Jaroslav Drobný facts for kids

Jaroslav Drobný (born October 12, 1921 – died September 13, 2001) was an amazing athlete from Czechoslovakia. He was a world champion in both tennis and ice hockey.

Drobný left his home country, Czechoslovakia, in 1949. He then traveled as an Egyptian citizen before becoming a citizen of the United Kingdom in 1959. He passed away in 2001 in the UK.

In 1951, he made history. He became the first and only player from an African country to win the French Open tennis tournament. He also won the Wimbledon Championships in 1954. Because of his incredible achievements, he was added to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1983.

Drobný also played for the Czechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team. He was so good that he was also added to the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame.

Quick facts for kids
Jaroslav Drobný

Jaroslav Drobný (left) and Bob Mark in 1958
Country (sports)	Czechoslovakia (until 1939 and 1945–1950) Bohemia and Moravia (1939-1945) Egypt (1950–1959) Great Britain (after 1959)
Born	(1921-10-12)12 October 1921 Prague, Czechoslovakia
Died	13 September 2001(2001-09-13) (aged 79) Tooting, London, England
Turned pro	1938 (amateur tour)
Retired	1969
Plays	Left-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	1983 (member page)
Singles
Career record	1106–268 (80.5%)
Career titles	147
Highest ranking	No. 1 (1954, Lance Tingay)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	2R (1950)
French Open	W (1951, 1952)
Wimbledon	W (1954)
US Open	SF (1947, 1948)
Doubles
Career record	0–1 (Open Era)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	F (1950)
French Open	W (1948)
Wimbledon	F (1951)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French Open	W (1948)
Wimbledon	SF (1948)
Medal record Ice hockey Representing  Czechoslovakia Olympic Games Silver 1948 St. Moritz Team competition World Championships Gold 1947 Prague Team competition

Tennis Career

Jaroslav Drobný started playing tennis when he was just five years old. As a ball-boy, he watched famous players like Karel Koželuh. He had a powerful left-handed serve and a strong forehand shot.

Drobný played in his first Wimbledon Championship in 1938. After World War II, he became a top player. He even beat the famous Jack Kramer at Wimbledon in 1946.

He won the French Open twice, in 1951 and 1952. He beat Eric Sturgess and Frank Sedgman in the finals. Drobný reached the Wimbledon final in 1949 and 1952. He finally won Wimbledon in 1954, beating Ken Rosewall. He was the first left-handed player to win Wimbledon since Norman Brookes.

He also won the Italian Championships three times (1950, 1951, and 1953). In 1954, he was ranked the World No. 1 amateur tennis player. He also won the French Open doubles title in 1948 with Lennart Bergelin. That same year, he won the mixed doubles title with Patricia Canning Todd.

Drobný is known for playing at Wimbledon under four different national identities. In 1938, he played for Czechoslovakia. After the German invasion, he represented Bohemia and Moravia. After the war, he played for Czechoslovakia again. But in 1949, he decided to leave his home country.

Leaving Czechoslovakia

After a big change in government in 1948, Drobný felt uncomfortable. He didn't like how the new government used his fame for their own purposes. He was one of Czechoslovakia's most famous athletes. It became harder for him to travel freely to tournaments. This made him decide to leave his home country for good.

Drobný left Czechoslovakia on July 11, 1949. He was playing in a tennis tournament in Switzerland with fellow player Vladimír Černík. They decided to leave after being told not to play by the government. Drobný later said he only had a few shirts and $50 with him.

Drobný and Černík were very important to the Czechoslovak Davis Cup team. They helped their country reach the Davis Cup semifinals twice. Drobný won 37 out of 43 Davis Cup matches he played.

After leaving, Drobný didn't have a country. He tried to get papers from Switzerland, the US, and Australia. Finally, Egypt offered him citizenship. He played for Egypt at Wimbledon from 1950 to 1959. This included his win in 1954. He is the only Egyptian citizen to ever win a Grand Slam tennis tournament.

By the time he won Wimbledon in 1954, Drobný was already living in the United Kingdom. In 1959, he became a British citizen. He played for Great Britain in his last Wimbledon appearance in 1960.

Tennis Achievements

During his amateur career, Drobný won over 130 singles titles. He was ranked among the top 10 amateur players in the world from 1946 to 1955. He was added to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1983. He is the only person to win both Wimbledon in tennis and a world championship title in ice hockey.

Drobný played at Wimbledon 17 times. He always wore his special tinted glasses. An old ice hockey injury affected his eyesight. He is the only male tennis player to win a Wimbledon singles title while wearing glasses.

Drobný has won the most clay court titles of any male player, with over 90 wins.

Ice Hockey Career

From 1938 to 1949, Drobný played center in the Czechoslovak ice hockey league. He won a silver medal with the Czechoslovak ice hockey team at the 1948 Winter Olympics. In the final game, Czechoslovakia and Canada tied. But Canada won the gold medal because they had scored more goals overall in the tournament. Drobný scored 9 goals in 8 games at the Olympics.

Jaroslav Drobný was also part of the Czechoslovak national ice hockey team that won the gold medal at the 1947 World Ice Hockey Championships in Prague. He scored 15 goals in 7 games in that tournament. This included three goals in the important win against the USA. This victory gave his country its first ever World Championships title. In 1997, Drobný was added to the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame.

Drobný could have been the first European player to play in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Boston Bruins offered him a spot in 1949. He was offered $20,000 to play for Boston. But he said no. He preferred to keep playing amateur ice hockey so he could still play tennis in the summers. The first European to play in the NHL was Ulf Sterner from Sweden in 1965.

Autobiography

In 1955, Jaroslav Drobný wrote a book about his life called Champion in Exile. He was married to Rita Anderson Jarvis, who was also a tennis player. He passed away on September 13, 2001, in London, just before his 80th birthday.

Grand Slam Finals

Singles: 8 (3 titles, 5 runners-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1946	French Championships	Clay	Marcel Bernard	6–3, 6–2, 1–6, 4–6, 3–6
Loss	1948	French Championships	Clay	Frank Parker	4–6, 5–7, 7–5, 6–8
Loss	1949	Wimbledon	Grass	Ted Schroeder	6–3, 0–6, 3–6, 6–4, 4–6
Loss	1950	French Championships	Clay	Budge Patty	1–6, 2–6, 6–3, 7–5, 5–7
Win	1951	French Championships	Clay	Eric Sturgess	6–3, 6–3, 6–3
Win	1952	French Championships (2)	Clay	Frank Sedgman	6–2, 6–0, 3–6, 6–4
Loss	1952	Wimbledon	Grass	Frank Sedgman	6–4, 2–6, 3–6, 2–6
Win	1954	Wimbledon	Grass	Ken Rosewall	13–11, 4–6, 6–2, 9–7

Doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1948	French Championships	Clay	Lennart Bergelin	Harry Hopman Frank Sedgman	8–6, 6–1, 12–10
Loss	1950	French Championships	Clay	Bill Talbert	Tony Trabert Eric Sturgess	6–2, 1–6, 10–8, 6–2
Loss	1950	Australian Championships	Grass	Eric Sturgess	John Bromwich Adrian Quist	6–3, 5–7, 4–6, 6–3, 8–6
Loss	1951	Wimbledon	Grass	Eric Sturgess	Ken McGregor Frank Sedgman	3–6, 6–2, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3

Mixed Doubles: 1 (1 title)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1948	French Championships	Clay	Patricia Canning Todd	Doris Hart Frank Sedgman	6–3, 3–6, 6–3

Grand Slam Singles Performance Timeline

¹ Drobný did not play. His opponent got a walkover.

Images for kids

• 

  Jaroslav Drobný's plaque at the 1st Czech Lawn Tennis Club in Prague

• 

  Jaroslav Drobný (right), playing for Egypt, being congratulated by 18-year-old Lew Hoad (left) after Drobný's victory in the final of the 1953 Italian Championships in Rome.

See also

In Spanish: Jaroslav Drobný para niños