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Yvon Petra

French tennis player

Field	Value
name	Yvon Petra
image	Yvon Petra 1938.jpg
fullname	Yvon François Marie Petra
country
birth_date	8 March 1916
birth_place	Cholon, French Indochina
death_date
death_place	Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
height
turnedpro	1948 (amateur from 1935)
retired	1955
plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
tennishofyear	2016
tennishofid	yvon-petra
website
singlesrecord	179-65 (73.3%)
singlestitles	18
highestsinglesranking	No. 4 (1946, A. Wallis Myers)
FrenchOpenresult	SF (1946)
Wimbledonresult	W (1946)
USOpenresult	4R (1936, 1937, 1938)
Promajors	yes
USProresult	1R (1950)
FrenchOpenDoublesresult	W (1938, 1946)
WimbledonDoublesresult	QF (1947)
FrenchOpenMixedresult	W (1937)
WimbledonMixedresult	F (1937)
USOpenMixedresult	F (1937)

Yvon Petra (; 8 March 1916 – 12 September 1984) was a French male tennis player. He was born in Cholon, French Indochina.

Petra is best remembered as the last Frenchman to win the Wimbledon Championships men's singles title (in 1946), beating Geoff Brown in five sets in the final. In doubles, he won the French Championships twice, in 1938 with Bernard Destremau, defeating the best pair in the world Budge-Mako, and in 1946 with Marcel Bernard. In 1938, he won the singles and doubles title at the French Covered Court Championships. He was a prisoner of war in World War II and after his release won three Tournoi de France singles titles from 1943 through 1945. He emigrated to the United States and worked as a tennis pro at the Saddle and Cycle Club in Chicago and a country club in Connecticut towards the end of his life. Petra was ranked world No. 4 for 1946 by A. Wallis Myers and world No. 8 for 1947 by Harry Hopman. He was the last man to wear long trousers in a Wimbledon final and was the last Frenchman to win the singles title.

Petra joined the tour of professional players in 1948. He was inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2016.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1946	Wimbledon	Grass	AUS Geoff Brown	6–2, 6–4, 7–9, 5–7, 6–2

Doubles: 2 (2 titles)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents
Win	1938	French Championships	Clay	FRA Bernard Destremau	USA Don Budge
USA Gene Mako	3–6, 6–3, 9–7, 6–1
Win	1946	French Championships	Clay	FRA Marcel Bernard	ARG Enrique Morea
USA Pancho Segura	7–5, 6–3, 0–6, 1–6, 10–8

Mixed doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents
Win	1937	French Championships	Clay	FRA Simonne Mathieu	GER Marie-Louise Horn
FRA Roland Journu	7–5, 7–5
Loss	1937	Wimbledon	Grass	FRA Simonne Mathieu	USA Alice Marble
USA Don Budge	4–6, 1–6
Loss	1937	U.S. Championships	Grass	FRA Sylvie Jung Henrotin	USA Sarah Palfrey
USA Don Budge	2–6, 10–8, 0–6

References

"Yvon Petra: Career match record". Tennismem SL.
United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). ''Official Encyclopedia of Tennis'' (First Edition), p. 425.
(1947). "Dunlop Lawn Tennis Annual and Almanack 1947". Ed. J. Burrow & Co. Ltd..
(23 December 1974). "Petra: POW Camp to Wimbledon Champ". Sarasota Journal.
(6 June 2011). "The French Open During World War II: A Hidden History". [[The Atlantic]].
[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49361279 "World's Best 10 in Tennis"], ''The Courier-Mail'', 3 February 1947.
(15 July 2016). "Remembering Yvon Petra: Hall of Famer, WWII veteran and Wimbledon champion". [[AELTC]].
McCauley, Joe. (2000). "The History of Professional Tennis". The Short Run Book Company Limited.
(7 March 2016). "Class of 2016". International Tennis Hall of Fame.

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