Jan Kodeš

Jan Kodeš
Country Czechoslovakia
Born March 1, 1946 (1946-03-01) (age 65)
Plays Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HOF 1990 (member page)
Singles
Career titles 8
Highest ranking 4 (September 1973)
Grand Slam results
French Open W (1970, 1971)
Wimbledon W (1973)
US Open F (1971, 1973)

Jan Kodeš (Czech: Jan Kodeš; born March 1, 1946, in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a right-handed Czech former tennis player who won three Grand Slam events in the early-1970s.

Kodeš's greatest success was on the clay courts of the French Open. He won the title there in 1970, beating Željko Franulović in the final, and in 1971, defeating Ilie Năstase in the final. He also won Wimbledon on grass in 1973, although 13 of the top 16 players did not play the tournament[1] that year because of a player dispute. He beat home favorite Roger Taylor in the semifinals 6–1, 6–8, 3–6, 6–3, 7–5 and Alex Metreveli in the straight sets final.

Kodeš never played the Australian Open but he was twice the runner-up at the US Open, in 1971 and 1973.

Kodeš reached his highest tour ranking of World No. 4 in September 1973. During his career, he won a total of 8 top-level singles titles and 17 doubles titles.

He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1990.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 5 (3–2)

Wins (3)
Outcome Year Championship Opponent in the final Score in the final
Winner 1970 French Open (1) Željko Franulović 6–2, 6–4, 6–0
Winner 1971 French Open (2) Ilie Năstase 8–6, 6–2, 2–6, 7–5
Runner-up 1971 U.S. Open (1) Stan Smith 6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 6–7(3–5)
Winner 1973 Wimbledon Alex Metreveli 6–1, 9–8(5), 6–3
Runner-up 1973 U.S. Open (2) John Newcombe 4–6, 6–1, 6–4, 2–6, 3–6

Singles finals (26)

Wins (8)

Outcome No. Date Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1. 1969 Barranquilla, Colombia Clay Ilie Năstase 4–6, 4–6, 10–8, 6–2, 3–6
Winner 1. 1970 French Open, Paris Clay Željko Franulović 6–2, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 2. 1970 Rome, Italy Clay Ilie Năstase 3–6, 6–1, 3–6, 6–8
Runner-up 3. 1971 Nice, France Hard Ilie Năstase 8–10, 9–11, 1–6
Winner 2. 1971 Catania, Italy Clay Georges Goven 6–3, 6–0, 6–2
Runner-up 4. 1971 Rome, Italy Clay Rod Laver 5–7, 3–6, 3–6
Winner 3. 1971 French Open, Paris Clay Ilie Năstase 8–6, 6–2, 2–6, 7–5
Runner-up 5. 1971 U.S. Open, New York City Grass Stan Smith 6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 6–7
Runner-up 6. 1971 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Arthur Ashe 1–6, 6–3, 2–6, 6–1, 4–6
Runner-up 7. 1972 Nice, France Clay Ilie Năstase 0–6, 4–6, 3–6
Runner-up 8. 1972 Rome, Italy Clay Manuel Orantes 6–4, 1–6, 5–7, 2–6
Winner 4. 1972 Barcelona, Spain Clay Manuel Orantes 6–3, 6–2, 6–3
Winner 5. 1973 Cologne WCT, Germany Carpet Brian Fairlie 6–1, 6–3, 6–1
Runner-up 9. 1973 Vancouver WCT, Canada Other Tom Gorman 6–3, 2–6, 5–7
Winner 6. 1973 Wimbledon, London Grass Alex Metreveli 6–1, 9–8, 6–3
Runner-up 10. 1973 U.S. Open, New York City Grass John Newcombe 4–6, 6–1, 6–4, 2–6, 3–6
Runner-up 11. 1973 Prague, Czechoslovakia Clay Jiří Hřebec 6–4, 1–6, 6–3, 0–6, 5–7
Runner-up 12. 1975 Hampton, U.S. Carpet Jimmy Connors 6–3, 3–6, 0–6
Runner-up 13. 1975 Hamburg, Germany Clay Manuel Orantes 6–3, 2–6, 2–6, 6–4, 1–6
Runner-up 14. 1975 Düsseldorf, Germany Clay Jaime Fillol 4–6, 6–1, 0–6, 5–7
Runner-up 15. 1975 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Adriano Panatta 6–2, 2–6, 5–7, 4–6
Winner 7. 1975 Madrid, Spain Clay Adriano Panatta 5–7, 2–6, 7–6, 6–2, 6–3
Winner 8. 1976 Basel, Switzerland Carpet Jiří Hřebec 6–4, 6–2, 6–3
Runner-up 16. 1976 Nice, France Clay Corrado Barazzutti 2–6, 6–2, 7–5, 6–7, 6–8
Runner-up 17. 1976 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Manuel Orantes 6–7, 2–6, 6–7
Runner-up 18. 1977 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Guillermo Vilas 7–5, 2–6, 6–4, 3–6, 2–6

Doubles titles (17)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1. 1970 Båstad, Sweden Clay Željko Franulović Dick Crealy
Allan Stone
2–6, 6–2, 12–12, RET.
Runner-up 2. 1970 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Željko Franulović John Alexander
Phil Dent
8–10, 2–6, 4–6
Runner-up 3. 1970 Phoenix, U.S. Hard Charlie Pasarell Dick Crealy
Ray Ruffels
6–7, 3–6
Runner-up 4. 1970 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Željko Franulović Bob Carmichael
Ray Ruffels
5–7, 2–6, 7–5, 7–6, 3–6
Runner-up 5. 1971 Macon, U.S. Hard Željko Franulović Clark Graebner
Thomaz Koch
3–6, 6–7
Runner-up 6. 1971 Catania, Italy Clay Jan Kukal Pierre Barthès
Pierre Jauffret
4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Winner 1. 1971 Indianapolis, U.S. Clay Željko Franulović Clark Graebner
Erik Van Dillen
7–6, 5–7, 6–3
Winner 2. 1972 Nice, France Clay Stan Smith Frew McMillan
Ilie Năstase
6–3, 3–6, 7–5
Winner 3. 1972 Hamburg, Germany Clay Ilie Năstase Dick Crealy
Cliff Letcher
4–6, 6–0, 3–6, 6–2, 6–2
Runner-up 7. 1972 Montreal, Canada Clay Jan Kukal Ilie Năstase
Ion Ţiriac
6–7, 3–6
Winner 4. 1973 Los Angeles, U.S. Hard Vladimír Zedník Jimmy Connors
Ilie Năstase
6–2, 6–4
Winner 5. 1973 Prague, Czechoslovakia Clay Vladimír Zedník Róbert Machán
Balázs Taróczy
6–3, 7–6
Winner 6. 1974 Palm Desert WCT, U.S. Hard Vladimír Zedník Ryan Moore
Onny Parun
6–4, 6–4
Winner 7. 1974 Düsseldorf, Germany Clay Jiří Hřebec Kenichi Hirai
Toshiro Sakai
6–1, 6–4
Runner-up 8. 1975 Salisbury, U.S. Carpet Roger Taylor Jimmy Connors
Ilie Năstase
6–7, 2–6
Winner 8. 1975 Munich, Germany Clay Wojtek Fibak Milan Holeček
Karl Meiler
7–5, 6–3
Runner-up 9. 1975 Hamburg, Germany Clay Wojtek Fibak Juan Gisbert, Sr.
Manuel Orantes
3–6, 6–7
Winner 9. 1975 Düsseldorf, Germany Clay François Jauffret Harald Elschenbroich
Hans Kary
6–2, 6–3
Runner-up 10. 1975 Montreal, Canada Hard Ilie Năstase Cliff Drysdale
Raymond Moore
4–6, 7–5, 6–7
Winner 10. 1975 Madrid, Spain Clay Ilie Năstase Juan Gisbert, Sr.
Manuel Orantes
7–6, 4–6, 9–7
Runner-up 11. 1976 Basel, Switzerland Carpet Jiří Hřebec Frew McMillan
Tom Okker
4–6, 6–7, 4–6
Winner 11. 1976 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Jiří Hřebec Jürgen Fassbender
Hans-Jürgen Pohmann
6–7, 6–2, 6–4
Runner-up 12. 1977 Baltimore, U.S. Carpet Ross Case Ion Ţiriac
Guillermo Vilas
3–6, 7–6, 4–6
Winner 12. 1977 Monte Carlo WCT, Monaco Clay François Jauffret Wojtek Fibak
Tom Okker
2–6, 6–3, 6–2
Runner-up 13. 1977 French Open, Paris Clay Wojtek Fibak Brian Gottfried
Raúl Ramírez
6–7, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Winner 13. 1977 Barcelona, Spain Clay Wojtek Fibak Bob Hewitt
Frew McMillan
6–0, 6–4
Runner-up 14. 1977 Vienna, Austria Hard (i) Wojtek Fibak Bob Hewitt
Frew McMillan
4–6, 3–6
Runner-up 15. 1977 Oviedo, Spain Hard Raúl Ramírez Fred McNair
Sherwood Stewart
3–6, 1–6
Runner-up 16. 1978 Springfield, U.S. Carpet Marty Riessen Robert Lutz
Stan Smith
3–6, 3–6
Runner-up 17. 1978 Nice, France Clay Tomáš Šmíd Patrice Dominguez
François Jauffret
4–6, 0–6
Runner-up 18. 1978 Rome, Italy Clay Tomáš Šmíd Víctor Pecci
Belus Prajoux
7–6, 6–7, 1–6
Winner 14. 1978 Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany Clay Tomáš Šmíd Carlos Kirmayr
Belus Prajoux
6–3, 7–6
Runner-up 19. 1978 Aix-en-Provence, France Clay Tomáš Šmíd Ion Ţiriac
Guillermo Vilas
6–7, 1–6
Winner 15. 1978 Madrid, Spain Clay Wojtek Fibak Pavel Složil
Tomáš Šmíd
6–7, 6–1, 6–2
Winner 16. 1979 Hamburg, Germany Clay Tomáš Šmíd Mark Edmondson
John Marks
6–3, 6–1, 7–6
Runner-up 20. 1979 Hilversum, Netherlands Clay Tomáš Šmíd Jr. Tom Okker
Balázs Taróczy
1–6, 3–6
Runner-up 21. 1979 Indianapolis, U.S. Clay Tomáš Šmíd Gene Mayer
John McEnroe
4–6, 6–7
Runner-up 22. 1980 Barcelona, Spain Clay Balázs Taróczy Steve Denton
Ivan Lendl
2–6, 7–6, 3–6
Runner-up 23. 1980 Cologne, Germany Hard (i) Tomáš Šmíd Bernard Mitton
Andrew Pattison
4–6, 1–6
Winner 17. 1982 Hilversum, Netherlands Clay Tomáš Šmíd Dick Crealy
Cliff Letcher
6–7, 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up 24. 1983 Hilversum, Netherlands Clay Tomáš Šmíd Heinz Günthardt
Balázs Taróczy
6–3, 2–6, 3–6

External links

References

  1. ^ ^ Wimbledon: The Official History of the Championships. Barrett, John. Collins Willow 2011 ISBN 0-00-711707-8