Jan Kodeš (born 1 March 1946) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time major singles champion, Kodeš was one of the premier players in the early 1970s.

Jan Kodeš
Country (sports) Czechoslovakia
ResidencePrague, Czech Republic
Born (1946-03-01) 1 March 1946 (age 78)
Prague, Czechoslovakia
(now Czech Republic)
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro1968 (amateur from 1966)
Retired1983
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$693,197
Int. Tennis HoF1990 (member page)
Singles
Career record630–341 in pre Open-Era & Open Era
Career titles9
Highest rankingNo. 5 (13 September 1973)
Grand Slam singles results
French OpenW (1970, 1971)
WimbledonW (1973)
US OpenF (1971, 1973)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsRR (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973)
WCT FinalsSF (1974)
Doubles
Career record313-183
Career titles17
Highest rankingNo. 12 (21 May 1979)
Grand Slam doubles results
French OpenF (1977)

Kodeš's greatest success was achieved on the clay courts of the French Open, where he won the singles title in 1970 and 1971. However, he also won Wimbledon on grass courts in 1973, although the tournament was largely boycotted by top players that year over the ban of Nikola Pilić by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF).[1][2][3]

Kodeš never played at the Australian Open, but was twice the runner-up at the US Open, in 1971 and 1973.[4][3] Kodeš reached his highest ATP ranking of world No. 5 in September 1973.[3] During the Open Era, he won nine top-level singles titles and 17 doubles titles.

Kodeš was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2013, he received the Czech Fair Play Award from the Czech Olympic Committee. He is an economics graduate of the Prague University.[3]

Career statistics

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The tables do not include victories and final participation in tournaments from 1966 to 1969, such as victories in international championships and tournaments in Santiago, Viña del Mar, Sao Paulo, Lyon, Cannes, Luxembourg, St. Petersburg (USA), Beirut, Zaragoza, Split, Varna, Plovdiv, Paris (Racing Club) and three times in the MM CSSR in Bratislava. In doubles with Javorsky in Bratislava, then with Jan Kukal, he won tournaments in Lyon, Hilversum, Macon (USA), Pittsburgh, Caracas, Istanbul, Bratislava, Beirut and Split. With Pala in Luxembourg and Zaragoza. With Rodriguez in Viña del Mar, Chile. In all these tournaments or championships, the starting field was always at least 32 players, like today's ATP tour tournaments, but they are not listed in the ATP Tour yearbooks because the ATP Tour did not exist at that time and did not publish publications.

In the book written by Petr Kolar and Jan Kodes, "A Journey to Glory from behind the Iron Curtain", there are 25 singles wins, 27 appearances in finals, 32 doubles wins and 29 appearances in doubles finals. He participated in the final Grand Prix "Masters" tournaments (now ATP Finals) from 1970-1974 (Tokyo 1970, Paris 1971, Barcelona 1972, Boston 1973 and Dallas 1974).

Grand Slam finals: 5 (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)

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Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Win 1970 French Open Clay   Željko Franulović 6–2, 6–4, 6–0
Win 1971 French Open (2) Clay   Ilie Năstase 8–6, 6–2, 2–6, 7–5
Loss 1971 US Open Grass   Stan Smith 6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 6–7(3–5)
Win 1973 Wimbledon Grass   Alex Metreveli 6–1, 9–8(7–5), 6–3
Loss 1973 US Open (2) Grass   John Newcombe 4–6, 6–1, 6–4, 2–6, 3–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 SR W–L Win %
Australian Open Absent 0 / 0 0–0
French Open 2R 4R 1R[a] 4R W W QF QF 4R 4R 3R 4R 3R 2R 2R 1R 2 / 16 43–13 76.79
Wimbledon 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R SF W QF 2R A 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 1 / 15 19–14 57.58
US Open A A A 2R A F 2R F 4R 4R QF 3R A 2R A A 0 / 9 27–9 75.00
Win–loss 1–2 3–2 0–1 5–3 7–1 13–2 9–3 17–2 10–3 7–3 6–2 5–3 2–2 2–3 2–2 0–2 3 / 40 89–36 71.20

a 1968 French Open counts as 0 wins, 0 losses. Fernando Gentil received a walkover in the first round, after Kodeš withdrew, does not count as a Kodeš loss (nor a Gentil win).

Open era finals

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Singles (9 titles, 19 runner-ups)

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Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. 1970 St. Petersburg, U.S. Clay   Joaquín Loyo-Mayo 6–3, 6–3, 6–3
Win 2. 1970 French Open, Paris Clay   Željko Franulović 6–2, 6–4, 6–0
Loss 1. 1970 Rome, Italy Clay   Ilie Năstase 3–6, 6–1, 3–6, 6–8
Loss 2. 1971 Nice, France Clay   Ilie Năstase 8–10, 9–11, 1–6
Win 3. 1971 Catania, Italy Clay   Georges Goven 6–3, 6–0, 6–2
Loss 3. 1971 Rome WCT, Italy Clay   Rod Laver 5–7, 3–6, 3–6
Win 4. 1971 French Open, Paris Clay   Ilie Năstase 8–6, 6–2, 2–6, 7–5
Loss 4. 1971 US Open, New York Grass   Stan Smith 6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 6–7
Loss 5. 1971 Stockholm WCT, Sweden Hard (i)   Arthur Ashe 1–6, 6–3, 2–6, 6–1, 4–6
Loss 6. 1972 Nice, France Clay   Ilie Năstase 0–6, 4–6, 3–6
Loss 7. 1972 Rome, Italy Clay   Manuel Orantes 6–4, 1–6, 5–7, 2–6
Win 5. 1972 Barcelona, Spain Clay   Manuel Orantes 6–3, 6–2, 6–3
Win 6. 1973 Cologne, West Germany Carpet (i)   Brian Fairlie 6–1, 6–3, 6–1
Loss 8. 1973 Vancouver, Canada Carpet (i)   Tom Gorman 6–3, 2–6, 5–7
Win 7. 1973 Wimbledon, London Grass   Alex Metreveli 6–1, 9–8, 6–3
Loss 9. 1973 US Open, New York Grass   John Newcombe 4–6, 6–1, 6–4, 2–6, 3–6
Loss 10. 1973 Prague, Czechoslovakia Carpet (i)   Jiří Hřebec 6–4, 1–6, 6–3, 0–6, 5–7
Loss 11. 1974 Acapulco, Mexico Carpet (i)   Tom Okker 2–6, 6–7
Loss 12. 1975 Hampton, U.S. Carpet (i)   Jimmy Connors 6–3, 3–6, 0–6
Loss 13. 1975 Hamburg, West Germany Clay   Manuel Orantes 6–3, 2–6, 2–6, 6–4, 1–6
Loss 14. 1975 Düsseldorf, West Germany Clay   Jaime Fillol 4–6, 6–1, 0–6, 5–7
Loss 15. 1975 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay   Adriano Panatta 6–2, 2–6, 5–7, 4–6
Win 8. 1975 Madrid, Spain Clay   Adriano Panatta 6–2, 3–6, 7–6, 6–2
Win 9. 1976 Basel, Switzerland Carpet (i)   Jiří Hřebec 6–4, 6–2, 6–3
Loss 16. 1976 Nice, France Clay   Corrado Barazzutti 2–6, 6–2, 7–5, 6–7, 6–8
Loss 17. 1976 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay   Manuel Orantes 6–7, 2–6, 6–7
Loss 18. 1976 Aviles, Spain Clay   Željko Franulović 6–7, 1–6, 7–5, 6–7
Loss 19. 1977 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay   Guillermo Vilas 7–5, 2–6, 6–4, 3–6, 2–6

Doubles (17 titles, 24 runner-ups)

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Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. 1970 Båstad, Sweden Clay   Željko Franulović   Dick Crealy
  Allan Stone
2–6, 6–2, 12–12 ret.
Loss 2. 1970 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay   Željko Franulović   John Alexander
  Phil Dent
8–10, 2–6, 4–6
Loss 3. 1970 Phoenix, U.S. Hard   Charlie Pasarell   Dick Crealy
  Ray Ruffels
6–7, 3–6
Loss 4. 1970 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay   Željko Franulović   Bob Carmichael
  Ray Ruffels
5–7, 2–6, 7–5, 7–6, 3–6
Loss 5. 1971 Macon, U.S. Carpet   Željko Franulović   Clark Graebner
  Thomaz Koch
3–6, 6–7
Loss 6. 1971 Catania, Italy Clay   Jan Kukal   Pierre Barthès
  François Jauffret
6–7, 6–2, 3–6
Win 1. 1971 Indianapolis, U.S. Clay   Željko Franulović   Clark Graebner
  Erik van Dillen
7–6, 5–7, 6–3
Win 2. 1972 Nice, France Clay   Stan Smith   Frew McMillan
  Ilie Năstase
6–3, 3–6, 7–5
Win 3. 1972 Hamburg, West Germany Clay   Ilie Năstase   Bob Hewitt
  Ion Țiriac
4–6, 6–0, 3–6, 6–2, 6–2
Loss 7. 1972 Montreal, Canada Clay   Jan Kukal   Ilie Năstase
  Ion Țiriac
6–7, 3–6
Win 4. 1973 Los Angeles, U.S. Hard   Vladimír Zedník   Jimmy Connors
  Ilie Năstase
6–2, 6–4
Win 5. 1973 Prague, Czechoslovakia Mateflex   Vladimír Zedník   Róbert Machán
  Balázs Taróczy
7–6, 7–6
Win 6. 1974 Palm Desert, U.S. Hard   Vladimír Zedník   Raymond Moore
  Onny Parun
6–4, 6–4
Win 7. 1974 Düsseldorf, West Germany Clay   Jiří Hřebec   Kenichi Hirai
  Toshiro Sakai
6–1, 6–4
Loss 8. 1975 Salisbury, U.S. Carpet   Roger Taylor   Jimmy Connors
  Ilie Năstase
6–7, 2–6
Win 8. 1975 Munich, West Germany Clay   Wojciech Fibak   Milan Holeček
  Karl Meiler
7–5, 6–3
Loss 9. 1975 Hamburg, West Germany Clay   Wojciech Fibak   Juan Gisbert Sr.
  Manuel Orantes
3–6, 6–7
Win 9. 1975 Düsseldorf, West Germany Clay   François Jauffret   Harald Elschenbroich
  Hans Kary
6–2, 6–3
Loss 10. 1975 Montreal, Canada Hard   Ilie Năstase   Cliff Drysdale
  Raymond Moore
4–6, 7–5, 6–7
Win 10. 1975 Madrid, Spain Clay   Ilie Năstase   Juan Gisbert Sr.
  Manuel Orantes
6–4, 3–6, 9–7
Win 11. 1976 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay   Jiří Hřebec   Jürgen Fassbender
  Hans-Jürgen Pohmann
6–7, 6–2, 6–4
Loss 12. 1977 Baltimore, U.S. Carpet   Ross Case   Ion Țiriac
  Guillermo Vilas
3–6, 7–6, 4–6
Win 12. 1977 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay   François Jauffret   Wojciech Fibak
  Tom Okker
2–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 13. 1977 French Open, Paris Clay   Wojciech Fibak   Brian Gottfried
  Raúl Ramírez
6–7, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Win 13. 1977 Barcelona, Spain Clay   Wojciech Fibak   Bob Hewitt
  Frew McMillan
6–0, 6–4
Loss 14. 1977 Vienna, Austria Carpet   Wojciech Fibak   Bob Hewitt
  Frew McMillan
4–6, 3–6
Loss 15. 1977 Oviedo, Spain Carpet   Raúl Ramírez   Fred McNair
  Sherwood Stewart
3–6, 1–6
Loss 16. 1978 Springfield, U.S. Carpet   Marty Riessen   Robert Lutz
  Stan Smith
3–6, 3–6
Loss 17. 1978 Nice, France Clay   Tomáš Šmíd   Patrice Dominguez
  François Jauffret
4–6, 0–6
Loss 18. 1978 Rome, Italy Clay   Tomáš Šmíd   Víctor Pecci
  Belus Prajoux
7–6, 6–7, 1–6
Win 14. 1978 Stuttgart, West Germany Clay   Tomáš Šmíd   Carlos Kirmayr
  Belus Prajoux
6–3, 7–6
Loss 19. 1978 Aix-en-Provence, France Clay   Tomáš Šmíd   Ion Țiriac
  Guillermo Vilas
6–7, 1–6
Win 15. 1978 Madrid, Spain Clay   Wojciech Fibak   Pavel Složil
  Tomáš Šmíd
6–7, 6–1, 6–2
Win 16. 1979 Hamburg, West Germany Clay   Tomáš Šmíd   Mark Edmondson
  John Marks
6–3, 6–1, 7–6
Loss 20. 1979 Hilversum, Netherlands Clay   Tomáš Šmíd   Tom Okker
  Balázs Taróczy
1–6, 3–6
Loss 21. 1979 Indianapolis, U.S. Clay   Tomáš Šmíd   Gene Mayer
  John McEnroe
4–6, 6–7
Loss 22. 1980 Barcelona, Spain Clay   Balázs Taróczy   Steve Denton
  Ivan Lendl
2–6, 7–6, 3–6
Loss 23. 1980 Cologne, West Germany Carpet   Tomáš Šmíd   Bernard Mitton
  Andrew Pattison
4–6, 1–6
Win 17. 1982 Hilversum, Netherlands Clay   Tomáš Šmíd   Balázs Taróczy
  Heinz Günthardt
7–6, 6–4
Loss 24. 1983 Hilversum, Netherlands Clay   Tomáš Šmíd   Heinz Günthardt
  Balázs Taróczy
6–3, 2–6, 3–6

At results above are not shown wins and runner-ups from 1965 to 1969, such as tournaments in Santiago, Viňa del Mar, São Paulo, Lyon, Cannes, Luxembourg, Split, Varna, Plovdiv, Paris (Racing Club) or International championships of Czechoslovakia in Bratislava. The draws of players were always minimum 32 players, same as at contemporary ATP Tour events, but they are not listed in ATP Annuals, since ATP was founded at 1972.

References

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  1. ^ Wimbledon: The Official History of the Championships. Barrett, John. Collins Willow 2011 ISBN 0-00-711707-8
  2. ^ "Wimbledon Singles Titles Captured by King, Kodeš". No. The Spokesman-Review. AP. 8 July 1973.
  3. ^ a b c d John Barrett, ed. (1974). World of Tennis '74 : a BP and Commercial Union yearbook. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 268–269. ISBN 9780362001686.
  4. ^ "Newcombe cops U.S. net Open". No. Star–News. UPI. 10 September 1973. p. Fifteen.

Further reading

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Jan Kodeš, with Petr Kolar, A Journey to Glory from behind the Iron Curtain, New Chapter Press, Chicago, 2010, ISBN 978-0942257687

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