Robert Bédard
Major Accomplishments
Member of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Won the Canadian international singles title in 1955, 1956 and 1958 and doubles in 1955, 1957 and 1959.
Canada’s top-ranked male player between 1955 and 1965 and was ranked no lower than No. 3 16 times between 1952 and 1970.
Represented Canada in Davis Cup for 10 years from 1953-1961, 1967.
Reached the fourth round of the US Open in 1957.
Won the silver medal at the 1959 Pan American Games.
Singles champion at the 1969 Canada Games.
Inducted into the Loyola College Hall of Fame, the Canadian Amateur Athletic Hall of Fame and the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame (1991).
Biography
Robert Bédard was born in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec. He was the No.1 ranked singles player in Canada from 1955 to 1965 and represented the Canadian Davis Cup team for 10 years, (1953-1961,1967). He earned several championships during his tennis career which include: three Canadian Open Championships (Rogers Cup) in 1955, 1956 and 1958 and three Open Doubles Championships with partner Don Fontana in 1955, 1957 and 1959. He also has one Open Mixed Doubles Championship from 1959. Bédard had victories over the No. 1 player of 15 different countries such as Roy Emerson (Australia), Armando Vierra (Brazil) and Rafael Osuna (Mexico) among several others. He also amassed an astounding 216 consecutive victories against Canadian opponents from 1955 to 1964.
Bédard took part in three European tours in 1954, 1955 and 1957. He defeated the great Roy Emerson on his European tour two weeks before the 1957 Wimbledon. He reached the fourth round of Forest Hills (US Open) that same year. Two years later he was the silver medalist at the Pan American Games and in 1969 he was the singles champion at the Canada Games.
Bédard received a B.A. from Loyola College in Montreal and a B.Ed. from the University of Sherbrooke. He became a French and a Geography teacher at Bishop’s College School and later a Headmaster at St. Andrews College from 1981 to 1997. Bédard was not finished with the world of tennis just yet as he wanted to stay committed to the sport he loved. He became the president of the Quebec Lawn Tennis Association in 1967 and three years later he joined the Davis Cup Selection Committee as chairman. During his time as chairman, he was also the vice-president of the Canadian Lawn Tennis Association (Tennis Canada) from 1970-1976.
In the 70s he was inducted into the Loyola College Hall of Fame and the Canadian Amateur Athletic Hall of Fame, but that wasn’t all. Later in life he became a member of the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame and the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.