Helena Suková
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Helena Suková () (born 23 February 1965) is a Czech former professional
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 ...
player. During her career, she won 14
major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
doubles titles, nine in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles. She is also a two-time
Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
silver medalist in doubles, a four-time major singles runner-up, and won a total of 10 singles titles and 69 doubles titles.


Personal life

Suková comes from a prominent Czech tennis family. Her mother, Věra Pužejová Suková, was a women's singles finalist at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
in 1962. Her father, Cyril Suk II, was president of the Czechoslovak Tennis Federation. Her brother, Cyril Suk III, is a former professional player on the men's tour who teamed with Suková to win three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, at the French Open in 1991 and at Wimbledon in 1996 and 1997.


Career

Suková turned professional in 1981. Her career-high world rankings were fourth in singles and first in women's doubles. Suková was a singles runner-up at the Australian Open twice (in 1984 and 1989) and at the US Open twice (in 1986 and 1993). Suková's most memorable Grand Slam singles win was against
Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...
in a semifinal of the 1984 Australian Open, where she ended Navratilova's 74-match winning streak and her chance at winning a calendar year Grand Slam.
Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record ...
defeated her in the final. In 1987, she became the fourth player to defeat Navratilova and Evert in the same tournament at Eastbourne and she also stopped Navratilova's 69 grass-win streak. Suková was very successful as a doubles player. She had a career Grand Slam in women's doubles, winning four titles at Wimbledon, two at the US Open, one at the Australian Open, and one at the French Open. She won three mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon, one at the US Open, and one at the French Open. She also was a women's doubles silver medalist at the Olympic Games in 1988 and 1996 (both times partnering
Jana Novotná Jana Novotná (; 2 October 1968 – 19 November 2017) was a Czech professional tennis player. She played a serve and volley game, an increasingly rare style of play among women during her career. Novotná won the women's singles title at Wimbled ...
). Suková helped Czechoslovakia win the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
four times, in 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1988. She also teamed with
Miloslav Mečíř Miloslav Mečíř (; born 19 May 1964) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. He won the men's singles gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games, representing Czechoslovakia, and contested two major singles finals. In 1987 he won the WCT Fi ...
to win the inaugural
Hopman Cup The Hopman Cup is an international eight-team indoor hardcourt tennis tournament that played mixed-gender teams on a country-by-country basis.It was held in Perth, Western Australia each year from 1989 to 2019, before being replaced on the calen ...
for Czechoslovakia in 1989. Over the course of her career, Suková won 10 singles titles and 69 doubles titles. Despite retiring from the professional tour in 1998, she was given a wild card into the 2006 Wimbledon mixed doubles tournament with her brother Cyril Suk. They lost their first round match.


Post-retirement activity

In 1999, Suková helped re-establish the International Lawn Tennis Club of the Czech Republic and became its president. From January 2001 until June 2008, she was a co-opted member of the executive committee of the Council of the International Clubs. From February 2001 until November 2008, she served on the presidium of the Czech Olympians' Club. In June 2007, Suková was appointed by The Czech Olympic Committee to the presidium of the Czech Fair Play Club. She is also a co-founder of the Kids and Junior Tennis Advancement Organization in the Czech Republic. Helena Sukova is also a member of the 'Champions for Peace' club, a group of 90 famous athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by
Peace and Sport Peace and Sport, also known as "L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport" is a neutral and independent organization based in the Principality of Monaco and under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco. Peace and Sport work in areas acros ...
, a
Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
-based international organization. Helena Sukova got her university doctorate degree in psychology, and since February 2011, has served as a vice president of the Association of Sport Psychologists in the Czech Republic, and served on the working group of the Task Force on Sport Psychology of the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations. She works as a psychologist on a regular basis with her clientele, who range from non-sporting circles to former or current professional athletes.


Hall of Fame induction

On 24 January 2018, Helena Sukova was elected into the Tennis Hall of Fame.


Grand Slam performance timeline


Singles


Doubles


Mixed doubles


References


External links


Helena Suková
Official website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sukova, Helena Australian Open (tennis) champions Czech expatriates in Monaco Czech female tennis players Czechoslovak female tennis players French Open champions Hopman Cup competitors International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Olympic silver medalists for Czechoslovakia Olympic silver medalists for the Czech Republic Olympic tennis players of Czechoslovakia Olympic tennis players of the Czech Republic People from Monte Carlo Tennis players from Prague Tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics US Open (tennis) champions Wimbledon champions 1965 births Living people Olympic medalists in tennis Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players