Lea Plchová (born 31 August 1956) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player.

Personal background

Her mother Ludmila was a tennis coach and is credited with discovering tennis player

Jana Novotná Jana Novotná (; 2 October 1968 – 19 November 2017) was a Czech professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in 1997, and as the world No. 1 in women's doubles for 67 weeks. ...

, having spotted Jana on a playground in the neighbourhood she worked. Impressed with her mobility, Ludmila convinced Jana's parents to take her to train at a tennis centre where she worked.

Tennis career

Plchová's best performance on the

WTA Tour The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...

was a runner-up finish at the 1982 edition of the Austrian Open, losing the final to

Virginia Ruzici Virginia Ruzici (born 31 January 1955) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. She won the 1978 French Open – Women's singles, 1978 French Open singles championship. Career Ruzici became a professional tennis player in 1975. One of h ...

. At the

1983 French Open The 1983 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 23 May until 5 June. It was the 82nd staging of the French Open, and the first Grand Slam ...

, she made her Grand Slam main-draw debut with appearances in both the singles and doubles draws. She played again at the

1984 French Open The 1984 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 28 May until 10 June. It was the 83rd staging of the French Open, and the first Gra ...

in the doubles. Plchová featured in the main draw of the singles at the

1985 Wimbledon Championships The 1985 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 99th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from ...

as a lucky loser, with Rafaella Reggi withdrawing due to illness. She had a first-round win over the previous year's Wimbledon quarterfinalist, Carina Karlsson, before being beaten in the second round by

Hu Na Hu Na ( zh, c=胡娜, p=Hú Nà; born April 16, 1963) is a former professional tennis player best known for defecting from the People's Republic of China to the United States in 1982, thereby sparking a Cold War-era diplomatic incident. Diplo ...

, whom she also lost to in the qualifying event.

WTA career finals

Singles: 1 (runner-up)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Plchova, Lea 1956 births Living people Czechoslovak female tennis players Czech female tennis players Tennis players from Brno