Talk:French Pro Championship

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Professional International Championships of France ("French Pro") (1930-1968 and 1920-1932)[edit]

In 1930 the "Association Française des Professeurs de Tennis (AFPT)" held its first pro tournament, entitled "Championnat International de France Professionnel" (French Pro Championships) in 18-22 June 1930 ^[1].

This tournament was reserved for the "official professional" players, and played on clay at Roland Garros (unless noted).

In 1953, from Saturday 21 November to Sunday 22 November, a 4-man (Sedgman winner, Gonzales runner-up, Segura 3rd and Budge 4th) professional indoor tournament was held in Paris at the Palais des Sports but there is no mention anywhere that this tournament was a French Pro : in particular in the January 1954 edition of Tennis de France, the french magazine, run by Philippe Chatrier (future president of the ILTF) who made the report of this tournament by interviewing Frank Sedgman, winner of the tournament.

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Score
1930	Karel Koželuh	Albert Burke
1931	Martin Plaa	Robert Ramillon
1932	Robert Ramillon	Martin Plaa
1933^[2]	not held
1934	Bill Tilden	Martin Plaa
1935	Ellsworth Vines	Hans Nusslein
1936	Henri Cochet	Robert Ramillon
1937	Hans Nusslein	Henri Cochet
1938	Hans Nusslein	Bill Tilden	6-0, 6-1, 6-2
1939	Don Budge	Ellsworth Vines
1940-1955	not held
1956	Tony Trabert	Pancho Gonzales
1957	not held
1958	Ken Rosewall	Lew Hoad
1959	Tony Trabert	Frank Sedgman
1960	Ken Rosewall	Lew Hoad
1961	Ken Rosewall	Pancho Gonzales
1962	Ken Rosewall	Andrés Gimeno
1963^[3]	Ken Rosewall	Rod Laver	6-8, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
1964^[3]	Ken Rosewall	Rod Laver	6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
1965^[3]	Ken Rosewall	Rod Laver	6-3, 6-2, 6-4
1966^[3]	Ken Rosewall	Rod Laver	6-3, 6-2, 14-12
1967^[3]	Rod Laver	Andrés Gimeno
1968	Rod Laver	John Newcombe

Nevertheless before 1930 some tournaments were sometimes labelled "Professional Championships of France" : the Bristol Cup (held from 1920 to 1932), the most important pro tournament in the world in the 1920s, was sometimes referred as the French Pro ^[4] as well as the World Pro tournament held at Deauville in 1925 ^[5]. Therefore two different tournaments were both considered as French Pro Championships in 1925 (World Pro at Deauville and Bristol Cup at Cannes) and from 1930 to 1932 (Roland Garros and Bristol Cup at Beaulieu).

Date	Event and city	Winner	Runner-up	Score
1920	Bristol Cup, Cannes	Romeo Acquarone
1921 December	Bristol Cup, Cannes	John C. S. Rendall
1922 19-23 December	Bristol Cup, Menton	John C. S. Rendall	J. Negro	6-1, 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 (or 6-1, 0-6, 6-4, 6-1)
1923 December ?-20	Bristol Cup, Menton	John C. S. Rendall	J. Negro	6-2, 6-3, 7-5
1924 late December	Bristol Cup, Cannes (Court Métropole)	Albert Burke	Ramon Najuch	7-5, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1
1925 December ?-26	Bristol Cup, Cannes (Court Métropole)	Albert Burke	Ramon Najuch	0-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1
1926 13-16 December	Bristol Cup, Menton	Karel Koželuh	Albert Burke	3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0
No Bristol Cup in December 1927 : delayed to January 1928
1928 9-12 January	Bristol Cup, Menton	Karel Koželuh	Ramon Najuch	6-3, 6-2, 6-4
1929 January	Bristol Cup, Menton	Karel Koželuh	Albert Burke	6-3, 6-1, 6-0
1930 January	Bristol Cup, Menton	Karel Koželuh	Ramon Najuch	6-3, 6-3, 6-4 (or 6-3, 6-4, 6-4)
1931 10-17 January	Bristol Cup, Menton	Karel Koželuh	Albert Burke	6-3, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
1932 5-10 January	Bristol Cup, Menton	Karel Koželuh	Martin Plaa	6-1, 6-4, 1-6, 6-0

References

^ Le Tennis en France 1875-1955
^ According to Bowers, in 1933 the only professional competition played at Roland Garros was a USA-France meeting, 22-24 September in the Davis Cup format won by the USA 4-1 where Cochet overcame Barnes, Tilden defeated Plaa and Cochet, Barnes beat Plaa, and Americans then closed out the doubles. Many sources probably wrongly considered the Tilden-Cochet match as a final of a supposed French Pro.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Played on indoor wood at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin
^ Lowe's Lawn Tennis Annual
^ Ayres' Lawn Tennis Almanack 1925

[1] Le Tennis en France 1875-1955

[dispute-2] According to Bowers, in 1933 the only professional competition played at Roland Garros was a USA-France meeting, 22-24 September in the Davis Cup format won by the USA 4-1 where Cochet overcame Barnes, Tilden defeated Plaa and Cochet, Barnes beat Plaa, and Americans then closed out the doubles. Many sources probably wrongly considered the Tilden-Cochet match as a final of a supposed French Pro.

[Coubertin-3] Played on indoor wood at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin

[4] Lowe's Lawn Tennis Annual

[5] Ayres' Lawn Tennis Almanack 1925

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[2]

[3]

[4]

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