Between the wars
Australia · born Caulfield, Victoria, 1896 · died 1972 · Australasian champion 1921 and the leading player in Western Australia through the 1920s
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2
Australasian titles in 1921, singles and doubles, both won at home in Perth
7
Western Australian singles titles, 1920 to 1927
7-5, 6-1, 6-4
His 1921 Australasian final win over Alf Hedemann
5
Western Australian titles in a row, 1923 to 1927
Rice Thomas Hopkins Gemmell was born in Caulfield, Victoria, in 1896. By 1916 he was living in Claremont, Western Australia, and he enlisted in the First World War, serving as a bombardier. After the war he became the strongest player in Western Australia. He lost the 1919 state final to Alf Hedemann and beat him in the 1920 final in five sets.
In December 1921 the Australasian Championships were held at Kitchener Park in Perth, on grass, with a field of 22 men. Gemmell beat Clarence Treloar in the semi-finals and Hedemann 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 in the final, and with Stanley Eaton he also won the doubles, beating N. Brearley and Edward Stokes 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. It was the only time he went deep at a major; the title is the reason his name is on the Australian Open honour roll.
He went on to win the Western Australian singles every year from 1923 to 1927, beating Treloar and Robert Phillips in the finals. In 1924 he opened a sports store with the player Keith McDougall. He turned professional in 1927, which ended his championship career, and in 1932 he became a gold miner. He died in 1972 and is buried at Tewantin, Queensland.
| Australasian Championships 1921 | Kitchener Park, Perth, 26 to 31 December. Singles: beat Clarence Treloar in the semi-final and Alf Hedemann 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 in the final. Doubles with Stanley Eaton: beat N. Brearley and Edward Stokes 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 |
|---|---|
| Western Australian finals | 1919: lost to Alf Hedemann 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. 1920: beat Hedemann 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. 1923: beat Treloar 6-4, 6-3, 6-1. 1924: beat Robert Phillips 6-0, 6-0, 6-1. 1925: beat Phillips 6-2, 8-6, 6-2. 1926 and 1927: beat Treloar |
| Home advantage | The 1921 Championships were only the third held in Perth, and the field was almost entirely Australian. Gemmell won both men's titles |
| Western Australian Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1920 | Men's singles | |
| 1923 | Men's singles | |
| 1924 | Men's singles | |
| 1925 | Men's singles | |
| 1926 | Men's singles | |
| 1927 | Men's singles | |
| Australian Championships | ||
| 1921 | Men's doubles Australasian Championships | with Stanley H. Eaton |
| 1921 | Men's singles Australasian Championships | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
The person behind the player.
1916
By 1916 Gemmell had moved from Victoria to Claremont, a suburb of Perth, and he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in the First World War as a bombardier, an artillery rank.
Source: Wikipedia, citing the AIF Project, UNSW CanberraPerth, 1919 to 1921
Alf Hedemann beat him in the 1919 Western Australian final. Gemmell turned the result round in a five-set final in 1920, and beat Hedemann again, in straight sets, for the Australasian title in Perth at the end of 1921.
Source: Wikipedia, Western Australian Open and 1921 Australasian ChampionshipsPerth, 1924
In November 1924 he went into business with a fellow player, Keith McDougall, opening a shop selling sports equipment.
Source: Wikipedia, citing The West Australian via Trove, 14 November 19241927 to 1932
He turned professional in 1927, the year of his last state title, which shut him out of the amateur championships. In 1932, in the Depression, he became a gold miner.
Source: Wikipedia, citing the Grand Slam Tennis ArchiveFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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