Željko Franulović (; born 13 June 1947) is a Croatian former

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

player who competed for

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

and has since had a long career in tennis management. He has been the

Monte-Carlo Masters The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professiona ...

tournament director since 2005. Whilst his career-high ATP singles ranking was world No. 6, the ATP rankings were installed after his 1969–1971 heyday – Franulović was ranked inside the top 20 in both 1970 and 1971, reaching as high as world No. 8 in March 1971. Finalist of the 1970 French Open and winner in Monte Carlo the same year.

Biography

Franulović was born on the island of

Korčula Korčula (, it, Curzola) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after ...

to father Ivo and mother Katica, but at the age of one month got brought to

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

where he grew up. His playing career lasted for 12 years between 1969 and 1980, during which he won a total of ten singles professional titles as well as seven doubles titles. He is remembered for reaching the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...

final in 1970, which he lost to Czech Jan Kodeš in straight sets. He reached the semifinals the following year. He also won the

in 1970. Since retiring from playing tennis, Franulović became involved in the ATP since the 1990s. He was the coach of the Croatian Davis Cup Team from 1994 to 1997. He was the Tournament Representative for Europe on the

Association of Tennis Professionals The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, a ...

' Board of Directors, between 2007 and 2009.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Grand Prix Championship Series finals

Singles: 1 (1 win)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Franulovic, Zeljko 1947 births Living people Croatian male tennis players Croatian tennis coaches Sportspeople from Split, Croatia Yugoslav male tennis players