Gustave F. Touchard

Gustave "Gus" Fitzhugh Touchard Jr. was an American tennis player in the early part of the 20th century. He was ranked as high as No. 4 in the United States during his career.

Tennis career

He played his first tennis tournament in 1907 at the New York Tennis Club Open where he reached the semi finals. In 1908 he reached his first final at the New York Metropolitan Championships where he was defeated by Ross Burchard.
In 1909 he went to win four singles titles that season including the Amackassin Club Invitation against Frederick Clark Inman, the Harlem Tennis Club Invitation against Wylie Grant, the Bronx County Championships against Theodore Pell, and the New York Tennis Club Open against Theodore Pell, He was also a finalist at the New England Championships the same year.
At the US Nationals, Touchard paired with Raymond D. Little to win the 1911 doubles title and reach the 1912 doubles final. At the Tri-State Championships in Cincinnati, Touchard won the 1912 singles title over Richard H. Palmer. He reached the singles final again in 1913, losing to William S. McEllroy.
He won the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships title three consecutive years, and won the singles title at the New Jersey State Championships in 1915. In 1912, he reached the final of the US Clay Court Championship, losing to Richard Norris Williams.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles (1 title)

Result

Year

Championship

Surface

Partner

Opponents

Score

Win

1911

U.S. Championships

Grass

|1896

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Personal life

He was born in New York on January 11, 1888 to Gustave and Margaret McPherson Touchard.
On October 11, 1911 he married Emeline Williams Holmes. The marriage resulted in at least one child, Emlen Holmes, who was born May 24, 1914.
In July 1915, Touchard confessed to a charge of stealing 24 dozen golf balls from the sporting goods store where he was employed.
He joined the Royal Flying Corps Canada at Camp Borden after having been turned down by the United States aviation corps. He died in 1918 in Toronto General Hospital of a throat operation.