Philippe Washer was born on 6 August 1924 in Brussels . He is the son of Jean Washer , another Belgian tennis player and textile industry mogul . His mother , Simone van der Straeten , was the daughter of Ernest Solvay , founder of Solvay International Chemical Group . Philippe had three brothers : Paul Washer , president of the Chemical Industry Federation of Belgium and director of the Solvay company ; Jacques Washer , antiquarian who died in the Swissair Flight 316 crash ; and Edouard . They were also the cousins of famous sportscar racer Olivier Gendebien . Philippe started playing tennis at the age of six . He was coached by his father . He won his first tournament on 9 May 1940 in La Rasante just one day before the Battle of Belgium during which he volunteered to join the Belgian Army . In 1942 he won the French junior championships . Washer won the Belgian National Championships nine times between 1945 – 1954 , the only exception being 1950 when he was forced to retire from the competition due to illness . In 1952 , he reached the semifinal of the Royal Belgian Tennis Federation Fiftieth Anniversary tournament . In 1957 , he reached the Inter-Zonal Zone Finals of the Davis Cup with the Belgium Davis Cup team . The same year he won the Lebanon international tennis championships by defeating Warren Woodcock . In 1967 he came back from retirement to win the Belgian National Covered Courts Championship doubles , partnering with Jacky Brichant . Also after retirement , he won the Wimbledon Veterans ' Doubles with Jaroslav Drobný four times from 1968 to 1971
Swissair Flight 316
Swissair Flight 316
Philippe Washer