Maxime Omer Mathieu Decugis or Décugis (; 24 September 1882 – 6 September 1978) was a French

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 won the French Championships eight times (a French club members-only tournament before 1925). He also won three Olympic medals at the 1900 Paris Olympics and the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, with a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the mixed doubles partnering

Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen (; 24 May 1899 – 4 July 1938) was a French tennis player. She was the inaugural world No. 1 from 1921 to 1926, winning eight Grand Slam titles in singles and twenty-one in total. She was also a four-time World ...

Life

Decugis' father was a merchant at Les Halles, the company's name was ''Omer Décugis et fils'', however the accent mark on the é is missing from Max Decugis' birth certificate, and appears inconsistently in later English-speaking sources such as the Ayres' Almanacks edited by Arthur Wallis Myers, but apparently never in any French-speaking sources. The origin of the family name Décugis, spelled with accented é in an 1842 source, is "from Cuges-les-Pins." In 1905 he married Marie Flameng, the daughter of painter François Flameng, in Paris. After the death of Marie in 1969, Max married Suzanne Louise Duval in October.

Career

Decugis won the French Championships in 1903, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1912, 1913, and 1914 (also 14 times in doubles and seven times in mixed). The interruption of World War I denied Decugis the opportunity to defend his 1914 title. Decugis was also a four-time runner-up, having lost the final in 1902, 1906, 1920, and 1923. He won the International German Championship in 1901 and 1902. In major tournaments, Decugis reached the semifinals of both the

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

and 1912 Wimbledon Championships and the

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

and 1914 World Hard Court Championships (WHCC) and the final of the World Covered Court Championship (WCCC) in 1919. He won the mixed doubles title at the WHCC on four occasions (1912, 1913, 1914, 1921) and at the WCCC on two (1913, 1919). In May 1910, Decugis twice defeated

Anthony Wilding Anthony Frederick Wilding (31 October 1883 – 9 May 1915), also known as Tony Wilding, was a New Zealand world number 1 ranked male tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player and soldier who was killed in action during World War I. Considered ...

at Wiesbaden, first in the final of the Wiesbaden Cup in four sets, followed by a victory in the final of the Wiesbaden Championship in three straight sets. A. Wallis Myers of ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked Decugis as world No. 10 in both 1913 and 1914.United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). ''Official Encyclopedia of Tennis'' (First Edition), p. 422.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 2 (1 titles, 1 runner-up)

References

External links