Robert Bédard (tennis)

Bédard won the Canadian National outdoor singles championship for the 80-and-over category in 2015. His former Davis Cup team-mate, Lorne Main, won the 85-and-over category.

In 2015, Bédard participated with another Pan American Games medalist in a doubles match at a museum house which contained early tennis equipment.

Laverdure later remarked in a 2012 assessment, “One of Bédard’s competitors, Don Fontana, stated that his physical conditioning was most remarkable: he spoke of rare speed (Bédard ran the 100 meters in 10.3 seconds!), and of superb eye-hand co-ordination, and of intense concentration. It is through perseverance and motivation that Robert Bédard will succeed in triumphing in tennis: he will never have enough time to perfect his technique and bring it up to the level of European or American players who were training at the year long. A bit like Rafael Nadal, Bédard excelled more on clay and exhausted his opponents: I am not comparing his level of play here to that of the Spaniard but rather trying to highlight his qualities as a player.”

Bédard won the Canadian National outdoor singles championship in 2006 for Age 70 players, defeating Crichton Wilson in the final.

His playing style was described by Lucien Laverdure, a racket ace also inducted into the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame in 1991, in his book “Tennis Mon Obsession”, published around 1965: “[Bédard’s] dominant qualities of determination, patience, strength, control, combined with an extraordinary sense of anticipation led him straight to the goal he had set for himself and far beyond”.

Bédard was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Prize in 1977. He was inducted into the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame and Quebec Sports Hall of Fame in 1991. He was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1996. He was inducted into the Aurora Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 as an inaugural inductee.

In 1970, Bédard claimed he was still retired and only entered a few events because they “fell during his holidays”. He won the Quebec Open Championships, which included wins over Jim Boyce, a later Canadian No. 1 ranked player and winner of the Western Ontario Open that season, Bailey Brown, winner of multiple U.S. clay titles, and Australian Ken Binns, winner of multiple Australian tennis and squash titles, in the final. Bédard was awarded the first prize money for the event. This was a record seventh Quebec Open title for Bédard.

Bédard won the Gold Medal in men’s singles tennis in the 1969 Canada Games in Halifax. He defeated Don McCormick, a later Canadian No. 1 ranked player, in the Gold Medal match.

After six years absent from play, Bédard returned for a 1967 tie versus Great Britain, played in Bournemouth on shale. (From 1966 through 1969 Canada competed in the Europe Group.) Young Canadian star Mike Belkin got proceedings off well for the visitors defeating Mike Sangster in four sets. In the second match Robert twice won a set to level before losing to Roger Taylor in the fifth 5–7. Belkin and Keith Carpenter then battled Taylor and Bobby Wilson to a 12–10 fifth set, which they lost. With victory at hand for the Brits in the fourth match Belkin started very strongly against Taylor, winning the first two sets by a 6–2 score. The home player however came back to win the final three sets of a close match. Bédard then lost the fifth match dead rubber to Sangster.

Bédard served as the president of Tennis Quebec from 1967 to 1970 and the vice-president of Tennis Canada from 1973 to 1977.

Bédard was a tennis colour commentator for coverage of a round robin tournament held in Canada in 1967 and again in 1968, that featured four of the world’s top amateur players. Coverage was broadcast on CBC Television. He was joined in the booth by play-by-play announcer Bob McDevitt.

In 1961, Canada once more lost in the first round of Cup competition – they would not win a Cup tie again in fact until 1966. The tie was held at Civil Employees Tennis Club, Quebec City on clay, and Bédard was certainly not at fault for the loss to Mexico as he won the opening rubber over Mario Llamas – as well as his second singles match, a dead rubber, over Rafael Osuna in four sets. François Godbout did not fare as well, losing both of his singles matches. The two Quebeckers played a close doubles match but came up short.

In 1960, Bédard won the U.S. Eastern Clay Court Championships at Hackensack, New Jersey in his only appearance at the event. He defeated Eugene Scott, a later quarterfinalist at Roland Garros, in the final in a marathon five set match after trailing two sets to one. Bédard defeated Mike Sangster in the third round of the Canadian Open. He lost a long five-set semifinal to the eventual tournament winner, Ladislav (Laci) Legenstein. Bédard beat François Godbout, the Quebec Indoor champion that year, in the final of the Quebec Open in July in three straight sets. Bédard “used his experience as a Davis Cup veteran to thwart any attempted rally by his opponent in the men’s Singles. His fast, all-court-game stumped Godbout…” Bédard won the Oakville Invitational at Oakville, Ontario.

Canada played just one tie in 1960, an opening round loss, once more to the United States by a score 0 matches to 5 score. On clay in Quebec City this time, Bédard started well, winning the first two sets against Tut Bartzen. Fontana took only 6 games off of Barry MacKay in the second match. The two Canucks made a stand in the first set of the doubles taking it to 12 games all before succumbing and losing the next two sets handily. Robert won Canada’s third set of the tie in the fourth match.

Bédard won the silver medal at the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago. In the latter event he defeated Mexican Francisco Contreras in the semi-finals but lost the final to Chilean Luis Ayala, thus capturing the silver medal. Bédard also won the 1959 Adirondack Invitation at Schroon Lake, New York defeating American Sidney Schwartz, twice winner of the Eastern Clay Court title, in the final. Bédard won the Quebec Open in August, beating Cuban Reynaldo Garrido in a five set semifinal and Eduardo Zuleta of Ecuador in the final in three straight sets. Bédard was defending champion at the Canadian Open, but lost his quarterfinal match with Reynaldo Garrido, who then defeated Whitney Reed in the semifinal and his own brother Orlando Garrido in the final.

Bédard successfully defended his Canadian Open title in 1958 in Vancouver on grass, defeating eventual American No. 1 Whitney Reed in the final in three straight sets. Bédard had earlier in the season lost to Reed on clay in Toronto in Davis Cup play. Reed would later win two Canadian Open singles titles. Bédard won the Adirondack Invitation tournament at Schroon Lake, New York, defeating his fellow Canadian Davis Cup teammate Lorne Main in the final. At the O’Keefe International at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club on red clay in Toronto, Bédard defeated Ulf Schmidt and Dick Savitt, winner of the U.S. National Indoor title that year, before losing to Luis Ayala in the semifinal. In August, Bédard won the Quebec Open title beating Val Harit in the final in five sets.

Canada started the 1958 campaign superbly, playing at home on clay in Toronto, sweeping aside Cuba without conceding more than 4 games in any set. At the same venue, the Toronto CS & C Club on clay, they next faced the Americans. Canada managed to win just two sets. Fontana was soundly beat by MacKay, one, two, and five. Bédard played Whitney Reed closer but also went down in straight sets. He and Fontana then lost the doubles in straight sets as well. The U.S. went on to retake the Cup in the finals from holders Australia.

Bédard and his wife took a honeymoon tour of Europe in 1957 following their wedding, which would be his finest year with five tournament wins in singles. Bédard won two clay court tournaments in Britain in 1957, including the Sutton Hardcourts title at the Sutton Tennis and Squash Club in Sutton, Surrey, England, defeating future champion Bob Howe in the final in straight sets.

Bédard won the Nova Scotia Championships in mens singles for 1957, and also won the mixed doubles title with his wife. Bédard played in the O’Keefe International at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club on red clay in Toronto. He won three rounds and defeated Kurt Nielsen and Armando Vieira, but lost the semifinal to Sven Davidson, world No. 2 and the French Open champion for that year on red clay. Davidson defeated Budge Patty in the final. Bédard won the Canadian Open for the second time at Montreal’s Monkland Tennis Club on clay, the same venue where Santana would win the Canadian Open title over Emerson ten years later. He defeated in turn Straight Clark, winner of the Cincinnati Masters Clay Court in 1954, Armando Vieira, the 1956 Dixieland champion, and Ramanathan Krishnan in a superb four-set final. Krishnan had beaten Bédard several times earlier that year in Britain, and would win the Canadian Open in 1968. Bédard had lost to Vieira in the 1957 Quebec Open championships in a long semifinal match. Bedard defended his Ontario Open title, defeating Paul Willey in the final, Willey having a win over Mal Anderson at Southampton that season.

In June, Bédard beat Francois Godbout in the final of the Oakville Invitational tournament. In August, Bédard won the Quebec Open Championships on clay at the Montreal Monklands Tennis Club in dramatic fashion, the same clay court venue where he had won the 1957 Canadian Open. Bédard defeated Billy Lenoir in the semifinal in five sets after Lenoir, the Cincinnati Masters Clay Court champion that year, had a two sets to love lead over Bédard, when many in the crowd then left the stadium. Bédard stated that at that point “I realized what I was doing wrong with my serve and my forehand, and all of a sudden it came back.” He then faced defending champion Ronald Holmberg, an outstanding clay player, in the final. Bédard lost the first two games of the match to Holmberg, but then won the next eight games. Late in the second set, Bedard sprained his ankle and then trailed 5 to 2 in the third set. However, he rallied and won the last three games to win the set at 8 to 6, and the match. Bédard stated, “I don’t think that [Holmberg] was prepared for the game I was ready to give him.” The following day at the Quebec City International round robin, still recovering from his sprained ankle, Bédard defeated Pierre Darmon after trailing 5 to 3 in the deciding set, winning at 10 to 8, after Darmon had twice served for the match. Darmon would eventually win the tournament. Bédard won his final match of the event over Bobby Wilson. Bédard lost to Lester Sack in three straight sets at the Canadian Open, but returned the favour by beating Sack in three straight sets at the U.S. Open in the first round. Bédard was ranked the No. 1 Canadian player for the 10th and final time in 1965.

In 1957, Canada played just one Cup tie, losing 2–3 to Brazil in Montreal. Bédard played the opening match and twice came from a set down against Carlos-Alberto Fernandes only to lose the close fifth set. Fontana squared matters in winning the second match over Armando Vieira, also in five sets. In the crucial doubles rubber, Fernandes and Viera proved too good, winning in four. Fontana then went down in straight sets in the fourth match.

In July Bédard won the Quebec Open over Don Fontana in the final. He also won the Ontario Championships in July beating Paul Willey in the final, Willey having a win over Pietrangeli at Florence that season. As defending champion in the 1956 Canadian Open, held in Vancouver on grass, Bédard lost in the semifinals to Noel Brown, who then defeated Don Fontana in the final. Bédard again reached the third round at Forest Hills, this time bowing out to unseeded American Hugh Stewart in four sets. After going out early in the next two U.S. Nationals, he would once again reach the third round in 1959, when he lost to No. 6 seed Luis Ayala. He reached the same round one last time two years later, just shy of his 30th birthday.

Laverdure further referenced that “Raymond Summers, a Toronto journalist wrote (1956) that it would have been better for [Bédard] to spend a few seasons working on his shots than to engage in international competitions, referring to a lack of technique to deal with this elite level. He will add that Bédard had to compensate with exhausting work combined with great determination and enormous perseverance to achieve his goals. In short, we can conclude that Robert Bédard played instinctively and that he was above all motivated by his desire to win; if he had had the chance to perfect his basic skills, he could have performed at another level and who knows, reached heights that Canadian players still dream of. It must be admitted all the same that it shows the psychological nature of [his] character in addition to illustrating what type of man he was in life, outside of sports practice.”

Bédard is the most recent Canadian to win the Canadian Open men’s singles championship, triumphing in 1955 (defeating Henri Rochon in the final), 1957 (defeating Ramanathan Krishnan in a four sets final), and 1958 (defeating Whitney Reed in the final). He won the doubles title three times, in 1955, 1957, and 1959 with compatriot Don Fontana. He won the mixed doubles title in 1959 partnering Mariette Laframboise. Bédard holds the record at the Canadian Open Championships for the most appearances with 17. He won the Montreal Cup at age 20. Bédard won a record seven Quebec Open Championships singles titles between 1955 and 1970, three Ontario Open singles titles, six Oakville Invitational singles titles, and three Nova Scotia Championships. He won the U.S. Eastern Clay Court Championships singles title in 1960 in his only appearance at the event.

In European play, Bédard won a close five set match against Orlando Sirola in the second round of the Italian Championships. He won another close match against Nicola Pietrangeli in the Queen’s Club Championships, but lost in the third round to Hoad. Bédard reached the semifinal at Cannes, defeating Jacques Brichant, but lost to Wladyslaw Skonecki. In 1955, Bédard won his first Canadian Open championship at Quebec City in August on clay. Bédard defeated Don Fontana in the semifinal and Henri Rochon in the final. Rochon had eliminated Lorne Main in the other semifinal. Bédard won the Nova Scotia Championships for 1955. Bédard also beat Rochon in the final of the Quebec championships in July. He reached the third round at Forest Hills in 1955 for the first of an eventual four times, but again it was Hoad that he came up against, this time Hoad winning in three straight sets.

Canada began 1955 Cup play with an expected comfortable opening win over the West Indies. Bédard defeated Trinidadian Ian McDonald in four sets in the first match and teamed with Don Fontana to win the doubles rubber in straight sets, as Canada won 5–0. Canada next faced 1954 runner-up and eventual 1955 champion Australia in the America Group final. The tie was chosen by the Canadian Davis Cup Association to be played in Montreal at the Mount Royal Tennis Club, on grass, despite the fact that both Bédard and Main were outstanding on clay. Bédard had the unenviable task of opening proceedings against World No. 2 (amateur) Ken Rosewall, and lost the match in four sets, Lorne Main lost to Hartwig. Bédard and Fontana lost the doubles rubber in four sets as well, Fontana lost a dead rubber to Hoad in singles. Bédard’s won sets were the only two sets during the tie that Canada won.

Bédard competed in the French Championships twice, Wimbledon four times, and the U.S. Nationals eleven times. His best showing at a grand slam event was reaching the round of 32, which he did once at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, both in 1954, and four times at Forest Hills, in 1955, 1956, 1959, and in 1961.

Bédard reached the final of the Hollywood Beach Invitational, losing in three straight sets to Gardnar Mulloy. He later reached the final of the 1954 Stuttgart Open, losing to Gottfried von Cramm. He was a quarterfinalist at the 1954 Italian Open, winning a five-set marathon over Sven Davidson despite losing the first two sets, and later losing to defending champion Jaroslav Drobny. The No. 1 seed for the 1954 French Open, Lew Hoad, defeated Bédard in the third round at Roland Garros in three close sets. A month later, Bédard won his first match at Wimbledon, a close four set victory over Gordon Forbes, and also won his second round match. Fred Perry, who covered Wimbledon for BBC, stated that Bedard was the most complete athlete in the tournament and noted his competitive zeal in matches. Hoad, the Wimbledon No. 2 seed, eliminated Bédard in the third round in four sets, Bédard winning the third set from Hoad. Bédard reached the final of the Quebec Open championships, where he lost a long four-set match to Lorne Main, who had won the Monte Carlo and Belgian titles that season on red clay in Europe.

In 1954, Canada opened with a tight tie win over Chile 3–2, again in Montreal. After Main came back from 2 sets to 1 down in Round 1, Bédard got his first Cup singles win, in straight sets over Ricardo Balbiers. Main and Paul Willey next lost in straight sets to Andres Hammersley and Chilean star Luis Ayala. Main came through to seal victory with hard fought marathon win over Hammersley in five sets. Bédard lost the fifth match dead rubber to Ayala. Canada lost to Mexico 4-1 in Mexico City.

Bédard was a natural, muscular multi-sport athlete, whose excellence in baseball and ice hockey led to contract offers from professional teams, including the New York Rangers ice hockey team and the Cleveland Indians baseball team. Fred Perry stated that Bedard was the most complete athlete in the 1954 Wimbledon tournament and noted his competitive zeal in matches.

Bédard was a Canadian Davis Cup member from 1953 to 1961, and again in 1967, and had a career win–loss record of 11 and 22, 8 and 15 in singles and 3 and 7 in doubles.

Bédard lost all three of the Davis Cup rubbers he contested in 1953. Despite this Canada did go on to face the Americans in the final of the America Group, played in Canada. Bédard and his partner Henri Rochon lost the doubles match in their quarter-final tie against Mexico, played at the Mount Royal Tennis Club; fortunately, Lorne Main won both of his singles rubbers, including the Round 4 match over Mario Llamas, which gave Canada an insurmountable 3–1 lead. (It was the last time Canada beat Mexico until 2001.) In the next round, also played at Mount Royal, Canada won the first three rubbers to seal victory against Cuba. He played his first singles match, losing the Round 5 dead rubber to Orlando Garrido in four sets. The American Group final was played at the Mount Royal Tennis Club in Montreal on grass, chosen by the Canadian Davis Cup Association, despite the fact that the Canadian players (Rochon, Main, and Bédard) were all specialists on clay, and the American team won 5-0. Bédard’s match was a singles dead rubber four-set loss, this time to American Tut Bartzen.

During the 1952–53 school year, Bédard attended UCLA on a tennis scholarship provided by his home community supporters in Sherbrooke, Quebec. This would be his only formal tennis coaching, and he was otherwise a self-taught player.

Bédard won the Montreal Cup in August 1952 beating Jack Spencer in the final. Bédard also won the Nova Scotia Championships that year. In 1953, Bédard reached the semi finals of the Quebec championships, also known as the Eastern Canadian Championships, losing in three straight sets to Lorne Main.

Bédard was considered among the top ten clay court players in the world. Bédard was the top-ranked Canadian player in singles in 10 years from the mid 1950s to the mid 1960s. During this time he lost only once to a fellow Canadian in competition, to Reider Getz of Vancouver at the Verdun invitational in July 1964. Bédard was ranked no lower than third in Canada between 1952 and 1970. He was first ranked No. 1 in Quebec in 1953.

Robert Bédard (born 13 September 1931) is a Canadian former tennis player and educator. Bédard was considered among the top ten clay court players in the world and was the top-ranked Canadian singles player in ten years in the 1950s and early 1960s. Bédard won three Canadian Open singles titles in 1955 (over Henri Rochon in the final), 1957 (over Ramanathan Krishnan in the final) and 1958 (over Whitney Reed in the final). Bédard won a record seven Quebec Open singles championships and three Ontario Open singles titles. He won the U.S. Eastern Clay Court Championships in 1960. His career titles won was 29 tournaments, mostly on clay, in a very restricted playing career often confined to just the summer months. Bédard represented Canada in Davis Cup play for many years, reaching North America Zone and Interzone Finals in 1953, 1955, and 1959. He defeated No. 1 players of 20 different countries, including Australia and the U.S.. Bédard was a multi-sport athlete and was offered professional contracts with the New York Rangers ice hockey team and the Cleveland Indians baseball team, which he declined in favour of a career in academia. He became the principal of an esteemed private preparatory collegiate.