Yvon Petra

Playing career

Yvon François Marie Petra was born on 8 March 1916 in Cholon, the Chinese district of Saigon, where his father worked for the French colonial government. He never had lessons; he learned on public courts with Vietnamese children and was set on the game after watching Henri Cochet play an exhibition at a local club. By 1938 he was the No. 1 player in France. That year he and Bernard Destremau won the French Championships doubles, beating Don Budge and Gene Mako, and in 1937 he won the French mixed with Simonne Mathieu and was runner-up with her in the Wimbledon mixed. He played Davis Cup for France from 1937 to 1939 and in 1946 and 1947.

He was called up for military service and was wounded and taken prisoner in 1940, when his left knee was badly injured on a forced march into Germany. He was repatriated in 1942 and won the wartime Tournoi de France at Roland Garros in 1943, 1944 and 1945.

At Wimbledon in 1946, seeded fifth, he beat the top seed Dinny Pails 7-5, 7-5, 6-8, 6-4 in the quarter-finals, came from two sets down to beat Tom Brown in the semi-finals and beat Geoff Brown 6-2, 6-4, 7-9, 5-7, 6-4 in the final. He also won the French doubles that year with Marcel Bernard and was ranked No. 4 in the world. He turned professional in 1948, later coached at clubs in Chicago and Connecticut, and died in 1984. He entered the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2016.

On grass

Every grass title: 1

Show every title, tournament by tournament

Wimbledon
1946	Men's singles

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

"After the battle I was taken prisoner and I had to limp through a terrible POW march."