Gustave "Gus" Fitzhugh Touchard Jr. (or Gustav) (January 11, 1888 – September 5, 1918) was an American

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 in the early part of the 20th century. He was ranked as high as No. 4 in the United States during his career.

Personal life

He was born in New York on January 11, 1888. In July 1915, Touchard confessed to a charge of stealing 24 dozen golf balls from the sporting goods store where he was employed. He joined the

Royal Flying Corps Canada The Royal Flying Corps Canada (RFC Canada) was a training organization of the British Royal Flying Corps located in Canada during the First World War. It began operating in 1917. Background As the war progressed, Great Britain found that i ...

Camp Borden Canadian Forces Base Borden (also CFB Borden, French: Base des Forces canadiennes Borden or BFC Borden), formerly RCAF Station Borden, is a large Canadian Forces base located in Ontario. The historic birthplace of the Royal Canadian Air Force, C ...

after having been turned down by the United States aviation corps. He died in 1918 in

Toronto General Hospital The Toronto General Hospital (TGH) is a major teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the flagship campus of University Health Network (UHN). It is located in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along University Avenue's Hospital ...

of a throat operation.

Tennis career

At the US Nationals, Touchard paired with Raymond D. Little to win the 1911 doubles title and reach the 1912 doubles final. At the tournament now known as the Cincinnati Masters, Touchard won the 1912 singles title over Richard H. Palmer. He reached the singles final in 1913, losing to William S. McEllroy. He won the

U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships The U.S. National Indoor Championships was a tennis tournament that was last held at the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The event was played on indoor hard courts and usually took place in February. For much of i ...

title three consecutive years (1913, 1914 and 1915) and won the singles title at the New Jersey state championship in 1915. In 1912, he reached the final of the US Clay Court Championship, losing to

Richard Norris Williams Richard "Dick" Norris Williams II (January 29, 1891 – June 2, 1968), generally known as R. Norris Williams, was an American tennis player and RMS ''Titanic'' survivor. Biography Williams was born in Geneva, Switzerland, the son of Philadel ...

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Grand Slam finals

Doubles (1 title)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Touchard, Gus American male tennis players Tennis people from New York (state) United States National champions (tennis) 1888 births 1918 deaths Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Air Force officers British military personnel killed in World War I