Yvon_Petra Knowpia

Yvon Petra
Full name	Yvon Francois Marie Petra
Country (sports)	France
Born	8 March 1916; Cholon, French Indochina
Died	12 September 1984 (aged 68); Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Turned pro	1948 (amateur from 1935)
Retired	1955
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	2016 (member page)
Singles
Career record	179-65 (73.3%)
Career titles	18
Highest ranking	No. 4 (1946, A. Wallis Myers)
Grand Slam singles results
French Open	SF (1946)
Wimbledon	W (1946)
US Open	4R (1936, 1937, 1938)
	Professional majors
US Pro	1R (1950)
Doubles
Career record	0–1
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open	W (1938, 1946)
Wimbledon	QF (1947)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French Open	W (1937)
Wimbledon	F (1937)
US Open	F (1937)

Yvon Petra (French pronunciation: [ivɔ̃ petʁa]; 8 March 1916 – 12 September 1984) was a French male tennis player. He was born in Cholon, French Indochina.

Petra is best remembered as the last Frenchman to win the Wimbledon Championships men's singles title (in 1946), beating Geoff Brown in five sets in the final. In doubles, he won the French Championships twice, in 1938 with Bernard Destremau, defeating the best pair in the world Budge-Mako, and in 1946 with Marcel Bernard. In 1938, he won the singles and doubles title at the French Covered Court Championships.^[3] He was a prisoner of war in World War II and after his release won three Tournoi de France singles titles from 1943 through 1945.^[4]^[5] He emigrated to the United States and worked as a tennis pro at the Saddle and Cycle Club in Chicago and a country club in Connecticut towards the end of his life. Petra was ranked world No. 4 for 1946 by A. Wallis Myers and world No. 8 for 1947 by Harry Hopman.^[2]^[6] He was the last man to wear long trousers in a Wimbledon final and was the last Frenchman to win the singles title.^[7]

Petra joined the tour of professional players in 1948.^[8] He was inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2016.^[9]

Grand Slam finals edit

Singles: 1 (1 title) edit

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1946	Wimbledon	Grass	Geoff Brown	6–2, 6–4, 7–9, 5–7, 6–2

Doubles: 2 (2 titles) edit

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1938	French Championships	Clay	Bernard Destremau	Don Budge Gene Mako	3–6, 6–3, 9–7, 6–1
Win	1946	French Championships	Clay	Marcel Bernard	Enrique Morea Pancho Segura	7–5, 6–3, 0–6, 1–6, 10–8

Mixed doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups) edit

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1937	French Championships	Clay	Simonne Mathieu	Marie-Louise Horn Roland Journu	7–5, 7–5
Loss	1937	Wimbledon	Grass	Simonne Mathieu	Alice Marble Don Budge	4–6, 1–6
Loss	1937	U.S. Championships	Grass	Sylvie Jung Henrotin	Sarah Palfrey Don Budge	2–6, 10–8, 0–6

References edit

^ ^a ^b "Yvon Petra: Career match record". The Tennis Base. Tennismem SL.
^ ^a ^b United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 425.
^ G.P. Hughes, ed. (1947). Dunlop Lawn Tennis Annual and Almanack 1947. London: Ed. J. Burrow & Co. Ltd. p. 281.
^ Harold Bubil (23 December 1974). "Petra: POW Camp to Wimbledon Champ". Sarasota Journal. pp. 1-D, 4-D.
^ Henry D. Fetter (6 June 2011). "The French Open During World War II: A Hidden History". The Atlantic.
^ "World's Best 10 in Tennis", The Courier-Mail, 3 February 1947.
^ Paul Newman (15 July 2016). "Remembering Yvon Petra: Hall of Famer, WWII veteran and Wimbledon champion". wimbledon.com. AELTC.
^ McCauley, Joe (2000). The History of Professional Tennis. Windsor: The Short Run Book Company Limited. p. 47.
^ "Class of 2016". International Tennis Hall of Fame. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.