In 1930 the "Association Française des Professeurs de Tennis (AFPT)" held its first pro tournament, titled "Championnat International de France Professionnel" (French Pro Championships) June 18–22, 1930, and is considered as a part of the
professional major from 1927 to 1967 till the advent of
Open Era
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...
. The tournament only had a men's draw.
From 1930 the French Pro Championship were always played at Paris, on outdoor clay at
Roland Garros except from 1963 to 1967 where it was held at
Stade Pierre de Coubertin on indoor wood.
Ken Rosewall
Kenneth Robert Rosewall (born 2 November 1934) is an Australian former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player. He won a record 23 Majors in singles, including eight Grand Slam singles titles and, before the Open Era, a reco ...
holds the record for 8 wins overall and 7 consecutive wins.
There was a professional tournament at Roland Garros in 1952 held on a round robin basis, in which Segura finished first, winning the decider over Pancho Gonzales, Kramer third, and Budge fourth. There is no indication yet of recognition by the AFPT as the official French Pro.
There were tournaments played on indoor cement in 1950 and 1953 at the Palais des Sports. They are listed in the table below, but there is no suggestion that they were seen as official French Pro titles.
Champions
Singles
Notes:
Doubles
Source:
Bristol Cup and other French professional events
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 as well as the World Pro tournament held at
Deauville
Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film F ...
in 1925. 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).
Records
Men's singles
Source: French Pro Championships, (1930–68): The Tennisbase included
See also
*
French Pro Championship draws – ''Professional Era (1930–1967)''
*
U.S. Pro Tennis Championships
The U.S. Pro Tennis Championships (for a period from 1951 to 1962 billed as the Cleveland International Pro or Cleveland World Pro Tennis Championships) was the oldest professional tennis tournament played until its final year of 1999 and is consi ...
*
Wembley Championships
The Wembley Championships was a men's professional tennis tournament held from 1934–1990 with some periods of inactivity in between and is often considered to be one of the three Major professional tennis tournaments before the Open Era from 1 ...
*
Major professional tennis tournaments before the Open Era
Before the advent of the Open era of tennis competitions in April 1968, only amateurs were allowed to compete in established tournaments, including the four majors. There was no prize money and players were compensated for travel expenses only. Ho ...
References
Bibliography
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{{reflist, group=lower-alpha
Major tennis tournaments
Defunct tennis tournaments in France
Professional tennis tournaments before the Open Era