where he beat Manuel Santana in five sets in the semi-finals before losing to Roy Emerson in the final in four sets. [5] [6] Also in 1963, he reached the finals at Wimbledon in doubles, along with partner Jean Claude Barclay. [1]

He was international veterans mixed doubles champion with his wife Rosie Darmon in 1961, and in 1968 and 1975 with Gail Chanfreau.

Davis Cup

Darmon was a member of France's Davis Cup Team from 1956 to 1967, winning 44 of the 68 matches in which he participated. [1] Darmon holds France's record for the most wins and most singles victories. He played in 34 Davis Cup ties for France, second only to compatriot François Jauffret who played one more. He holds the record for most singles victories by a French Davis Cup player, having had a record of 44-17. [4]

Honors

In 1997 he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. [7] In 2002 he received the Davis Cup Award of Excellence. [8] In 2019 the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Tennis Federation presented Darmon with The Golden Achievement Award. [4]

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss 1963 French Championships Clay Flag of Australia (converted).svg Roy Emerson 6–3, 1–6, 4–6, 4–6

Doubles (1 runner-up)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss 1963 Wimbledon Championships Grass Flag of France.svg Jean-Claude Barclay Flag of Mexico.svg Antonio Palafox
Flag of Mexico.svg Rafael Osuna
6–4, 2–6, 2–6, 2–6

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Bueno</span> Brazilian tennis player

Maria Esther Andion Bueno was a Brazilian professional tennis player. During her 11-year career in the 1950s and 1960s, she won 19 major titles, making her the most successful South American tennis player in history, and the only one to ever win Wimbledon. Bueno was the year-end No. 1 female player in 1959 and 1960 and was known for her graceful style of play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Newcombe</span> Australian tennis player

John David Newcombe AO OBE is an Australian former professional tennis player. He is one of the few men to have attained a world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles. At the majors, he won seven singles titles, a former record 17 men's doubles titles, and two mixed doubles titles. He also contributed to five Davis Cup titles for Australia during an age when the Davis Cup was deemed as significant as the majors. Tennis magazine rated him the 10th best male player of the period 1965–2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Emerson</span> Australian tennis player (born 1936)

Roy Stanley Emerson is an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, for a total of 28 Grand Slam titles. All of his singles Grand Slam victories and 14 of his Grand Slam doubles victories were achieved before the open era began in 1968. He is the only male player to have completed a career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles, and the first of four male players to complete a double career Grand Slam in singles. His 28 major titles are the all-time record for a male player. He was ranked world No. 1 amateur in 1961 by Ned Potter, 1964 by Potter, Lance Tingay and an Ulrich Kaiser panel of 14 experts and 1965 by Tingay, Joseph McCauley, Sport za Rubezhom and an Ulrich Kaiser panel of 16 experts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">René Lacoste</span> French tennis player

Jean René Lacoste was a French tennis player and businessman. He was nicknamed "the Crocodile" because of how he dealt with his opponents; he is also known worldwide as the creator of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929, and eventually founded the brand and its logo in 1933.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Okker</span> Dutch tennis player (born 1944)

Thomas Samuel Okker is a Dutch former tennis player who was active from the mid-1960s until 1980. He won the 1973 French Open Doubles, the 1976 US Open Doubles, and two gold medals at the 1965 Maccabiah Games in Israel. He was ranked among the world's top-ten singles players for seven consecutive years, 1968–74, reaching a career high of world No. 3 in 1974. He also was ranked world No. 1 in doubles in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rafael Osuna</span> Mexican tennis player

Rafael Osuna Herrera , nicknamed "El Pelón", was a former world No. 1 tennis player, the most successful player in the history of Mexico and an Olympian. He was born in Mexico City, and is best remembered for his singles victory at the U.S. Open Championships in 1963, winning the 1960 and 1963 Wimbledon Doubles championships, the 1962 U.S. Open Championships doubles, and for leading Mexico to its only Davis Cup Final round appearance in 1962. He is the only Mexican to date to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vic Seixas</span> American tennis player

Elias Victor Seixas Jr. is an American former tennis player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sven Davidson</span> Swedish tennis player

Sven Viktor Davidson was a Swedish tennis player who became the first Swede to win a Grand Slam title when he won the French Championships in 1957, beating Ashley Cooper and Herbert Flam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neale Fraser</span> Australian tennis player

Neale Andrew Fraser is a former number one amateur male tennis-player from Australia, born in Melbourne, Victoria, the son of a Victorian judge. Fraser is the last man to have completed the triple crown, i.e. having won the singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles at a Grand Slam tournament, which he managed on two consecutive occasions, in 1959 and 1960 ; no male player has equalled this feat at any Grand Slam tournament since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sidney Wood</span> American tennis player

Sidney Burr Wood Jr. was an American tennis player who won the 1931 Wimbledon singles title. Wood was ranked in the world's Top 10 five times between 1931 and 1938, and was ranked World No. 6 in 1931 and 1934 and No. 5 in 1938 by A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Savitt</span> American tennis player (1927–2023)

Richard Savitt was an American tennis player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darlene Hard</span> American tennis player (1936–2021)

Darlene Ruth Hard was an American professional tennis player, known for her aggressive volleying ability and strong serves. She captured singles titles at the French Championships in 1960 and the U.S. Championships in 1960 and 1961.

Robert Bédard is a Canadian former tennis player and educator. He is the most recent Canadian winner of the Canadian Open Tennis Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zsuzsa Körmöczy</span> Hungarian tennis player (1924–2006)

Zsuzsa Körmöczy was a Hungarian tennis player. She reached a career high of World No. 2 in women's tennis, and won the 1958 French Open at the age of 34.

Wilmer Lawson Allison Jr. was an American amateur tennis champion of the 1930s. Allison was both a fine singles player and, along with his frequent partner, John Van Ryn, a great doubles player. He won the 1935 U.S. Championship in singles and was ranked US No. 1 in 1934 and 1935.

Herbert Flam was an American tennis player who, in 1957 was ranked by Lance Tingay as the World No. 4 amateur.

Myron Jay "Mike" Franks is an American former world class tennis player. He was the #1 seeded junior player in 1954 in the US Nationals at Kalamazoo, Michigan. He played #1 singles for UCLA from 1956 to 1958, and was one of 8 All Americans in college tennis. UCLA won its 5th NCAA Tennis Team Championship in 1956, but was placed on two years probation for football recruiting violations in 1957 and 1958. Franks was ranked # 3 in doubles in the United States in 1956, 1957, and 1959, and was ranked # 7 in singles in 1958. He won a gold medal in doubles at the 1961 Maccabiah Games in Israel with Dick Savitt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronald Holmberg</span> American tennis player

Ronald "Ronnie" E. Holmberg is a former American tennis player who competed during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He was ranked World No. 7 in 1959 and was ranked in the U.S. Top 10 for nine years. He is currently one of the USTA's select "Master Professionals" and devotes most of his time coaching, participating and directing charity events and clinics and other tennis related projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owen Davidson</span> Australian tennis player (1943–2023)

Owen Keir Davidson was an Australian professional tennis player of the 1960s and 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">François Jauffret</span> French tennis player

François Jauffret is a retired professional tennis player from France. He holds the record for most ties played for the France Davis Cup team with 35, between 1964 and 1978.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Pierre Darmon". International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 10 October 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  2. "Pierre Darmon". Jews in Sports. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Pierre Darmon – The Frenchman Who Helped Tennis Grow Into The Open Era".
  4. 1 2 3 "International Tennis Hall of Fame". www.tennisfame.com.
  5. Collins, Bud (2016). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (3rd ed.). New York: New Chapter Press. p. 414. ISBN   978-1-937559-38-0.
  6. "Emerson On Way To Slam". The Canberra Times . 28 May 1963. p. 24 via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Pierre Darmon". www.jewishsports.net.
  8. "The Davis Cup Award of Excellence". www.tennisfame.com. International Tennis Hall of Fame.