Hana Strachoňová (born 2 January 1961) is a retired professional tennis player who represented both Czechoslovakia and Switzerland.

Biography

Born in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

, Strachoňová competed originally for her native Czechoslovakia. As a 17-year old in 1978 she played in two Fed Cup ties for Czechoslovakia's national team against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. In both ties, she partnered with

Hana Mandlíková Hana Mandlíková (born 19 February 1962) is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia who later obtained Australian citizenship. During her career she won four Grand Slam singles titles - the 1980 Australian Open, 1981 French Op ...

in the doubles rubbers, and the pair won both matches. At the

1978 French Open The 1978 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 29 May until 11 June. It was the 82nd staging of the French Open, and the first Grand Sl ...

, she had a win over ninth seed

Renáta Tomanová Renáta Tomanová (born 9 December 1954) is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. Career Tomanová won the girls' singles title at the 1972 French Open. In 1975, she and Martina Navratilova represented Czechoslovakia in th ...

to make the third round. Strachoňová reached the third round of the

1979 Wimbledon Championships The 1979 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that 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 25 June until 7 July. It was the 93 ...

. Soon after her appearance at Wimbledon, she defected to Switzerland, and in November, it was announced that she had been granted political asylum. She already had been based out of Zurich. She returned to the WTA Tour in February 1980 under the Swiss flag. Highlights that year included making the quarterfinals at

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbühel district (). Kitzbühel ...

and Amsterdam as well as at the U.S. Clay Court Championships in Indianapolis, where she upset third seed

Virginia Ruzici Virginia Ruzici (born 31 January 1955) is a former professional tennis player from Romania. She won the 1978 French Open singles championship. Career Ruzici became a professional tennis player in 1975. One of her main assets on court was her po ...

. Her best performance in a Grand Slam tournament after defecting was a third round appearance at the

1980 French Open The 1980 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 26 May until 8 June. It was the 84th staging of the French Open, and the first Grand Sla ...

, which was the first time someone who entered the draw as a lucky loser had reached that stage at Roland Garros. In 1981, she defeated Dianne Fromholtz en route to the quarterfinals at Indianapolis, and she was a quarterfinalist at

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

. She retired from professional tennis after the 1984 US Open.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Strachonova, Hana 1961 births Living people Swiss female tennis players Czechoslovak female tennis players Czechoslovak defectors Czechoslovak emigrants to Switzerland Sportspeople from Brno