Helena Suková

Helena Suková
Helena Suková at Wimbledon in 2008
Nation:	Czech Republic
Birthday:	February 23, 1965
Size:	188 cm
1st professional season:	1983
Resignation:	1998
Playing hand:	Right
Prize money:	$ 6,051,115
singles
Career record:	614: 307
Career title:	10 WTA
Highest ranking:	4 (March 18 1985)
Grand Slam record
Double
Career record:	752: 220
Career title:	69 WTA
Highest ranking:	1 (February 5 1990)
Weeks as No. 1:	68
Grand Slam record
Mixed
Grand Slam record
Olympic games
Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

Helena Suková (born February 23, 1965 in Prague , Czechoslovakia ) is a former Czechoslovak tennis player .

Career

Suková was born into a prominent tennis family. Her mother Věra was a well-known tennis player, her father Cyril Suk was President of the Czechoslovak Tennis Association. Her brother Cyril also became a tennis player; with him she won the mixed competition at Wimbledon three times and once at the French Open .

In her professional career, she was twice in the finals of the Australian Open (1984, 1989) and the US Open (1986, 1993). She won ten WTA tournaments. She was denied a Grand Slam title in singles. That is why she was often referred to as "the best player who never won a Grand Slam tournament in singles" . She celebrated her greatest success in 1984 in the semifinals of the Australian Open, when she defeated Martina Navrátilová and her streak of 74 victories in a row stopped; in the final, however, she was defeated by Chris Evert . In 1987 she was the fourth player in Eastbourne who had managed to defeat Navrátilová and Evert in a tournament; she finished another of Navrátilovás series, namely that of 69 victories in a row on grass. In 1993 Suková was able to defeat Navrátilová again on her way to her fourth and final Grand Slam final at the US Open, which she lost to Steffi Graf .

Suková was more successful in doubles at Grand Slam tournaments. She won a total of nine titles there, two of them with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch . With Jana Novotná she won the silver medal at the Olympic Games in 1988 and 1996 . In total, she won 69 double titles in her career.

She also played between 1981 and 1996 for the Czechoslovak and Czech Fed Cup team; after her 73 Fed Cup games, she won 57 times.

In 1998 Helena Suková ended her professional career.

In 2018 she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame .

Tournament victories

singles

No.	date	competition	category	Topping	Final opponent	Result
1.	January 1982	Newport News	WTA	Carpet (hall)	Patricia Medrado	6: 2, 6: 7, 6: 0
2.	November 18, 1984	Brisbane	WTA	race	Elizabeth Sayers	6: 4, 6: 4
3.	August 10, 1986	Montreal	WTA	Hard court	Pam Shriver	6: 2, 7: 5
4th	5th October 1986	Hilversum	WTA	Carpet (hall)	Catherine Tanvier	6: 2, 7: 5
5.	March 29, 1987	Piscataway	WTA	Carpet (hall)	Lori McNeil	6: 0, 6: 3
6th	June 20, 1987	Eastbourne	WTA	race	Martina Navrátilová	7: 6, 6: 3
7th	January 8, 1989	Brisbane	WTA Tier IV	Hard court	Brenda Schultz	7: 6, 7: 6
8th.	January 6, 1991	Brisbane	WTA Tier IV	Hard court	Akiko Kijimuta	6: 4, 6: 3
9.	February 9, 1992	Osaka	WTA Tier IV	Carpet (hall)	Laura Gildemeister	6: 2, 4: 6, 6: 1
10.	November 14, 1992	Indianapolis	WTA Tier IV	Hard court (hall)	Linda Harvey-Wild	6: 4, 6: 3

Double

No.	date	competition	category	Topping	partner	Final opponent	Result
1.	January 29, 1984	Marco Island	WTA	sand	Hana Mandlíková	Anne Hobbs Andrea Jaeger	3: 6, 6: 2, 6: 2
2.	May 24, 1984	Perugia	WTA	sand	Iva Budařová	Kathleen Horvath Virginia Ruzici	7: 6 5 , 1: 6, 6: 4
3.	October 21, 1984	Filderstadt	WTA	Hard court (hall)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Bettina Bunge Eva Pfaff	6: 2, 4: 6, 6: 3
4th	November 26, 1984	Sydney	WTA	race	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Wendy Turnbull Sharon Walsh	6: 2, 7: 6 4
5.	December 16, 1984	Tokyo	WTA	Carpet (hall)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Elizabeth Smylie Catherine Tanvier	6: 4, 6: 4
6th	May 13, 1985	Berlin	WTA	sand	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Steffi Count Catherine Tanvier	6: 4, 6: 1
7th	May 26, 1985	Lugano	WTA	sand	Bonnie Gadusek	Bettina Bunge Eva Pfaff	6: 2, 6: 4
8th.	4th August 1985	los Angeles	WTA	Hard court	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Hana Mandlíková Wendy Turnbull	6: 4, 6: 2
9.	September 8, 1985	US Open	Grand Slam	Hard court	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Martina Navrátilová Pam Shriver	6: 7 5 , 6: 2, 6: 3
10.	December 15, 1985	Tokyo	WTA	Carpet (hall)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Marcella Mesker Elizabeth Smylie	6-0, 6-4
11.	February 23, 1986	Boca Raton	WTA	Hard court	Pam Shriver	Chris Evert-Lloyd Wendy Turnbull	6: 2, 6: 3
12.	March 16, 1986	Dallas	WTA	Carpet (hall)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Hana Mandlíková Wendy Turnbull	4: 6, 7: 5, 6: 4
13.	April 20, 1986	Amelia Island	WTA	sand	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Gabriela Sabatini Catherine Tanvier	6: 2, 5: 7, 7: 6 7
14th	May 19, 1986	Berlin	WTA	sand	Steffi Graf	Martina Navratilova Andrea Temesvári	7: 5, 6: 2
15th	5th October 1986	Hilversum	WTA	Carpet (hall)	Kathy Jordan	Tine Scheuer-Larsen Catherine Tanvier	7: 5, 6: 1
16.	October 26, 1986	Brighton	WTA	Carpet (hall)	Steffi Graf	Tine Scheuer-Larsen Catherine Tanvier	6: 4, 6: 4
17th	November 16, 1986	Chicago	WTA	Carpet (hall)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Steffi Count Gabriela Sabatini	6: 7 5 , 7: 6 5 , 6: 3
18th	February 1, 1987	Tokyo	WTA	Carpet (hall)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Elise Burgin Pam Shriver	6: 1, 7: 6 5
19th	May 17, 1987	Berlin	WTA	sand	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Catarina Lindqvist Tine Scheuer-Larsen	6: 1, 6: 2
20th	5th July 1987	Wimbledon	Grand Slam	race	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Betsy Nagelsen Elizabeth Smylie	7: 5, 7: 5
21st	October 25, 1987	Brighton	WTA	Carpet (hall)	Kathy Jordan	Tine Scheuer-Larsen Catherine Tanvier	7: 5, 6: 1
22nd	November 15, 1987	Chicago	WTA	Carpet (hall)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Zina Garrison Lori McNeil	6: 4, 6: 3
23.	March 5, 1988	San Antonio	WTA Tier IV	Hard court	Lori McNeil	Rosalyn Fairbank Gretchen Magers	6: 3, 6: 7 5 , 6: 2
24.	May 1, 1988	Tokyo	WTA Tier III	Carpet (hall)	Pam Shriver	Gigi Fernández Robin White	4: 6, 6: 2, 7: 6 5
25th	August 21, 1988	Montreal	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Jana Novotná	Zina Garrison Pam Shriver	7: 6 2 , 7: 6 6
26th	August 28, 1988	Mahwah	WTA Tier IV	Hard court	Jana Novotná	Gigi Fernández Robin White	6: 3, 6: 2
27.	January 8, 1989	Brisbane	WTA Tier V	Hard court	Jana Novotná	Patty Fendick Jill Hetherington	6: 7 4 , 6: 1, 6: 2
28.	March 19, 1989	Boca Raton	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Jana Novotná	Jo Durie Mary Joe Fernández	6: 4, 6: 2
29	April 2, 1989	Miami	WTA Tier I	Hard court	Jana Novotná	Gigi Fernández Lori McNeil	7: 6 5 , 6: 4
30th	July 9, 1989	Wimbledon	Grand Slam	race	Jana Novotná	Laryssa Savchenko Natallja Swerava	6: 1, 6: 2
31.	October 22, 1989	Zurich	WTA Tier III	Carpet (hall)	Jana Novotná	Nathalie Tauziat Judith Wiesner	6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 4
32.	January 7, 1990	Brisbane	WTA Tier IV	Hard court	Jana Novotná	Hana Mandlíková Pam Shriver	6: 3, 6: 1
33.	January 14, 1990	Sydney	WTA Tier III	Hard court	Jana Novotná	Laryssa Savchenko Natallja Swerava	6: 3, 7: 5
34.	January 28, 1990	Australian Open	Grand Slam	Hard court	Jana Novotná	Patty Fendick Mary Joe Fernández	7: 6 5 , 7: 6 6
35.	March 4th 1990	Indian Wells	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Jana Novotná	Gigi Fernández Martina Navrátilová	6: 2, 7: 6 6
36.	March 11, 1990	Boca Raton	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Jana Novotná	Elise Burgin Wendy Turnbull	6: 4, 6: 2
37.	March 25, 1990	Miami	WTA Tier I	Hard court	Jana Novotná	Betsy Nagelsen Robin White	6: 4, 6: 3
38.	June 10, 1990	French Open	Grand Slam	sand	Jana Novotná	Laryssa Savchenko Natallja Swerava	6: 4, 7: 5
39.	July 8, 1990	Wimbledon	Grand Slam	race	Jana Novotná	Kathy Jordan Elizabeth Smylie	6: 3, 6: 4
40.	October 28, 1990	Brighton	WTA Tier II	Carpet (hall)	Nathalie Tauziat	Jo Durie Natallja Swerawa	6: 1, 6: 4
41.	November 11, 1990	Worcester	WTA Tier II	Carpet (hall)	Gigi Fernández	Mary Joe Fernández Jana Novotná	3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 3
42.	January 13, 1991	Sydney	WTA tier iii	Hard court	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná	6: 1, 6: 4
43.	March 31, 1991	Tampa	WTA	sand	Gigi Fernández	Laryssa Savchenko Natallja Swerava	6: 4, 4: 6, 7: 6 3
44.	April 14, 1991	Amelia Island	WTA Tier II	sand	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Mercedes Paz Natallja Sverava	4: 6, 6: 2, 6: 2
45.	January 12, 1992	Sydney	WTA Tier III	Hard court	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Mary Joe Fernández Zina Garrison	7: 6 4 , 6: 7 4 , 6: 2
46.	January 26, 1992	Australian Open	Grand Slam	Hard court	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Mary Joe Fernández Zina Garrison	6: 4, 7: 6 3
47.	2nd January 1992	Tokyo	WTA Tier II	Carpet (hall)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Martina Navrátilová Pam Shriver	7: 5, 6: 1
48.	February 9, 1992	Osaka	WTA Tier IV	Carpet (hall)	Rennae Stubbs	Sandy Collins Rachel McQuillan	3: 6, 6: 4, 7: 5
49.	May 10, 1992	Rome	WTA Tier I	sand	Monica Seles	Katerina Maleewa Barbara Rittner	6: 1, 6: 2
50.	August 16, 1992	los Angeles	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Zina Garrison Pam Shriver	6: 4, 6: 2
51.	October 11, 1992	Zurich	WTA Tier II	Carpet (hall)	Natallja Sverava	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	7: 6 5 , 6: 4
52.	October 18, 1992	Filderstadt	WTA Tier II	Hard court (hall)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Pam Shriver Natallja Swerawa	6: 4, 7: 5
53.	November 22, 1992	New York City	WTA Championships	Carpet (hall)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Jana Novotná Larisa Neiland	7: 6 4 , 6: 1
54.	February 7, 1993	Tokyo	WTA Tier I	Carpet (hall)	Martina Navrátilová	Lori McNeil Rennae Stubbs	6: 4, 6: 3
55.	February 28, 1993	Indian Wells	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Rennae Stubbs	Ann Grossman Patricia Hy	6: 3, 6: 4
56.	May 23, 1993	Lucerne	WTA Tier III	sand	Mary Joe Fernández	Lindsay Davenport Marianne Werdel	6: 2, 6: 4
57.	August 1, 1993	Stratton Mountain	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Elizabeth Smylie	Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière Mercedes Paz	6: 1, 6: 2
58.	August 8, 1993	San Diego	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Gigi Fernández	Pam Shriver Elizabeth Smylie	6: 4, 6: 3
59.	August 15, 1993	los Angeles	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Gigi Fernández Natallja Swerawa	7: 6 4 , 6: 3
60.	September 12, 1993	US Open	Grand Slam	Hard court	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Amanda Coetzer Inés Gorrochategui	6: 4, 6: 2
61.	October 31, 1993	eat	WTA Tier II	Carpet (hall)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Wiltrud Probst Christina Singer	6: 2, 6: 2
62.	November 5, 1995	Oakland	WTA Tier II	Carpet (hall)	Lori McNeil	Katrina Adams Zina Garrison	3: 6, 6: 4, 6: 3
63.	November 12, 1995	Philadelphia	WTA Tier I	Carpet (hall)	Lori McNeil	Meredith McGrath Larisa Neiland	4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4
64.	July 7, 1996	Wimbledon	Grand Slam	race	Martina Hingis	Meredith McGrath Larisa Neiland	5: 7, 7: 5, 6: 1
65.	September 15, 1996	Carlsbad	WTA Tier IV	sand	Karina Habšudová	Eva Martincová Elena Wagner	3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 2
66.	October 20, 1996	Zurich	WTA Tier I	Hard court (hall)	Martina Hingis	Nicole Arendt Natallja Swerawa	7: 5, 6: 4
67.	May 24, 1997	Strasbourg	WTA Tier III	sand	Natallja Sverava	Jelena Lichowzewa Ai Sugiyama	6: 1, 6: 1
68.	October 26, 1997	Luxembourg	WTA Tier III	Carpet (hall)	Larisa Neiland	Meike Babel Laurence Courtois	6: 2, 6: 4
69.	January 17, 1998	Sydney	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Martina Hingis	Katrina Adams Meredith McGrath	6: 1, 6: 2

Mixed

No.	date	competition	category	Topping	partner	Final opponent	Result
1.	1991	French Open	Grand Slam	sand	Cyril Suk	Caroline Vis Paul Haarhuis	3: 6, 6: 4, 6: 1
2.	1993	US Open	Grand Slam	Hard court	Todd Woodbridge	Martina Navrátilová Mark Woodforde	6: 3, 7: 6 6
3.	1994	Wimbledon	Grand Slam	race	Todd Woodbridge	Lori McNeil T.J. Middleton	3: 6, 7: 5, 6: 3
4th	1996	Wimbledon	Grand Slam	race	Cyril Suk	Larisa Neiland Mark Woodforde	1: 6, 6: 3, 6: 2
5.	1997	Wimbledon	Grand Slam	race	Cyril Suk	Larisa Neiland Andrei Olchowski	4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4

Web links

Commons : Helena Suková  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• WTA profile of Helena Suková (English)
• ITF profile of Helena Suková (English)
• Fed Cup Statistics for Helena Suková (English)
• Helena Suková in the "International Tennis Hall of Fame" (English; with picture)
• Helena Suková's website (English, Czech)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Helena Sukova inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame. In: wtatennis.com. July 21, 2018, accessed July 22, 2018 .