Bruyon, Jacques

Born in 1895, Jacques Brunion was the oldest of the “four musketeers” of French tennis, starting regular appearances in the first years after World War II . In 1919, he became the quarter-finalist of the World Indoor Court Championship ^[6] , in 1920 he already represented France at the Antwerp Olympics , where he reached the match for third place in the men's doubles ^[7] , and since 1921 he played for the French team in the Davis Cup and regularly won the French national championship paired with leading French tennis player Susanne Langlen . In total, they five times became champions of France in the mixed doubles , including in 1925 and 1926, when this competition had already acquired international status ^[8] .

Brunion quickly established himself as a reliable double player. In 1922, in addition to winning the mixed doubles with Lenglen, he also won the French championship in men's pairs with Marcel Dupont ^[8] , and in 1924 won the silver medal at the Olympic Games in Paris with Henri Cochet . After that, for a decade, Brunion remained one of the world tennis leaders in doubles, having won the French championship five times (three times with Caucher and twice with Jean Borotra ), four times - the Wimbledon tournament (two times with Caucher and Borotra), and the Australian Championship of 1928 with Borotra. He lost six more times in the finals - three times in Paris and London. Since 1923, he regularly won the European Davis Cup tournament with the French team, going to the interzonal tournament, where a candidate for the match with the current Cup owners was determined. In 1926, the French won the interzonal tournament, losing, however, in the round of challenge to the Americans , but the following year they defeated the US team on its court and then held this title five times in a row. Bruyon also participated in the winning match of 1927, and in the last three victories in the challenge round, having won during this time three of his four doubles. 44-year-old Brunion spent his last final at Roland Garro five years after his last victory there, in 1939, again paired with Borotra.

Although all the most significant successes of Toto Bryunion came in doubles, he was not a whipping boy and in the game one on one. A miniature (growth less than 170 centimeters) Parisian with a neatly trimmed mustache was, according to the observer of Wallis-Myers , a rare player in terms of variety of strokes and grace of touch. Bryunion achieved the greatest success in singles at the Wimbledon tournament in 1926, when he not only reached the semifinals, but he could finish the match five times with one blow and join Borotra in the final. In the game with the American Howard Kinsey with a score of 2-2 for the sets, he led in the last game 5-4, 15-40, and then 6-5, 15-40, but in the end he still lost with a total score of 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 7-9. In the championships of France and the USA, Toto reached the quarter finals in those same years and twice (in 1926 and 1927) was included in the top ten strongest tennis players in the world, along with all the other “musketeers” - although, unlike them, far from the first places ^{[9 ]} . He won singles at tournaments in Toulon, Cannes, Nice, Baden-Baden, and in 1932 he won the championship of Switzerland on indoor courts ^[6] .

After the end of his active playing career, Bruyon moved to California for some time, where he professionally worked as a tennis coach ^[10] . In 1976, two years before his death, he, along with other "musketeers", was included in the lists of the International Tennis Hall of Fame .

Men's Doubles (17)

Victories (10)

Lost (7)

Mixed Doubles (2)

Victories (2)

Victories (4)

Lost (2)

• Jacques Brugnon // Bud Collins' Tennis Encyclopedia / Bud Collins , Zander Hollander (Eds.). - Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press, 1997 .-- P. 458-459. - ISBN 1-57859-000-0 .
• Brugnon, Jacques "Toto" // Historical Dictionary of Tennis / John Grasso (Ed.). - Plymouth: Scarecrow Press, 2011 .-- P. 50-51. - ISBN 978-0-8108-7490-9 .

• Profile on the Davis Cup website

• Jacques Brunion on the website of the International Tennis Hall of Fame