Rice Thomas Hopkins Gemmell (1896–1972) was an Australian
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.
Born in
Caulfield, Victoria
Caulfield is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. C ...
, by 1916 he was living in
Claremont, Western Australia
Claremont is a Western suburbs (Perth), western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, on the north bank of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River.
History
Prior to European settlement, the Noongar people used the area as a source of wat ...
and was enlisted in World War I as a bombardier.
Gemmell is best known for winning the 1921
Australasian Championships men's singles title, held at Perth, where he beat
Alf Hedeman in the final.
In the same year, he also won the men's doubles title, partnering
Stanley Eaton. Gemmell was Western Australia's top player during the 1920s. In 1924 Gemmell opened a store which sold sports equipment with fellow player
Keith McDougall.
Gemmell turned professional in 1927. In 1932 he became a gold miner and in 1940 he survived a car crash in which the driver of the car died.
He died in 1972 and is interred in
Tewantin,
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
.
Grand Slam finals
Singles (1)
Winner (1)
Doubles (1)
Winner (1)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gemmell, Rice
1896 births
1972 deaths
Australasian Championships (tennis) champions
Australian male tennis players
Tennis players from Melbourne
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles
People from Caulfield, Victoria
Tennis players from Perth, Western Australia
Military personnel from Western Australia
Australian military personnel of World War I
Sportsmen from Victoria (state)
20th-century Australian sportsmen