Jacques Peten (8 December 1912 – 3 January 1995) was a Belgian alpine skier and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. He competed in the men's combined event at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Nazi Ger ...

. Peten represented Belgium in the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

, appearing in seven ties between 1946 and 1951, as well as competing in the

French Championships The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam tennis events eve ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

and the U.S. Championships.

Biography

Early life

Jacques Auguste Peten was born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium, on 8 December 1912, to Raymond Francois Eligius Marie Peten, a banker, and Hortense Fabri. He was named after his paternal grandfather. Peten married Catherine Margaret Staub.

Skiing

He participated to the Winter Olympics in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

in the alpine ski event at

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Northern Limestone Alps, Alpine mountain resort, ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Tennis

Peten was ranked for many years number 2 in Belgium behind

Philippe Washer Philippe Washer (; 6 August 1924 – 27 November 2015) was a Belgian tennis player. He competed in the Davis Cup a number of times, from 1946 to 1961. He was ranked world No. 8 in 1957. Early life and family Philippe Washer was born on 6 August ...

. In 1950 he managed to become champion of Belgium, defeating Jacques Brichant in semifinals and Leo Rooman in the final, in the year when Washer was absent, having had to renounce defending his title due to an indisposition. However, Peten had already defeated Washer two times, the first at the Energie in 1947, and the second in 1948. Peten was Belgian champion in men's doubles in 1946 with Jack Van den Eynde. He was among the best 32 at

for three times, reaching the third round in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

, and

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

. He played in Wimbledon's men's single from 1946 to 1954. He reached the fourth round at Roland Garros in 1947, when, after defeating Bernard Destremau 6-2, 6-2, 6-1, and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

's Eustace Fannin 6-2, 6-4, 6-3, he was stopped by defending champion Marcel Bernard 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. He played at the French Open from 1947 to 1953. He played at the US Open once in

, reaching the 1/32 finals. Peten never played in the

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

. He played 7 Davis Cup matches from 1946 to 1951, with 4 wins and 8 losses in singles and one loss in doubles. In the 1946 Davis Cup he reached the

semifinals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the Europe Zone with his national team, where they were defeated by eventual Europe Zone winner and Inter-Zone finalist

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. In the 1947 Davis Cup they reached the quarterfinals, and again in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

, when they lost to eventual Europe Zone

winner Winner(s) or The Winner(s) may refer to: * Champion, the victor in a game or contest *The successful social class in winner and loser culture Film * ''The Winner'' (1926 film), an American silent film starring Billy Sullivan * ''The Winner'' ...

and Inter-Zone finalist

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. Peten was ranked 6th best player in France, where he lived during the war. Towards the end of his career, an aged Peten defeated debuting

Nicola Pietrangeli Nicola "Nicky" Pietrangeli (; born 11 September 1933) is an Italian former tennis player. He won two singles titles at the French Championships and is considered by many to be one of Italy's greatest tennis champions. Biography Nicola Chirinsky ...

at the 1952 Italian Open. Pietrangeli later wrote:

I was drawn with a Belgian, Jacques Peten. He was forty years old, and I was sure of winning. I lost in four sets, a beating that I never forgot.

Career finals

Singles:9 (7 titles, 2 runners-up)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peten, Jacques 1912 births 1995 deaths Belgian male alpine skiers Belgian male tennis players Olympic alpine skiers for Belgium Alpine skiers at the 1936 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Antwerp Tennis players from Antwerp 20th-century Belgian sportsmen