Paul Féret[1][2] (French pronunciation:[pɔlfeʁe]; 27 July 1901 – 3 February 1984)[3] was a French international tennis player in the 1920s and 1930s.[4][5][6] Born in Paris, he competed in the Davis Cup two times in 1925.[7]
Amateur, to professional, back to amateur
Féret was one of the first French amateur players to lose his amateur status and play for money. After Suzanne Lenglen became a professional player in 1926 and was stripped of her No. 1 ranking by the Fédération Française de Tennis she was seeking a mixed doubles partner for a paid tour in America, but her preferred choice, a young Italian lawyer named Placido Gaslini, was not allowed by his father, a Milanese banker, to play for money. Instead Lenglen and her agent C. C. Pyle picked Féret, then the fourth-ranked French amateur, who was offered the chance to partner Lenglen. Féret, who was in depression following the death of his wife, agreed to sail to America, though it would mean losing his amateur status. When Pyle's tour opened at Madison Square Gardens to an elite audience including mayor Jimmy Walker and other rich and famous, Féret was quickly defeated by Pyle's star player American No.1 Vincent Richards.[8] When Féret returned to France after the tour, having earned $10,000,[3] he applied for reinstatement as an amateur, on grounds of emotional stress, and exceptionally was accepted back into membership in 1929 (or 1933), after he donated his winnings in America.[9][10] He continued to play as an amateur, on one occasion putting an end to the hopes of a tennis career of a young scientist, Louis Leprince-Ringuet. In 1953 (aged 51), Feret was the oldest competitor ever in the French Championships men's singles event.[11]
References
^Revue économique française: Volumes 112–113 Société de géographie commerciale et d'études coloniales, 1990 "Je suis venu disputer les finales de différents Corps d'Armée à Paris; j'ai battu un joueur classé en seconde série, puis un autre, et je suis tombé en demi-finale contre un certain Paul Féret, ..."
^Louis Leprince-RinguetNoces de diamant avec l'atome 1991 "... qui eurent lieu à Paris, après avoir passé plusieurs tours je fus éliminé honorablement par le jeune Paul Féret, ... "
^ abCollins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. p. 702. ISBN978-0942257700.
^Jim Reisler Cash and carry: the spectacular rise and hard fall of C.C. Pyle 2008 Page 128 "Richards kicked things off by easily beating Paul Feret in a two-set match. Then, as the band struck up the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, Lenglen appeared, looking like a runway model. Dressed in a Riviera costume featuring.."
^A kind of grace: a treasury of sportswriting by women ed. Ron Rapoport 1994 Page 140 "In Gaslini's place, Paul Feret, the fourth-ranked French player, was picked and accepted. Feret at the time was disconsolate over the death of his 19-year-old wife and ready for a change of surroundings. (When Feret returned to France after the tour, he applied for reinstatement as an amateur, pleading tennis's version of temporary insanity. The federation accepted his plea, accompanied by a check representing his professional earnings"
^Florence Carpentier, Aux origines de l'exclusion du tennis des Jeux olympiques 2006 "Les procès-verbaux des Commissions de la Fédération française de tennis montrent bien que la requalification d’un professionnel en amateur est encore exceptionnelle. La requalification de Paul Féret en 1929 introduira une ouverture réglementaire, mais, deux ans plus tôt, les débats sont encore très virulents sur ce point au sein de la Fédération."
