Photo: Journal La Vallée
On May 12 in Saint-Sauveur, Rolland Godin passed away at the age of 90. A former member of the Canadian Davis Cup team, tournament organizer and coach, he was among Québec’s great tennis players and builders.
Born in 1932, he was crowned Canada’s best junior player in 1950 and remained in the Canadian Top 10 for 14 years (1952–1966). He played his best season in 1960, when he won the provincial championship and was chosen to represent Canada at Davis Cup.
Rolland Godin was never very far from the sport, playing throughout life and earning the title of Canada’s senior men’s doubles champion in the over-60 category with Marc Blondeau. Together, they even went on to become the over-45 senior men’s doubles world champions in 1982!
He gave back to tennis by conveying his passion to younger players and organizing tournaments and most notably helped his son Éric became the U14 Canadian singles champion in 1985. Mr. Godin also coached U16 Canadian singles champion Martin Lachapelle (1978) and chaired the Association des vétérans du tennis québécois for some 20 years.
In 2000, in recognition of all his achievements, Rolland Godin was inducted into the Panthéon des sports du Québec, Québec’s sports hall of fame, as an athlete. In 1997, the Panthéon du tennis québécois, Québec’s tennis hall of fame, followed suit and then inducted him a second time, as a builder, in 2008.
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