Robert Bédard (tennis)

Born in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Bédard began playing tennis at the relatively late age of 15,[2] and tennis was always his second sport to ice hockey. Bédard continued to play minor league ice hockey during the winter months and minor league baseball during the summer months.

Bédard is the most recent Canadian to win the Canadian Open men's singles championship, triumphing in 1955 (defeating Henri Rochon in the final), 1957 (defeating Ramanathan Krishnan in a four sets final), and 1958 (defeating Whitney Reed in the final). He won the doubles title three times, in 1955, 1957, and 1959 with compatriot Don Fontana. He won the mixed doubles title in 1959 partnering Mariette Laframboise. Bédard holds the record at the Canadian Open Championships for the most appearances with 17. He won the Montreal Cup at age 20.[2] Bédard won a record seven Quebec Open Championships singles titles between 1955 and 1970,[3] two Ontario Open singles titles, six Oakville Invitational singles titles, and three Nova Scotia Championships. Bédard won the ILTF Sutton Hard Courts or ILTF Surrey Hard Court Championships on clay at Sutton, England in 1957. That same season he won the North of England Hard Court Championships at Southport, England. He won the USLTA Eastern Clay Court Championships singles title in 1960 in his only appearance at the event.

Bédard competed in the French Championships twice, Wimbledon four times, and the U.S. Nationals eleven times.[4] His best showing at a Grand Slam event was reaching the round of 32, which he did once at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, both in 1954, and four times at Forest Hills, in 1955, 1956, 1959, and in 1961.

Despite having a very limited time in tennis play, in many years playing tournaments only in the summer months, Bédard was an outstanding clay court player, with 30 tournament wins against many well-known clay specialists. During his career, Bédard defeated No. 1 players of 20 different countries, including Australia (Adrian Quist, Roy Emerson), the U.S. (Whitney Reed, Dick Savitt), Great Britain (Bobby Wilson, Mike Sangster), Canada (Lorne Main, Henri Rochon, Don McCormick, Jim Boyce), Italy (Nicola Pietrangeli, Orlando Sirola), Sweden (Sven Davidson, Ulf Schmidt), France (Paul Rémy, Pierre Darmon), Germany (Rupert Huber), Belgium (Jacques Brichant), Denmark (Kurt Nielsen, Torben Ulrich), Mexico (Mario Llamas, Rafael Osuna), Guatemala (Juan Jose Hermosilla), Cuba (Reynaldo Garrido), Brazil (Armando Vieira), Ecuador (Eduardo Zuleta), South Africa (Gordon Forbes, Bob Mark), Rhodesia (Adrian Bey[5]), India (Ramanathan Krishnan), Viet Nam (Christian Duxin), Philippines (Willie Hernández).[6] Bédard defeated many World top ten players, of whom Savitt, Emerson, Osuna achieved World No. 1 ranking, Davidson achieved World No. 2, Quist, Pietrangeli, Krishnan achieved World No. 3, Nielsen, Straight Clark achieved World No. 4, Bryan Grant achieved World No. 6, Sangster, Eugene Scott, and Ron Holmberg achieved World No. 7, Schmidt, Darmon, Mark achieved World No. 8, and Brichant achieved World No. 9. Reed was ranked No. 1 in the U.S..

Bédard won the Montreal Cup in August 1952 beating Jack Spencer in the final.[8] Bédard also won the Nova Scotia Championships that year.[9]

In 1953, Bédard reached the semi-finals of the Quebec championships, losing in three straight sets to Lorne Main.[10] Bédard was ranked Canadian No. 2 for 1953 behind Main.

Bédard reached the final of the Hollywood Beach Invitational, losing in three straight sets to Gardnar Mulloy. He later reached the final of the 1954 Stuttgart Open, losing to Gottfried von Cramm. He was a quarterfinalist at the 1954 Italian Open, winning a five-set marathon over Sven Davidson despite losing the first two sets, and later losing to defending champion Jaroslav Drobný. At the 1954 French Open, Bédard defeated Xavier Perreau-Saussine in the second round in a long five-set match.[11] The No. 1 seed for the tournament, Lew Hoad, defeated Bédard in the third round at Roland Garros in three close sets. A month later, Bédard won his first match at Wimbledon, a close four set victory over Gordon Forbes, and also won his second round match. Fred Perry, who covered Wimbledon for BBC, stated that Bédard was the most complete athlete in the tournament and noted his competitive zeal in matches.[12] Hoad, the Wimbledon No. 2 seed, eliminated Bédard in the third round in four sets, Bédard winning the third set from Hoad. Bédard reached the final of the Quebec Open championships, where he lost a long four-set match to Lorne Main, who had won the Monte Carlo and Belgian titles that season on red clay in Europe. Bédard was ranked Canadian No. 2 for 1954 behind Main.

In European play, Bédard won a close five set match against Orlando Sirola in the second round of the Italian Championships. Bédard reached the semifinal at Cannes, defeating Jacques Brichant, but lost to Władysław Skonecki. He won a close match against Nicola Pietrangeli in the Queen's Club Championships, but lost in the third round to Hoad. At the 1955 Wimbledon Championships, Bédard lost in the first round to Herb Flam. In 1955, Bédard won his first Canadian Open championship at Quebec City in August on clay. Bédard defeated Val Harit in the quarterfinal, Don Fontana in the semifinal and Henri Rochon in the final.[13] Rochon had eliminated Lorne Main in the other semifinal. Bédard teamed with his Davis Cup partner Fontana to win the Canadian Open doubles title. Bédard won the Nova Scotia Championships for 1955.[14] Bédard also beat Rochon in the final of the Quebec championships in July.[15] He reached the third round at Forest Hills in 1955 for the first of an eventual four times, but again it was Hoad that he came up against, this time Hoad winning in three straight sets.

In July Bédard won the Quebec Open over Fontana in the final.[16] He also won the Ontario Championships in July beating Paul Willey in the final, Willey having a win over Pietrangeli at Florence that season.[17] As defending champion in the 1956 Canadian Open, held in Vancouver on grass, Bédard lost in the semifinals to Noel Brown, who then defeated Fontana in the final. Bédard again reached the third round at Forest Hills, this time bowing out to unseeded American Hugh Stewart in four sets. After going out early in the next two U.S. Nationals, he would once again reach the third round in 1959, when he lost to No. 6 seed Luis Ayala. He reached the same round one last time two years later, just shy of his 30th birthday.

Bédard and his wife took a honeymoon tour of Europe in 1957 following their wedding, which would be his finest year with four tournament wins in singles. He won two clay court tournaments in Britain in 1957.

Bédard won the ILTF Sutton Hard Courts or ILTF Surrey Hard Court Championships on clay, the two titles played in combination that season, at the Sutton Tennis and Squash Club in Sutton, Surrey, England.[18] He defeated defending champion Bob Howe in the final in straight sets. Bédard also won the North of England Hard Court Championships on clay at Southport, England at the Argyle Lawn Tennis Club,[19] defeating Alan Mills, winner of the North of England Championships on grass that season, in a straight sets final. Mills would win the event in 1959.

In the Italian Tennis Championships Bédard reached the third round but was unable to play against Ashley Cooper and had to withdraw. In the French Championships at Roland Garros, Bédard led Flam in their second round match by two sets to one but lost the last two sets. Flam would reach the final before losing to Davidson. In the Kent Championships at Beckenham on grass, Bédard defeated Roy Emerson, but lost in the next round to Ramanathan Krishnan. At Wimbledon, Bédard and his wife entered the mixed doubles, losing in the first round. Bédard defeated Torben Ulrich in the first round at Wimbledon in singles but lost his next match to Brichant.

Bédard won the Nova Scotia Championships in mens singles for 1957, and also won the mixed doubles title with his wife.[20] Bédard played in the O'Keefe International at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club on red clay in Toronto. He won three rounds and defeated Kurt Nielsen and Armando Vieira, but lost the semifinal to Sven Davidson, world No. 2 and the French Open champion for that year on red clay. Davidson defeated Budge Patty in the final.

Bédard won the Canadian Open for the second time at Montreal's Monkland Tennis Club on clay,[21] the same venue where Santana would win the Canadian Open title over Emerson ten years later.[22] He defeated in turn Straight Clark, winner of the Cincinnati Masters Clay Court in 1954, Armando Vieira, the 1956 Dixieland champion, and Ramanathan Krishnan in a superbly played four-set final. Krishnan had beaten Bédard several times earlier that year in Britain, and would win the Canadian Open in 1968. Bédard had lost to Vieira in the 1957 Quebec Open championships in a long semifinal match. Bédard also won the 1957 Canadian Open doubles title partnered by his Davis Cup teammate Fontana.

Bédard successfully defended his Canadian Open title in 1958 in Vancouver on grass, defeating American player Glenn Bassett, a former Cincinnati Masters champion, in the quarterfinal in four sets and Whitney Reed, a later U.S. No. 1 tennis player, in the final in three straight sets. Bédard had earlier in the season lost to Reed on clay in Toronto in Davis Cup play. Reed would later win two Canadian Open singles titles.

Bédard won the Adirondack Invitation tournament at Schroon Lake, New York,[23] defeating his fellow Canadian Davis Cup teammate Lorne Main in the final. At the O'Keefe International at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club on red clay in Toronto, Bédard defeated Ulf Schmidt and Dick Savitt, winner of the U.S. National Indoor title that year, before losing to Luis Ayala in the semifinal. In August, Bédard won the Quebec Open title beating Val Harit in the final in five sets.[24]

Bédard won the silver medal at the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago.[2] In the latter event he defeated Mexican Francisco Contreras in the semi-finals but lost the final to Chilean Luis Ayala, thus capturing the silver medal.[2] Bédard also won the 1959 Adirondack Invitation at Schroon Lake, New York defeating American players George Ball,[25] winner of the New Jersey State Championships in 1958 and 1961, in the semifinal and Sidney Schwartz, twice winner of the Eastern Clay Court Championships title, in the final. Bédard won the Quebec Open in August, beating Cuban Reynaldo Garrido in a five set semifinal and Eduardo Zuleta of Ecuador in the final in three straight sets.[26] Bédard was defending champion at the Canadian Open, but lost his quarterfinal match with Reynaldo Garrido, who then defeated Whitney Reed in the semifinal and his own brother Orlando Garrido in the final. Bédard teamed with Fontana to win the Canadian Open doubles title.

In 1960, Bédard won the USLTA Eastern Clay Court Championships held that year at the Oritani Field Club in Hackensack, New Jersey in his only appearance at the historic tournament. The title was won by such champions as Riggs, Segura, Parker, Talbert, Savitt, Holmberg, Froehling and Ashe. The event moved around the New York City area, and included such venues as the Westchester Country Club (currently HarTru clay courts).[27] Bédard defeated Eugene Scott, a later quarterfinalist at Roland Garros, in the final in a marathon five set match after trailing two sets to one, a "long and tough match".[28]

Bédard defeated Mike Sangster in the third round of the Canadian Open. He lost a long five-set semifinal to the eventual tournament winner, Ladislav Legenstein. Bédard beat François Godbout,[29] the Quebec Indoor champion that year, in the final of the Quebec Open in July in three straight sets. Bédard "used his experience as a Davis Cup veteran to thwart any attempted rally by his opponent in the men's Singles. His fast, all-court-game stumped Godbout..."[30] Bédard won the Oakville Invitational at Oakville, Ontario.[31]

Bédard reached the semifinal of the Canadian Open where he led Whitney Reed two sets to one, but lost in a marathon five sets. Reed won the final over Mike Sangster. Bédard also won the Ontario Championships in August against John Swann.[32] Bédard won the Oakville Invitational at Oakville, Ontario.[33]

Bédard won the Oakville Invitational at Oakville, Ontario defeating Paul Cranis in the final in three straight sets. He also won the Verdun Invitational at Woodland Park Tennis Club beating Val Harit in the final.[34]

Bédard again reached the semifinal of the Canadian Open where he lost to Whitney Reed in four sets, Reed again winning the tournament.

Bédard won the Oakville Invitational in June over George Sokol, winner of the Eastern States Clay Court and the Middle States Clay Court, in the final in three straight sets.[35] Bédard lost in the final of the Quebec Open in August to Ronald Holmberg. "The fair-haired Texan steadily outplayed Bédard over the clay courts of the Civil Employees' Tennis Club".[36]

In June, Bédard beat Godbout in the final of the Oakville Invitational tournament.[37] In August, Bédard won the Quebec Open Championships on clay at the Montreal Monklands Tennis Club in dramatic fashion, the same clay court venue where he had won the 1957 Canadian Open.[38] Bédard defeated Billy Lenoir in the semifinal in five sets after Lenoir, the Cincinnati Masters Clay Court champion that year, had a two sets to love lead over Bédard, when many in the crowd then left the stadium. Bédard stated that at that point "I realized what I was doing wrong with my serve and my forehand, and all of a sudden it came back."[39] He then faced defending champion Holmberg, an outstanding clay player, in the final. Bédard lost the first two games of the match to Holmberg, but then won the next eight games. Late in the second set, Bedard sprained his ankle and then trailed 5 to 2 in the third set. However, he rallied and won the last three games to win the set at 8 to 6, and the match in three straight sets. Bédard stated, "I don't think that [Holmberg] was prepared for the game I was ready to give him."[40][41] The following day at the Quebec City International round robin, still recovering from his sprained ankle, Bédard defeated Pierre Darmon after trailing 5 to 3 in the deciding set, winning at 10 to 8, after Darmon had twice served for the match.[42] Darmon would eventually win the tournament. Bédard won his final match of the event over Bobby Wilson.[43] Bédard lost to Lester Sack in three straight sets at the Canadian Open and Sack would be runner-up that year to Holmberg. Bédard returned the favour by beating Sack in three straight sets at the U.S. Open in the first round. Bédard was ranked the No. 1 Canadian player for the 11th consecutive and final time in 1965.

Bédard came from 5-3 down in the final set to beat Godbout in the final of the Dow Invitational at La bohème Tennis Club in June.[44] The following week he successfully defended his Oakville Invitational title, again defeating Godbout in the final. He lost to Mike Belkin in the final of the Quebec Open in July. "Bédard started strongly but the toil of the three-and-a-half hour final began to show in the final set when cramps completely immobilized him".[45]

Bédard announced his retirement in August, having played only a limited schedule in the previous few years, usually consisting of just a few Canadian events in the summer months each year.[46]

Bédard won the gold medal in men's singles tennis in the 1969 Canada Games in Halifax.[1] He defeated Don McCormick, a later Canadian No. 1 ranked player, in the Gold Medal match.[47]

In 1970, Bédard claimed he was still retired and only entered a few events because they "fell during his holidays".[48] He won the Quebec Open Championships, which included wins over Jim Boyce, a later Canadian National men's singles champion (closed) and Canadian No. 1,[49][50] and winner of the Western Ontario Open that season,[51] Bailey Brown, winner of multiple U.S. clay titles, and Australian Ken Binns, winner of multiple Australian tennis and squash titles, in the final.[52] Bédard was awarded the first prize money for the event.[53] This was a record seventh Quebec Open title for Bédard.