Etchebaster, Pierre

Pierre Etchebaster, (born December 8, 1893, Saint-Jean de Luz, France—died March 24, 1980, Saint-Jean de Luz), French real tennis player who dominated the sport as world champion from 1928 to 1954.

Etchebaster started as a player of pelota, the game of his native Basque region, before taking up real tennis, the ancestor of lawn tennis known in France as jeu de paume. By 1926 he was a challenger for the world championship, which he won in 1928 against previous champion George F. Covey of the U.K. From then until his retirement he successfully defended his title, showing mastery of tactics, technical supremacy, and amazing resilience, so that in his last defense, against the British James Dear in New York, he outlasted the younger man in the three-day contest.