Max Decugis


Maxime Omer Mathieu Décugis, sometimes spellt Decugis was a French tennis player. He won the French Championships eight times. He also won three Olympic medals at the 1900 Paris Olympics and the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, with a gold medal in the mixed doubles partnering Suzanne Lenglen.

Life

Decugis' father was a merchant at Les Halles, the company's name was Omer Décugis et fils, however the accent mark on the é is missing from Max Decugis' birth certificate, and appears inconsistently in later English-speaking sources. The origin of the family name Décugis, spelled with accented é in an 1842 source, is "from Cuges-les-Pins."
In 1905 he married Marie Flameng, the daughter of painter François Flameng, in Paris. After the death of Marie in 1969, Max married Suzanne Louise Duval in October.

Career

Decugis won the French Championships in 1903, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1912, 1913, and 1914. The interruption of World War I denied Decugis the opportunity to defend his 1914 title. Decugis was also a four-time runner-up, having lost the final in 1902, 1906, 1920, and 1923. He won the International German Championship in 1901 and 1902.
In major tournaments, Decugis reached the semifinals of both the 1911 Wimbledon [Championships – Men's singles|1911] and 1912 Wimbledon Championships and the 1913 and 1914 World Hard Court Championships and the final of the World Covered Court Championship in 1919. He won the mixed doubles title at the WHCC on four occasions and at the WCCC on two.
In May 1910, Decugis twice defeated Anthony Wilding at Wiesbaden, first in the final of the Wiesbaden Cup in four sets, followed by a victory in the final of the Wiesbaden Championship in three straight sets.
A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph ranked Decugis as world No. 10 in both 1913 and 1914.

World Championships finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss1919World Covered Court ChampionshipsWood

Doubles: (2 titles)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1913World Covered Court ChampionshipsWood

Mixed doubles: (6 titles, 2 runner-ups)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1912World Hard Court ChampionshipsClay