Ladislav Hecht (; hu, Hecht László ; August 31, 1909 – May 27, 2004) was a Jewish Czechoslovak-American professional tennis player. He won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in singles at the 1932 Maccabiah Games in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

, and won the 1934 Hungarian International Tennis Singles Championship. In 1937 he reached the semifinals of the doubles 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 * ...

with

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 ...

, and the following year he reached the 1938 Wimbledon quarterfinals in singles. Despite being Jewish, he was invited to the

Germany Davis Cup team The Germany Davis Cup team represents Germany in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Deutscher Tennis Bund. As East Germany never participated in the Davis Cup, and the Deutscher Tennisbund remained the same organization througho ...

in 1938 by an aide to Adolph Hitler who was not aware that he was Jewish, but chose not to accept the invitation. He represented

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

in the

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 ...

during the 1930s, was captain of the team, and had a record of 18-19. In the 1930s, he was ranked world #6 in singles.

Early life

Hecht was born in Zsolna,

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

(today

Žilina Žilina (; hu, Zsolna, ; german: Sillein, or ; pl, Żylina , names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Sl ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

), on the border between Slovakia and Hungary, and was Jewish.

Tennis career; interrupted by World War II

Europe

He began to learn tennis at age 11, and in 1931 he moved to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

for better training conditions. Hecht developed a successful tennis career, many considering him to be the best tennis player in Europe immediately before the Second World War. In the 1930s, he was ranked world #6 in singles. He won the

in singles at the 1932 Maccabiah Games in

. In 1934, Hecht won the Butler Trophy of

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

alongside

, defeating

Jacques Brugnon Jacques Marie Stanislas Jean Brugnon (11 May 1895 – 20 March 1978), nicknamed "Toto", was a French tennis player, one of the famous " Four Musketeers" from France who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was born in and died ...

and Jean Lesueur in the final. In singles, he was victorious at the Hungarian International Tennis Championships, upsetting

Henner Henkel Heinrich Ernst Otto "Henner" Henkel (; 9 October 1915 – 13 January 1943) was a German tennis player during the 1930s. His biggest success was his singles title at the 1937 French Championships. Biography Henner was born in 1915 the son of ...

of Germany in the semifinal and

Ignacy Tłoczyński Ignacy Tłoczyński (; 14 July 1911 – 25 December 2000) was a Polish tennis player, coach and World War II veteran. Tłoczyński participated in 10 Davis Cup ties for Poland from 1930–1939, posting a 23–8 record in singles and a 3–9 r ...

of Poland in the final. He reached the doubles finals with Josef Caska. In late 1935 and early 1936, Hecht and Menzel toured the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

, which included a visit to Japan to participate in the Japanese National Championships, where Menzel lost in the final, and they lost in the doubles final as well, both times to title defender Jiro Yamagishi. From there, they sailed to India where they were the finalists at the East of India Championships. Arriving home, he was defeated in the Czechoslovakian International Championship match by British player

Fred Perry Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slam tournaments and two Pro Slams single titles, as well ...

. He was a second straight time finalist in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. In 1937 he reached the semifinals of the doubles at

with Menzel, and the following year he reached the 1938 Wimbledon quarterfinals in singles. From 1930 to 1939, he played for the

Czech Republic Davis Cup team The Czech Republic men's national tennis team represents the Czech Republic in the Davis Cup and is governed by the Czech Tennis Federation. The Czech team was started in 1993, following the break-up of Czechoslovakia. The team competed in the ...

, achieving a record of 18–19, and was its captain. In 1936, Hecht moved to Budapest, and then sought livelihood in Australia. Hecht was invited to play for the

German Davis Cup Team The Germany Davis Cup team represents Germany in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Deutscher Tennis Bund. As East Germany never participated in the Davis Cup, and the Deutscher Tennisbund remained the same organization through ...

in 1938 after Germany acquired part of Czechoslovakia by an aide to Adolph Hitler who was unaware that he was Jewish, but he declined.

United States

He fled to the United States three days before the Nazi Germany invaded the Czech Lands in 1939, and became an American citizen. He worked in a munitions factory in New Jersey during World War II.Christopher Hilton (2011
''How Hitler Hijacked World Sport; The World Cup, the Olympics, the Heavyweight Championship and the Grand Prix''
/ref> After the war, Hecht continued his tennis career, becoming a no. 1 ranked player in the

eastern United States The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...

. In May 1941, he was the runner-up at the Brooklyn Tennis Tournament, losing to

Pancho Segura Francisco Olegario Segura (June 20, 1921 – November 18, 2017), better known as Pancho "Segoo" Segura, was a leading tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, both as an amateur and as a professional. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, but m ...

. At the end of 1942 he was ranked # 10 of all men players in the United States. In 1947, he won the Brooklyn Tennis Tournament at 38 years of age by beating Peruvian Enrique Buse in the final in straight sets. Hecht added the Eastern Clay Court Championships to his accolades the same year by defeating American

Dick Savitt Richard Savitt (March 4, 1927 – January 6, 2023) was an American tennis player. In 1951, at the age of 24, he won both the Australian and Wimbledon men's singles championships. Savitt was mostly ranked world No. 2 the same year behind fellow ...

in the final in

Jackson Heights, Queens Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. Jackson Heights is neighbored by North Corona to the east, Elmhurst to the south, Woodside to the west, northern Astoria ( Ditmars-Steinw ...

. In 1957, the

USTA The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

ranked him second in the country in senior singles, behind

Bryan Grant Bryan Morel "Bitsy" Grant Jr. (December 25, 1909 – June 5, 1986) was an American amateur tennis champion. At and , Grant was the smallest American man to win a championship on the international tennis circuit. A right-handed retriever, he was ...

Honors

Hecht was inducted into the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around ...

in 2005. In 2007 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Slovak Tennis.

Later life

Hecht started toy and paintbrush businesses, and later in life lived in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

. Later in life was honored by the city of

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

, having a multisport stadium named after him in 1966. He had two children, Timothy and Andrew, both of whom settled in

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,004 at the 2020 United States Census. Aspen is in a remote area of the Rocky Mounta ...

References

Works cited

Online media

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Periodicals

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hecht, Ladislav 1909 births 2004 deaths American male tennis players American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Czechoslovak Jews Czechoslovak male tennis players Hungarian Jews Jewish American sportspeople Jewish tennis players Sportspeople from Queens, New York Sportspeople from Žilina Jews who emigrated to escape Nazism Tennis people from New York (state) Maccabiah Games gold medalists Maccabiah Games medalists in tennis Maccabiah Games competitors by country Competitors at the 1932 Maccabiah Games International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews