Heinrich Ernst Otto "Henner" Henkel (; 9 October 1915 – 13 January 1943) was a German

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player during the 1930s. His biggest success was his singles title at the 1937 French Championships.

Biography

Henner Henkel and Gottfried von Cramm 1937

Henner was born in 1915 the son of Ferdinand and Margarete Henkel. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, his family moved to

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

in 1919. He joined the Sportclub Erfurt (today TC Erfurt 93) together with his elder brother Ferdinand and learned to play tennis. His father moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

for job-related reasons, and his entire family followed in 1927. In 1929, Henkel won the club championships of the ''THC 99 Berlin''. In 1932 and 1933, he won the German junior championships. In singles he was defeated by Ladislav Hecht at the 1934 Hungarian International Tennis Championships in the final. Henkel was the second German, after

Gottfried von Cramm Gottfried Alexander Maximilian Walter Kurt Freiherr von Cramm (; 7 July 1909 – 8 November 1976) was a German tennis champion who won the French Open twice and reached the final of a Grand Slam on five other occasions. He was ranked number 2 in ...

in 1936, to win the singles title at the

French Championships The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

in 1937. The same year, he and Gottfried von Cramm won the Roland Garros doubles title. Later that year they also won the US Championships doubles title defeating Americans

Don Budge John Donald Budge (June 13, 1915 – January 26, 2000) was an American tennis player. He is most famous as the first tennis player — male or female, and still the only American male — to win the Grand Slam, and to win all four Grand Slam ev ...

and

Gene Mako Constantine "Gene" Mako ( hu, Makó Jenő ; January 24, 1916 – June 14, 2013) was an American tennis player and art gallery owner. He was born in Budapest, capital of Hungary. He won four Grand Slam doubles titles in the 1930s. Mako was induct ...

in three straight sets. In March 1937 he became the singles champion at the Cairo International Championships defeating Giorgio de Stefani in the final in straight sets and also won the doubles title partnering Von Cramm. Later that year he won the singles title at the German Championships after a five-sets victory in the final over

Vivian McGrath Vivian Erzerum Bede McGrath (17 February 1916 – 9 April 1978) was a tennis champion from Australia. Along with John Bromwich, he was one of the early great players to use a two-handed backhand. His name was pronounced "McGraw". Biography ...

. Two years later, in 1939, he again won the title after defeating

Roderich Menzel Roderich Ferdinand Ottomar Menzel (; 13 April 1907 – 17 October 1987) was a Czech-German amateur tennis player and, after his active career, a writer. Birth Roderich Menzel was born in Reichenberg in Bohemia (today Liberec in the Czech Republi ...

in the final in four sets. Between 1934 and 1939 Henkel played 66 matches for the German

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

team in 27 ties. He won 49 matches, lost 17 and was particularly successful in doubles, winning 16 of 20 matches partnering

Georg von Metaxa Georg Felix Ritter von Metaxa ( gr, Γεώργιος φον Μεταξάς; 7 October 1914 – 12 December 1944) was an Austrian tennis player active in the 1930s. Biography Von Metaxa was born in Vienna to a Greek father and Austrian mother. ...

and

. Henkel played his last tournament at

Bad Pyrmont Bad Pyrmont (, also: ; West Low German: ) is a town in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont, in Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population close to 19,000. It is located on the river Emmer, about west of the Weser. Bad Pyrmont is a popular spa resort ...

in the summer of 1942. He reached the final which he lost to

. During the tournament, he had already received his draft notice. In the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

, Henkel was shot in the upper leg. He died of this injury on 13 January 1943 near

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...

. Since 1950 the German junior team championship has been called the "Große Henner Henkel-Spiele" and since 1963 a commemorative tournament, "Henner-Henkel-Gedächtnisturnier", has been held in

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 title)

Doubles (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

Mixed doubles (1 runner-up)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Henkel, Henner 1915 births 1943 deaths Sportspeople from Poznań People from the Province of Posen French Championships (tennis) champions German Army personnel killed in World War II Deaths by firearm in the Soviet Union German male tennis players Tennis players from Berlin United States National champions (tennis) Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Deaths by firearm in Russia