Charles
Grimaud
Male
France
1921-10-28
Pierrefitte, Paris, France
1944-08-26
Montmagny, Val d’Oise, Île-de-France, France
Although diminutive in size, Charles Grimaud was considered to be one of the best prospects in French tennis in the years just before World War Two. Both of his parents were also talented tennis players and this fact had contributed to his interest in the sport. During the war years, he took part in some tournaments in France, but not with a great deal of success, although he did reach the quarter-finals of the men’s singles event at the French Occupied Zone Championships tournament held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris in late June/early July 1944.
Later in the summer of 1944, as a member of the French Forces of the Interior/Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur, a resistance group, Charles Grimaud was caught up in an incident in the commune of Montmagny, to the north of Paris. In a fit of anger a resident of this commune had shot a retreating German soldier in the back, killing him. In retaliation for this act, a group of twenty or so French people, including 22-year-old Charles Grimaud, were subsequently rounded up and executed by firing squad. The Complexe Sportif Charles Grimaud in Montmagny, a sports complex that includes the Tennis Club Charles Grimaud, is named in his memory.
1939 - 1944
0
8
3
Round 1
Yvon Petra 1 *
Charles Grimaud
6-0
6-2
6-0
Round 1
Charles Grimaud 1 *
Antoine (Coco) Gentien
6-4
6-0
4-6
5-7
7-5
Round 2
Charles Grimaud 1 *
Georges Glasser
6-1
1-6
6-1
3-6
6-2
Quarterfinals
Yvon Petra 1 *
Charles Grimaud
6-1
6-1
6-0
Round 1
Gaston Medecin 1 *
Charles Grimaud
6-2
6-4
Round 1
Charles Grimaud 1 *
Marcel Bernard
6-4
6-3
Quarterfinals
Michel Lefort 1 *
Charles Grimaud
6-3
6-2
Round 1
J. Saladin 1 *
Charles Grimaud
6-3
6-1