Ladislav Hecht
Ladislav Hecht (born August 31, 1909 in Žilina , Austria-Hungary , † May 27, 2004 in New York City , New York , United States ) was a Czechoslovak tennis player of Jewish origin. In the interwar period he was considered one of the most successful tennis players in Europe.
Career
Hecht began playing tennis at the age of eleven and learned primarily from books. From 1931 to 1938 he played for Czechoslovakia in the Davis Cup . Hecht played 37 games, 29 of them in singles (14 wins, 15 defeats) and 8 games in doubles (4 wins, 4 defeats). Hecht won the first Maccabiade in Tel Aviv in 1932 . He played eight times at Wimbledon, his best result in singles was the quarterfinals in 1938 . In doubles in 1937 he made it to the semi-finals together with Roderich Menzel in 1937 . After 46 years, Hecht was invited to Wimbledon to take a seat in the royal box. Hecht was personally invited to the German Davis Cup team by Adolf Hitler in 1938 because Hitler did not know that Hecht was of Jewish descent. Roderich Menzel could play for Germany, Hecht refused and fled to the USA the following year, where he worked in a munitions factory during the Second World War . After the war, Hecht had a factory for toys and painting supplies.
In 1996 a stadium was named after him in Bratislava , the capital of Slovakia. In 2005, Hecht was registered in the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and in 2007 in the newly established Slovak Tennis Hall of Fame.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ladislav Hecht daviscup.com, accessed December 14, 2012
- ↑ Ladislav Hecht, 94, a Tactician On the Tennis Courts in the 30's nytimes.com, accessed December 14, 2012
- ↑ Ladislav Hecht In the memoriam ( memento of the original from October 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 141 kB) stz.sk, accessed on December 14, 2012
- ↑ Ladislav Hecht jewishsports.net, accessed December 14, 2012
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pike, Ladislav |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Czechoslovak tennis player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 31, 1909 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Žilina , Austria-Hungary |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 27, 2004 |
| Place of death | New York City , New York , United States |