Rolf Kinzl, (; 19 October 1878 – 14 November 1938) was an Austrian

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,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player, and

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

who was active during the beginning of the 20th century.

Tennis career

In 1898 he reached the final of the Austrian Championship but lost in four sets to Jorge André. In 1901 he won the Adriatic Championships in

Triest Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

in a three-set match. His opponent in the final had been

Miklós Horthy Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya ( hu, Vitéz nagybányai Horthy Miklós; ; English: Nicholas Horthy; german: Nikolaus Horthy Ritter von Nagybánya; 18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957), was a Hungarian admiral and dictator who served as the Regent o ...

who later became the

Regent of Hungary The Regent of Hungary was a position established in 1446 and renewed in 1920. It was held by Admiral Miklós Horthy until 1944. Under Hungary's Constitution there were two regents, one a regent of the ruling house, called the Nádor, and another ...

. In 1903 he won the international tournament of the Magyar Athletikai Club in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

with a victory over

Josiah Ritchie Major Josiah George Ritchie (18 October 1870 – 28 February 1955) was a tennis player from Great Britain. Major was his first name, not a military title. He was born in Westminster, educated at Brighton College and died in Ashford. Career Ritc ...

. With his compatriot

Kurt von Wessely Kurt von Wessely, also Curt von Wessely (; 18 October 1881 – 25 October 1917), was an Austrian tennis player who was active during the beginning of the 20th century. Career In July 1905 he played for the Austrian Davis Cup team in a semifinal ...

he celebrated his first important doubles title in the

German International Championships The Hamburg European Open (formerly ''German Open Tennis Championships'') is an annual tennis tournament for professional players held in Hamburg, Germany and part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. Before 2021, it was a mal ...

. In 1904 he was defeated in the semifinals of the Austrian Championship by

in straight sets. He and von Wessely also lost the doubles final to Herbert Roper-Barrett and B.W. Frost. Kinzl played for the Austrian

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

team during the 1905 World Group semifinal against Australasia. He lost both his singles matches against

Norman Brookes Sir Norman Everard Brookes (14 November 187728 September 1968) was an Australian tennis player. During his career he won three Grand Slam singles titles; Wimbledon in 1907 and 1914 (the first non-British individual to do so) and the Austral ...

and

Anthony Wilding Anthony Frederick Wilding (31 October 1883 – 9 May 1915), also known as Tony Wilding, was a New Zealand world No. 1 tennis player and soldier who was killed in action during World War I. Considered the world's first tennis superstar, Wildin ...

as well as the doubles match with his partner

. His best result at a Grand Slam tournament was reaching the third round at the

1907 Wimbledon Championships The 1907 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 24 June until 5 July.2010 Wimbledon Compendium, by Alan Little ( ...

. In 1907 he was the finalist of the Budapest International Doubles Championships partnering von Wessely but eventually lost it to

Tony Wilding Anthony Frederick Wilding (31 October 1883 – 9 May 1915), also known as Tony Wilding, was a New Zealand world No. 1 tennis player and soldier who was killed in action during World War I. Considered the world's first tennis superstar, Wildin ...

and Oscar Kreuzer. In May 1908 he was runner-up at the Wiesbaden Cup having lost the final in straight sets to

. In July he participated in the singles event at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

but lost in the first round to

Wilberforce Eaves Wilberforce Vaughan Eaves MBE (10 December 1867 – 10 February 1920) was an Australian-born tennis player from the United Kingdom. At the 1908 London Olympics he won a bronze medal in the Men's Singles tournament. Biography Eaves was born i ...

. In 1912 he clinched the title of the inaugural

Academic Sports Association Academic Sports Association (Polish: ''Akademicki Związek Sportowy'', ''AZS'') is a mass students’ sport organization, one of the biggest sports associations in Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Centr ...

international tournament in

Wawel The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established o ...

. In 1913 he captured his second

doubles trophy in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

alongside von Wessely. The same year they reached the semifinals of the

World Hard Court Championships World Hard Court Championships was an annual major tennis tournament sanctioned by the International Lawn Tennis Federation and held from 1912 to 1923. It was principally held in Paris, on clay courts of the Stade Français in the Paris suburb of ...

Other

In football, he played as the center-forward of the

DFC Prag The Deutscher Fußball-Club Prag, commonly known as DFC Prag, was a football club based in Prague. The club was founded on 25 May 1896 by a group of German Jews in Prague, which at the time of its founding was the capital of the Kingdom of Bohem ...

ue. He was an occasional football referee as well. In civil life he was an editor-in-chief for a sport magazine called ''Wiener Sporttagblattes''. He died in Vienna on 14 November 1938 of a sudden heart attack.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinzl, Rolf 1878 births 1938 deaths Sportspeople from Prague Austrian male tennis players Austrian men's footballers Austrian male cyclists Austrian football referees Olympic tennis players for Austria Tennis players at the 1908 Summer Olympics Men's association football players not categorized by position DFC Prag players