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General First nameBenjamin (Benny/Beni)
LastnameBerthet
GenderMale
CountryFrance
Date of birth1910-09-18
Place of birthNew York City, New York, United States of America
Date of death1981-01-20
Place of deathParis, France


About

The following piece was translated and adapted from the original Wikipedia entry on Benny Berthet in French, which can be found here: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Berthet#cite_note-Garay-2

Benny Berthet, as he was known, was born in New York City in September 1910, the son of Polish Jewish emigrants who had adopted a French surname. Benny Berthet’s family moved to France when he was nine years old. In 1931, he was classed among the top French tennis players for the first time and, at his best, was ranked number 8 in France.

Before World War II, Benny Berthet worked as a jeweller. He was called up to join the French Army after hostilities began and taken prisoner in 1941. He spent four years in Oflag IV-D Elsterhorst, a German prisoner-of-war camp for allied officers located near Hoyerswerda, then part of Lower Silesia, 44 km north-east of Dresden. With his fellow prisoners he built tennis courts within the camp in order to organize tournaments.

After the war, Benny Berthet returned to tournament play and continued to take part in the International French Championships at Stade Roland Garros in Paris until 1955. From 1955 to 1965, Benny Berthet was captain of the French Davis Cup team (only Guy Forget, who was captain from 1999 to 2012, has occupied this post for a longer period of time).

In 1973, Benny Berthet initiated the partnership/sponsorship between the French international banking group BNP Paribas and the International French Championships tournament, held each year at Stade Roland Garros in Paris. The owner of a building on the Champs-Élysées, Benny Berthet sold part of it to the Association of Tennis Professionals so that the ATP’s European branch could be set up there in the 1970s. This association was founded by the French player Pierre Darmon and the American former player Jack Kramer.

In 1977, suffering from cancer, Benny Berthet decided to create a day devoted to exhibition matches at Roland Garros with the aim of donating the profits to charities. This event now takes place each year and was initially known as Benny Berthet Day, but is now called Roland Garros Children’s Day. It is held every year on the Saturday afternoon preceding the start of the French Open.

Up until his death in January 1981 at the age of 70, Benny Berthet was secretary general of the International Lawn Tennis Club of France.

Media


Archive statistics Career1925 - 1960
Tournament wins11
Matches314
Match wins179


Tournament wins 1934 - Deauville (Open)
1932 - Championships of Strasbourg (Open)
1932 - Monte Carlo Easter Tournament (Amateur)
1931 - Macomber Cup - Monte Carlo 23's (Amateur)
1931 - Polish International Championships (Amateur)
1931 - Criterium de France Indoor (Amateur)
1930 - Étretat (Amateur)
1930 - Trouville (Amateur)
1928 - Blonville (Amateur)
1928 - Dinard (Amateur)
1928 - Houlgate (Amateur)


Tournaments International Club Matches - FRA - 1960 International Club Matches - Belgium - 1956 Roland Garros - 1955 International Club Matches - FRA - 1955 Monte Carlo - 1954 Roland Garros - 1954 Roland Garros - 1953 Roland Garros - 1952 French Covered Court Championships - 1952 Coupe Pierre Gillou - 1952 Coupe Albert Canet - 1952 Roland Garros - 1951 Coupe Marcel Poree - 1951 Le Touquet August - 1951 Wimbledon - 1950 Roland Garros - 1950 Paris International Championships - 1950 Le Touquet Second Meeting - 1950 Coupe Marcel Poree - 1950 Roland Garros - 1949 Paris International Championships - 1949 French Covered Court Championships - 1949 Coupe Pierre Gillou - 1949 Coupe Marcel Poree - 1949 Roland Garros - 1948 Paris International Championships - 1948 French Covered Court Championships - 1948 Deauville - 1948 Coupe Pierre Gillou - 1948 Roland Garros - 1947 French Covered Court Championships - 1947 Deauville - 1947 Roland Garros - 1946 International Club Matches - FRA - 1946 International Club Matches - GBR - 1946 Sporting Club Christmas Tournament - 1946 French Covered Court Championships - 1939 Roland Garros - 1938 Coupe Albert Canet - 1938 Tournoi de la Réserve de Saint-Cloud - 1938 Asnieres Indoor - 1938 Courbevoi - 1938 Tennis Club de France - 1938 Roland Garros - 1937 Paris International Championships - 1937 French Covered Court Championships - 1937 Coupe Albert Canet - 1937 Tournoi de la Réserve de Saint-Cloud - 1937 Asnieres Indoor - 1937 Coupe Stade-Racing - 1937 Sporting Club Paris - 1937 Roland Garros - 1936 Paris International Championships - 1936 French Covered Court Championships - 1936 Deauville - 1936 Houlgate - 1936 Tennis Club de France - 1936 Coupe Stade-Racing - 1936 Roland Garros - 1935 Paris International Championships - 1935 Houlgate - 1935 Cabourg - 1935 Coupe Albert Canet - 1935 Asnieres Indoor - 1935 Bagnoles-de-l'Orne - 1935 Tennis Club de France - 1935 Roland Garros - 1934 Coupe de Noel - 1934 Paris International Championships - 1934 Deauville - 1934 Dinard - 1934 Coupe Albert Canet - 1934 Pau Championships - 1934 Granville - 1934 Roland Garros - 1933 Coupe de Noel - 1933 French Covered Court Championships - 1933 Coupe Albert Canet - 1933 Roland Garros - 1932 Cannes Championships - 1932 Paris International Championships - 1932 French Covered Court Championships - 1932 Lille - 1932 Championships of Strasbourg - 1932 Coupe Albert Canet - 1932 Monte Carlo Easter Tournament - 1932 Tournoi de la Réserve de Saint-Cloud - 1932 Tournoi Moliere - 1932 Wimbledon - 1931 Roland Garros - 1931 Coupe de Noel - 1931 Paris International Championships - 1931 French Covered Court Championships - 1931 San Remo - 1931 Hungarian International Championships - 1931 Polish International Championships - 1931 Cannes New Courts Club - 1931 Wimbledon Plate (Consolation) - 1931 Macomber Cup - Monte Carlo 23's - 1931 Coupe Albert Canet - 1931 Eastern Mediterranean Championships - 1931 Monte Carlo Easter Tournament - 1931 Criterium de France Indoor - 1931 Roland Garros - 1930 Beaulieu - 1930 Cannes Carlton - 1930 Coupe de Noel - 1930 Paris International Championships - 1930 South of France Championships - 1930 Cannes Gallia - 1930 Cannes New Courts Club - 1930 Le Touquet Second Meeting - 1930 Étretat - 1930 Trouville - 1930 Coupe Albert Canet - 1930 Asnieres - 1930 Chantilly Spring - 1930 Critérium de France - 1930 Trebeurden - 1930 Roland Garros - 1929 Coupe de Noel - 1929 French Covered Court Championships - 1929 South of France Championships - 1929 Deauville - 1929 Cannes Club Tournament - 1929 Houlgate - 1929 La Baule-les-Pins - 1929 Critérium de France - 1929 Criterium de France Indoor - 1929 La Baule - 1929 Paris International Championships - 1928 Dinard - 1928 Houlgate - 1928 Angers International - 1928 Cannes LTC New year - 1928 Blonville - 1928 Chantilly - 1928 Critérium de France - 1928 Criterium de France Indoor - 1928 Coupe de Noel - 1927 Nice - 1927 Paris International Championships - 1927 Juan-Les-Pins - 1927 Coupe Albert Canet - 1927 Critérium de France - 1927 Paris International Championships - 1925