Henri Raoul Marie Salaun (6 April 1926 - 4 June 2014) was an American

hardball squash Hardball squash is a format of the indoor racquet sport squash which was first developed in North America in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is sometimes referred to as being the "American version" of the sport. Compared to the "B ...

and tennis player. He was "widely considered one of the world’s most influential squash players."WESLEYAN FOOTPRINTS: Henri Salaun '49 battled through WWII obstacles, found squash fame
, Middletown Press. By Joe Pelletier, Sports Editor. Published 17 September 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.

Squash career

Born in

Brest, France Brest (; ) is a port, port city in the Finistère department, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of a peninsula and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an impor ...

(his paternal grandfather was the French admiral Henri Salaun), he played high school squash at

Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy (often called Deerfield or DA) is an Independent school, independent College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding and day school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schoo ...

before playing college squash at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

. He won the United States Squash Racquets Association (USSRA) national championships four times (1955, 1957, 1958 and 1961), and finished runner-up on five further occasions. He also won the inaugural

US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...

in 1954, beating the legendary player

Hashim Khan Hashim Khan (; – 18 August 2014) was a squash player from Pakistan. He won the British Open Squash Championships (the then ''de facto'' world championship) a total of seven times, from 1951 to 1956, and then again in 1958. Khan was th ...

in the final. Salauan also won "a record six Canadian Nationals (four in a row from 1956-59), a record seven Harry Cowles Invitationals, two Gold Racquets titles and a combined 26 USSRA age-group championships, a total which, like his 39 individual victories in the annual Tri-City (New York, Boston and Philadelphia) Lockett Cup competition, dwarfs that of everybody else." He adorned the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' in 1958. Salaun made his final appearance at the US national championships in 1966 when, just months shy of his 40th birthday, he reached the semi-finals. Since retiring from the top-level game, he has continued to play in veteran's events, winning numerous veterans titles. Salaun was inducted into the USSRA Hall of Fame in 2000. He was inducted into Wesleyan University's Hall of Fame in the spring of 2008. Salaun graduated from Wesleyan in 1949. "At Wesleyan, Salaun earned All-American honors in soccer and competed nationally in tennis and squash. He studied languages, and joined the

Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Phi (; commonly known as Alpha Delt, AD, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP) is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in ...

fraternity on campus."

Tennis career

Salaun played his first tennis tournament in 1950 at the Connecticut State Championships where he reached the final, before losing to

Tony Vincent Tony Vincent is an American actor, songwriter, and singer based in New York City and Nashville. Early career Vincent was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His professional career began while attending Belmont University in Nashville, Tennesse ...

. In 1951 he won his first singles title at the Northern New England Championships against Clarke Richards. His other career highlights included winning the Massachusetts State Championships five times (1952, 1956, 1959, 1961–1962), the Essex County Invitational five times (1953, 1959, 1963–1964, 1966), the Wentworth Invitation (1954), New England Championships (1956), New Hampshire Championships (1968). In 1968 he played and won his final singles tournament at the Coral Beach Club Invitation in Hamilton, Bermuda a against John F. Mangan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salaun, Henri American male squash players American male tennis players Wesleyan University alumni 1926 births 2014 deaths Sportspeople from Brest, France American people of Breton descent French emigrants to the United States 20th-century American sportsmen