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Hana Mandlíková
Hana Mandlíková (born 19 February 1962, in
Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a former professional tennis player from the Czech
Republic. During her career, she won 4 Grand Slam singles titles – 2
at the Australian Open, 1 at the French Open, and 1 at the US Open. She was
also runner-up at Grand Slam singles events on 4 further occasions, and won
1 Grand Slam women's doubles title.
Mandlíková is the daughter of Willem Mandlik,
who was an Olympic 100m finalist for Czechoslovakia in 1956 and 1960.
Mandlíková first came to the tennis world's
attention as a brilliant junior player. In 1978, the International Tennis
Federation launched the world junior rankings, and Mandlíková
became the first ever female World No. 1 junior player.
Mandlíková captured her first Grand Slam singles
title at the Australian Open in 1980, defeating Wendy Turnbull in straight
sets in the final. Her second came a year later at the French Open, with
a straight-sets final victory over Sylvia Hanika. Mandlíková
was also runner-up at the US Open in 1980 and 1982, and at Wimbledon in 1981,
losing in all three finals to Chris Evert.
In 1983 she led Czechoslovakia to the first of 3 consecutive
Fed Cup titles.
In 1984, Mandlíková defeated Martina Navrátilová
in three sets in the final at Oakland, ending a winning streak of Navrátilová's
at 54 matches, one match short of tying the modern record. Following this,
Navrátilová went on to win her next 74 matches (a record which
still stands).
In 1985, Mandlíková won the women's singles
title at the US Open, defeating Navrátilová in three sets in
the final.
In 1986, Mandlíková teamed up with wendy Turnbull
to win the women's doubles title at the WTA Tour Championships. She also
lost in the Wimbledon singles final that year to Navrátilová.
1987 saw Mandlíková win her fourth and final
Grand Slam singles title when she beat Navrátilová in straight
sets in the final of the Australian Open. Mandlíková and Navrátilová
teamed up in 1989 to win the US Open women's doubles title.
Mandlíková took up Australian citizenship in
1988. She retired from the professional tennis tour in 1990, having won 27
singles titles and 6 doubles titles. Her career-high singles ranking was
World No. 3.
Since retiring from the tour, Mandlíková has
become a successful tennis coach. She coached Jana Novotná for 9 years,
during which time Novotná won Wimbledon and reached the World No.
2 ranking. Mandlíková has also captained the Czech Republic's
Fed Cup team.
Mandlíková was inducted into the International
Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994.
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