Jan Koželuh (29 January 1904 – 4 June 1979) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

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 of the 1920s, not to be confused with his older brother

Karel Koželuh Karel Koželuh (; hu, Kozeluh Károly ; 7 March 1895 – 27 April 1950) was a Czech tennis, association football, and ice hockey player of the 1920s and 1930s. Koželuh became a European ice hockey champion in 1925 and was one of the top-ranked ...

(1895–1950), a player of the same era. Although Karel was inducted into the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, in 2006, Jan is almost totally forgotten today outside his native Czechoslovakia. He also competed at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

Biography

Jan Koželuh was the son of Josef and Maria Koželuh, one of 7 brothers and two sisters. All six brothers and one sister were active in sports, a new phenomenon of that era. Karel, the most notable of the Koželuh family, achieved his fame as one of the first professional players in tennis, soccer, and field and ice hockey. Jan, said by some to be the most talented of them all, remained an amateur throughout his career. He was the Czech national

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

and doubles champion 1925-1928 as well as a quarter-finalist at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

in 1926 and 1927. He played many matches for the

Czechoslovakia Davis Cup team The Czechoslovakia men's national tennis team competed from 1921–1992, winning the tournament once, in 1980. From 1993, the nations competed as: *Czech Republic Davis Cup team (historical records assumed by Czech Republic) *Slovakia Davis Cup t ...

1924–1930. His highest world ranking was World No. 10 in 1927. Although Karel continued to play at a top level on the professional tennis circuit until he was in his forties, Jan ended his amateur career in the mid 1930s, which many considered a mistake. Afterwards, he lived in Florida, where he gave tennis lessons until his death.

References

External links

* * 1904 births 1979 deaths Czech male tennis players Czechoslovak male tennis players Tennis players from Prague Olympic tennis players for Czechoslovakia Tennis players at the 1924 Summer Olympics Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States {{CzechRepublic-tennis-bio-stub