Rice Thomas Hopkins Gemmell (1896–1972) was an Australian
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player.
Born in
Caulfield, Victoria
Caulfield is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government area. Caulfield recorded a population of 5,748 at the 2021 census.
It is bound ...
, by 1916 he was living in
Claremont, Western Australia
Claremont is a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, on the north bank of the Swan River.
History
Prior to European settlement, the Noongar people used the area as a source of water, for fishing and for catching waterfowl.
In 1830, Jo ...
and was enlisted in World War 1 as a bombardier.
Gemmell is best known for winning the 1921
Australasian Championships
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
men's singles title, held at Perth, where he beat
Alf Hedeman
Alfred Hedemann was an Australian tennis player. He won the doubles title alongside Ernie Parker at the Australasian Championships, the future Australian Open, in 1913. In the 1921 Australasian championships, held at Perth, Hedemann beat K ...
in the final.
In the same year, he also won the men's doubles title, partnering
Stanley Eaton. Gemmell was Western Australia's top player during the 1920s. In 1924 Gemmell opened a store which sold sports equipment with fellow player
Keith McDougall.
Gemmell turned professional in 1927. In 1932 he became a gold miner and in 1940 he survived a car crash in which the driver of the car died.
He died in 1972 and is interred in
Tewantin
Tewantin ( ) is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the , Tewantin had a population of 10,920 people. Tewantin was the original settlement in the Noosa region and is one of its three major centres today.
Hi ...
,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
.
[
]
Grand Slam finals
Singles (1)
Winner (1)
Doubles (1)
Winner (1)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gemmell, Rice
1896 births
1972 deaths
Australasian Championships (tennis) champions
Australian male tennis players
Tennis players from Melbourne
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles
20th-century Australian people
People from Caulfield, Victoria
Tennis players from Perth, Western Australia
Military personnel from Western Australia
Australian military personnel of World War I