Tennis Career
A schoolboy tennis prodigy, Darmon was the top-ranked tennis star in France from 1957 to 1969 (he shared No. 1 in ’57 and ’69).
He was French national junior champion in 1950.
Darmon won the French national singles championship a record 9 times, obtaining his first title in 1957 and last one in 1968. He also won the French national doubles championship in 1961 (with Pintail) and 1966 (with Francois Jauffret).
In 1963, Darmon was French Open Singles runner-up, losing the Grand Slam final to Roy Emerson 6–3, 1–6, 4–6, 4–6. That same year, he reached the Wimbledon Doubles finals with partner Jean Claude Barclay, before falling to Mexico’s Antonio Palafox and Rafael Osuna in the title match.
He was international veterans mixed double champion with his wife Rosy Darmon in 1961, and in 1968 and 1975 with Gail Chanfreau.
Read more about this topic: Pierre Darmon
Famous quotes containing the words tennis and/or career:
“I know some of my self-worth comes from tennis, and it’s hard to think of doing something else where you know you’ll never be the best. Tennis players are rare creatures: where else in the world can you know that you’re the best? The definitiveness of it is the beauty of it, but it’s not all there is to life and I’m ready to explore the alternatives.”
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