Max Decugis

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Max Decugis

Max Decugis standing near a tent in 1913
Full name Maxime Omer Mathieu Decugis
Country France
Born (1882-09-24)24 September 1882
Paris, France
Died 6 September 1978(1978-09-06) (aged 95)
Biot, France
Singles
Career record 241–64 (79.02%)
Career titles 33
Highest ranking No. 6 (1910, Karoly Mazak)[1]
Grand Slam Singles results
French Open 1R (1925)
Wimbledon SF (1911, 1912)
US Open 1R (1925)
Other tournaments
WHCC SF (1913, 1914)
WCCC F (1919)
Olympic Games Gold Medal (1906)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
Wimbledon W (1911)
Other Doubles tournaments
WHCC W (1914)
WCCC W (1913)
Olympic Games

Silver Medal (1900)

Gold Medal (1906)

Bronze Medal (1920)
Mixed Doubles
Other Mixed Doubles tournaments
WHCC W (1912, 1913, 1914, 1921)
WCCC W (1913, 1919)
Olympic Games Gold Medal (1906, 1920)
Team competitions
Davis Cup F (1904)
Olympic medal record
Men's tennis
Competitor for a Mixed team
Silver 1900 Paris Doubles
Competitor for  France
Gold 1920 Antwerp Mixed doubles
Bronze 1920 Antwerp Doubles
1906 Intercalated Games
Gold 1906 Athens Singles
Gold 1906 Athens Doubles
Gold 1906 Athens Mixed doubles

Maxime "Max" Omer Mathieu Decugis or Décugis (24 September 1882 6 September 1978) was a male tennis player from France who holds, together with Rafael Nadal, the French Championships/French Open record of winning the tournament eight times (a French-only tournament before 1925). He also won three Olympic medals at the 1900 Summer Olympics (Paris) and the 1920 Summer Olympics (Antwerp), his only gold medal coming in the mixed doubles partnering French legend Suzanne Lenglen.[2][3][4]

He won the French Championships in 1903, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1912, 1913, and 1914 (also 14 times in doubles and seven times in mixed). The interruption of World War I denied Décugis the opportunity to defend his 1914 title. Décugis was also a four-time runner-up, having lost the final in 1902, 1906, 1920, and 1923. He won the International German Championship in 1901 and 1902.

In major tournaments, Decugis reached the semi-finals of both the 1911 and 1912 Wimbledon Championships and the 1913 and 1914 World Hard Court Championships.

In May 1910 Décugis twice defeated Anthony Wilding at Wiesbaden, first in the final of the Wiesbaden Cup, in four sets, followed by a victory in the final of the Wiesbaden Championship in three straight sets.

He was ranked World No. 6 for 1910 by Karoly Mazak, whilst A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph ranked Decugis as World No. 10 in both 1913 and 1914.[1][5]

His father was a merchant at Les Halles, the company's name was Omer Décugis et fils,[6] however the accent mark on the é is missing from Max Decugis' birth certificate, and appears inconsistently in later English-speaking sources (such as the Ayres' Almanacks edited by Arthur Wallis Myers) but apparently never in any French-speaking sources. The origin of the family name Décugis, spelled with accented é in an 1842 source, is "from Cuges-les-Pins."[7]

Max Decugis playing at the Margitsziget court in Budapest, Hungary in 1908

In 1905 he married Marie Flameng, the daughter of painter François Flameng, at Paris. After the death of Marie in 1969, Max married Suzanne Louise Duval in October.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles

Titles (1)

Year Tournament Partner Opponents Result
1911 Wimbledon France André Gobert United Kingdom Major Ritchie
New Zealand Anthony Wilding
9–7, 5–7, 6–3, 2–6, 6–2

Runners-up (1)

Year Tournament Partner Opponents Result
1912 Wimbledon France André Gobert United Kingdom Major Ritchie
New Zealand Anthony Wilding
6–3, 3–6, 4–6, 5–7

See also

  • List of French Men's Singles champions and finalists

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Mazak, Karoly (2010). The Concise History of Tennis, p. 38.
  2. Photo with Lenglen
  3. Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement Page 97 Bill Mallon, Jeroen Heijmans – 2011 "Max Décugis was the winner of a record six Olympic medals (four gold, one silver, one bronze) for lawn tennis between ... Although the Olympic tournaments during that era attracted many of the world's top players, Décugis's greatest ."
  4. "Max Decugis Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2014-01-26. 
  5. United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 422.
  6. Journal des tribunaux de commerce Volume 38 Auguste François Teulet, Eugène Camberlin, Paul Camberlin – 1889 OMER DÉCUGIS et fils et Cie – M. Omer Décugis et fils et Cie, qui exploitent aux Halles centrales une importante maison de commission, ont acheté dans le courant de l'année 1882, pour l'annexer à leur maison,"
  7. Étienne Michel Masse Mémoire historique et statistique sur le canton de la Ciotat Page 147 1842 "L'expression chemin carré ne doit pas être rendue par chemin charretier ; il n'y avait pas de charrette en ces temps-là ; nous avons même lu plusieurs procès- (1 ) Le nom de famille Décugis si commun dans nos contrées n'est que celui de Cuges à l'ablatif latin avec la préposition de ; De Cugis , venant de Cuges , sorti de Cuges."

External links

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