MERCELIS, CHRISTIANE
Belgium
Born 5th October 1931
Died 14th June 2024, Uccle, Belgium
Married C Spruyt
[Active 1950-1969]
Belgian #1 for many years-a the #3 seed she was a quarterfinalist at the 1957 French Championships. This was her lone trip to the final 8 of a slam.
Mercelis competed at Wimbledon every year from 1951 to 1968.
Winner: 1953 - Ostend; 1956 - Nice; 1957 - Aix-en-Provence, Cannes Carlton Club, Nice; 1958 - French Covered Court Championships, Moscow; 1959 - German Covered Court Championships, Moscow; 1960 - Beckenham; 1963 - Le Touquet
Finalist: 1952 - Ostend; 1954 - Nice; 1955 - Napoli; 1956 - German Covered Court Championships; 1957 - Dutch International, German Covered Court Championships, Ostend; 1959 - Queen's Club; 1960 - Ostend; 1961 - Dutch International, Ostend; 1962 - Aix-en-Provence; 1963 - German Covered Court Championships, Ostend; 1964 - Cannes Montfleury, Nice, Ostend, Mentone
President of the Belgian branch of the IC from 2002 to present.
[Thanks to Newmark for the following]
Christiane Mercelis was interviewed in French by a journalist from the Belgian newspaper La Libre newspaper in the summer of 2002. The following is an English translation of that interview:
The Pioneer – Christiane Mercelis
By Christophe Blaivie
Published on Tuesday, 16 July 2002
https://www.lalibre.be/sports/tennis/christiane-mercelis-la-pionniere-51b87957e4b0de6db9a75404
With 83 titles across all categories at the Belgian Championships, Christiane Mercelis can take pride in having left her mark on tennis in our country.
Born in 1931, it was on the eve of the Second World War that Christiane Mercelis discovered what would become her passion: “I must have been eight years old and used to take to the courts with the other children of my age when our parents had finished their matches.” Those first steps were taken at the Lorraine Club in the municipality of Uccle in Brussels; the club no longer exists. "In those days you couldn’t take part in tournaments before the age of fourteen, so I bided my time…”
Christiane’s style of play quickly attracted the attention of the secretary of the Royal Racing Club in Brussels: “Come to us, we’ll give you lessons,” he said to me. “In fact, I must have had only six lessons, no more, over the course of a whole year.”
Christiane Mercelis soon displayed all of her talent in the junior events. “I won the Coupe de Borman in 1947 and 1948 and, the following year, I won the junior title at Wimbledon against Susan Partridge, who later became Mme Philippe Chatrier.” Before winning in London, Christiane had never really had the game for grass. “I must have played on a grass court for about half an hour before my first round match… Let’s just say that my forehand made the difference on that very fast surface.”
In 1951, at the age of 19, the Brussels native won the first of her thirteen titles of Belgian champion. That was when the Belgian Tennis Federation began to encourage her to travel on the international circuit. “It was very nice to be able to travel, but I remember that, for my first trip to the French Championships at Roland Garros, the federation had given me a budget of 2,000 old Belgian francs. With that small amount I had to pay for transport, accommodation and any other expenses. In other words, you could live on that money if you were beaten in the first round… On my first visit to Paris, I managed to win one round, which was a good performance in itself.”
Some of the highlights of the 18-year-long career of Christiane Mercelisn would be reaching the last 16 at Wimbledon three times and twice at Roland Garros. “Let’s just say that if the WTA rankings had existed in those days, I think I would have been ranked in or around the Top 15. In Europe, I would have been number one or two. It must be said that, in those days, the Americans and the Australians were a class above everyone else. I remember playing the young American Maureen Connolly in the first round at Roland Garros. I must have won about five games, and afterwards she said that she was surprised by the quality of my forehand, which was a nice compliment.”
A great deal of enjoyment
For fifteen years Christiane Mercelis travelled the world. While the globetrotting life didn’t help her bank account grow, it was, nevertheless, enriching: “Sometimes I say to myself that I was born too early. However, on the other hand, I’m sure that we enjoyed things more in those days. We didn’t train much during a tournament. We met up for dinner in the evening and had a nice time afterwards. The atmosphere was incomparable to how things now are on the circuit. I sometimes have the impression that the girls see themselves as porcelain objects. Are they still enjoying themselves? I don’t think so!”
In parallel to her life on the tennis circuit Christiane Mercelis always kept her job as a secretary in a clothes shop: “I had a very understanding boss.” At the age of 35 she decided – finally – to hang up her rackets. “I then started to give tennis lessons and I became national coach for girls like Monique Van Haver and Nicole [Michèle] Gurdal.”
As recently as five years ago you could still have seen Christiane Mercelis on a court at the Racing Club de Bruxelles, which is still her club. “But now I can’t play anymore. I’ve a problem with a tendon in one of my legs. The doctor told told me that I should let some balls go by. But I preferred to stop completely. I’ve played enough tennis in my life. I’ve no regrets.”
© Les Sports 2002
Sources:
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiane_Mercelis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiane_Mercelis
https://sites.google.com/site/icbelgium2/présidentsicbelgium
Les Sports (see report above from 2002)
[Thank to Jimbo, Newmark, Rosamynd and Rollo for this information]
