Robert Bédard (born 13 September 1931) is a Canadian former tennis player and educator. He is the most recent Canadian winner of the Canadian Open Tennis Championships.
Bédard won three Canadian Open singles titles in 1955 (over Henri Rochon in the final), 1957 (over Ramanathan Krishnan in the final) and 1958 (over Whitney Reed in the final). Bédard won a record seven Quebec Open singles championships and two Ontario Open singles titles. Bédard won the ILTF Sutton Hard Courts or ILTF Surrey Hard Court Championships on clay at Sutton, England in 1957. That same season he won the North of England Hard Court Championships on clay at Southport, England. He won the USLTA Eastern Clay Court Championships in 1960. His career titles won was 30 tournaments, mostly on clay, in a very restricted playing career often confined to just the summer months.
Bédard was considered among the top ten clay court players in the world and was the top-ranked Canadian singles player in 11 consecutive years from 1955 to 1965. At the height of his career, he was unbeaten in 216 consecutive matches against Canadian players.
Bédard represented Canada in Davis Cup play for many years, reaching North America Zone and Interzone Finals in 1953, 1955, and 1959. During his career, he defeated No. 1 players of 20 different countries, including Australia and the U.S..
Bédard was a multi-sport athlete and was offered professional contracts with the New York Rangers ice hockey team and the Cleveland Indians baseball team, which he declined in favour of a career in academia. He became the principal of St. Andrew's College, an elite private preparatory collegiate, from 1981 to 1997.
Tennis career
Summary
Born in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Bédard began playing tennis at the relatively late age of 15, and tennis was always his second sport to ice hockey. Bédard continued to play minor league ice hockey during the winter months and minor league baseball during the summer months.
Bédard is the most recent Canadian to win the Canadian Open men's singles championship, triumphing in 1955 (defeating Henri Rochon in the final), 1957 (defeating Ramanathan Krishnan in a four sets final), and 1958 (defeating Whitney Reed in the final). He won the doubles title three times, in 1955, 1957, and 1959 with compatriot Don Fontana. He won the mixed doubles title in 1959 partnering Mariette Laframboise. Bédard holds the record at the Canadian Open Championships for the most appearances with 17. He won the Montreal Cup at age 20. Bédard won a record seven Quebec Open Championships singles titles between 1955 and 1970, two Ontario Open singles titles, six Oakville Invitational singles titles, and three Nova Scotia Championships. Bédard won the ILTF Sutton Hard Courts or ILTF Surrey Hard Court Championships on clay at Sutton, England in 1957. That same season he won the North of England Hard Court Championships at Southport, England. He won the USLTA Eastern Clay Court Championships singles title in 1960 in his only appearance at the event.
Bédard competed in the French Championships twice, Wimbledon four times, and the U.S. Nationals eleven times. His best showing at a Grand Slam event was reaching the round of 32, which he did once at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, both in 1954, and four times at Forest Hills, in 1955, 1956, 1959, and in 1961.