Brugnon, Jacques

Jacques Brugnon “Toto”
Born: May 11, 1895
Died: March 20, 1978
Hometown: Paris, France
Citizenship: France
Handed: Right
Inducted: 1976

Grand Slam Record
Australian Doubles 1928

 French Doubles 1927-28, 1930, 1932, 1934
   Doubles finalist 1925, 26, 29
   Mixed 1925-26

 Wimbledon Doubles 1926, 1928, 1932-33
   Doubles finalist 1927, 31, 34
Tournament Record
Italian Doubles finalist 1935

 Davis Cup Team Member 1921, 1923-27, 1930-34

 Olympics Silver Medal Doubles 1924

Jacques “Toto” Brugnon was the elder of France’s celebrated Four Musketeers who won the Davis Cup in 1927 from the U.S., and kept it six years. He preceded the other three–Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet, René Lacoste–as an Internationalist, playing first on the Cup team in 1921. A master at doubles, he won Wimbledon four times, 1926 and 1928 with Cochet and 1932 and 1933 with Borotra, and appeared in three other finals. He won the French five times, three with Cochet, two with Borotra, and the Australian with Borotra, plus two French mixed for a dozen major titles.

Although doubles expertise overshadowed his singles the small (5-foot-6 1/2, 139 pounds) neatly mustachioed and courtly Toto had many fine moments alone. He was ranked world Nos. 10 and 9 in 1926 and 1927, golden years for the French: they were 40 percent of the Top Ten, his fellow Musketeers occupying places in the first four, Lacoste at No. 1. In his greatest singles moment, his clever volleying took him to the Wimbledon semis of 1926 and five times a match point away from joining Borotra in the championship round. American Bob Kinsey got away from him, through, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 9-7, slipping from 4-5, 15-40, and 5-6, 15-40 and ad out in the last set. Wallis Myers, the connoisseur, wrote: “Brugnon is a player of rare stroke variety and touch.” He was a quarterfinalist in 1927, and stands fourth among all male Wimbledonians with 129: 37-19 in singles, 69-16 in doubles, 23-16 in mixed.

His Davis Cup career ran 11 years, and he had a hand in four of the Cup triumphs as a right-handed left-court player. For a time he was a teaching professional in California. He was born May 11, 1895 in Paris, and died there March 20, 1978. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1976.

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