Moldenhauer (right) won in Davis Cup against E. Flaquer Moldenhauer (right) plays in Davis Cup against Bill Tilden (US). July 1929 Hans Moldenhauer (10 April 1901 – 29 December 1929) was

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

's first major international

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, competing in Wimbledon, the Davis Cup, and the French Open, and repeatedly winning the German national Championships both as a single player and in mixed doubles. He died at the age of just 28, when his motor car was hit by a tram in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Career

Bundesarchiv Bild 102-08950, Tennismeister Moldenhauer und Prenn

Moldenhauer won back-to-back German National Championships in 1926 and 1927, and made his third successive final in 1928 where he lost to

Daniel Prenn Daniel Prenn (7 September 1904 – 3 September 1991) was a Russian Empire-born German, Polish, and British tennis player who was Jewish. He was ranked the world No. 6 for 1932 by A. Wallis Myers, and the European No. 1 by "American Lawn Tennis" ...

.Tennis Archive Profile
/ref> He also won the Danish Championship Men's Singles in 1929. Moldenhauer played 22 times for Germany in the Davis Cup in 1927, 1928, and 1929. In the 1929 French Championships, entering the tournament as the 16th seed, Moldenhauer was the only German to make the fourth round. His defeat in the fourth round was to the top seed,

Henri Cochet Henri Jean Cochet (; 14 December 1901 – 1 April 1987) was a French tennis player. He was a world No. 1 ranked player, and a member of the famous " Four Musketeers" from France who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Born in ...

. He competed in the 1929 Wimbledon Championships and reached the second round, where he lost in five sets to fifth seed

Umberto De Morpurgo Uberto De Morpurgo (12 January 1896 – 26 February 1961) was a male tennis player from Italy. Uberto De Morpurgo was born in Trieste when it was part of Austria, but became an Italian citizen when the city changed hands after World War I. His ...

, an Italian whom he had beaten just weeks earlier in an

International Lawn Tennis Challenge 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 ...

rubber. That match also went to five sets.Davis Cup Profile
/ref> The German team led by Moldenhauer would win that tie against the

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and also defeated

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, where Moldenhauer won two rubbers, including the doubles, partnering Prenn. This put Germany into the 1929 European Zone final against

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, which they won 3-2, with Moldenhauer winning a singles rubber over Bunny Austin. They were then whitewashed in the Inter-Zone final by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Moldenhauer lost all three of his rubbers, one of which was against

Bill Tilden William Tatem Tilden II (February 10, 1893 – June 5, 1953), nicknamed "Big Bill", was an American tennis player. Tilden was the world No. 1 amateur for six consecutive years, from 1920 to 1925, and was ranked as the world No. 1 professional b ...

. It was Moldenhauer's final International Lawn Tennis Challenge appearance, meaning he finished with 14 career wins, from 22 matches.

Mixed doubles with Cilly Aussem

In 1925, Moldenhauer became German Champion in mixed doubles together with his partner Cilly Aussem, and the pair competed successfully together until December 1929 when Moldenhauer was killed in a car crash. After this incident, Aussem travelled to France together with her mother to recover.

National singles titles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moldenhauer, Hans 1901 births 1929 deaths German male tennis players Road incident deaths in Germany