Max Decugis

Maxime Omer Mathieu Decugis or Décugis (French pronunciation: [maksim dɔkyʒiz, - de-]; 24 September 1882 – 6 September 1978) was a French tennis 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,^[2] with a gold medal in the mixed doubles partnering Suzanne Lenglen.^[3][4][5]

Max Decugis

Max Decugis standing near a tent in 1913
Full name	Maxime Omer Mathieu Decugis
Country (sports)	France
Born	(1882-09-24)24 September 1882 Paris, France
Died	6 September 1978(1978-09-06) (aged 95) Biot, France
Turned pro	1900 (amateur)
Retired	1926
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record	241–64 (79.02%)
Career titles	41[1]
Highest ranking	No. 10 (1913, A. Wallis Myers)
Grand Slam singles results
French Open	1R (1925)
Wimbledon	SF (1911, 1912)
US Open	1R (1925)
Other tournaments
WHCC	SF (1913, 1914)
WCCC	F (1919)
Doubles
Career record	0–0
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon	W (1911)
Other doubles tournaments
WHCC	W (1914)
WCCC	W (1913)
Mixed doubles
Other mixed doubles tournaments
WHCC	W (1912, 1913, 1914, 1921)
WCCC	W (1913, 1919)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	F (1904)
Medal record Olympic Games Representing a Mixed team 1900 Paris Men's doubles Representing  France 1920 Antwerp Mixed doubles 1920 Antwerp Men's doubles Intercalated Games 1906 Athens Singles 1906 Athens Doubles 1906 Athens Mixed doubles

Life

Decugis' father was a merchant at Les Halles, the company's name was Omer Décugis et fils,^[6] 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."^[7]

In 1905 he married Marie Flameng, the daughter of painter François Flameng, in Paris.^[8] After the death of Marie in 1969, Max married Suzanne Louise Duval in October.

Career

Max Decugis playing at the Margitsziget court in Budapest, Hungary in 1908

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 and 1912 Wimbledon Championships and the 1913 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 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.^[9]

Grand Slam finals

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

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1911	Wimbledon	Grass	André Gobert	Major Ritchie Anthony Wilding	9–7, 5–7, 6–3, 2–6, 6–2
Loss	1912	Wimbledon	Grass	André Gobert	Charles P. Dixon Herbert Roper-Barrett	6–3, 3–6, 4–6, 5–7

See also

• List of French Men's Singles champions and finalists