Vladimir Petrović (born 11 May 1929) is a Croatian former professional
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 who represented Yugoslavia and later emigrated to the United States.
Biography
Petrović, a three-time national champion, played
Davis Cup tennis for
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. He also competed several times at both 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 ...
and
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
* ...
. Although he held a law degree from the
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...
, he chose not to practise law as he would have been required to join the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
.
His most noted performance in a
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
tournament was reaching the third round of the
1951 Wimbledon Championships
The 1951 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was held from Monday 25 June until Saturday 7 July 1951. It was the 65th ...
. He won five set matches in both of the opening two rounds, then had his run ended by American
.
In 1952 he made his Davis Cup debut in a tie against
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
and also featured in a tie with
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
, in which he had a win over
Roger Becker
Roger Becker (6 February 1934 – 6 November 2017) was a British tennis player. Besides tennis, Becker competed in cricket, football, and golf; all were well within his grasp. However, in 1949 he chose tennis to the dismay of the players of the ...
.
The following year he took part in a tie against
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
in his native Croatia, where he lost a marathon five setter to
Robert Haillet, but was able to defeat
Robert Abdesselam
Robert Abdesselam (27 January 1920 – 26 July 2006)[Robert Abdesselam](_blank)
at foundationroberta ...
in the reverse singles. He finished his Davis Cup career with an 8/10 overall record from seven ties, the last in 1955, just months before he defected.
With Yugoslavia under
Communist rule
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...
, Petrović made the decision to defect in 1955. His wife Georgia, a renowned table tennis player, had temporarily left the country on a student exchange program, which gave him an opportunity to seek asylum when he travelled to England for the
1955 Wimbledon Championships
The 1955 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was held from Monday 20 June until Saturday 2 July 1955. It was the 69th ...
. He ended up in Germany, where he remained based for the next four years.
In 1958 he won the
Dutch Championships and made his last appearance at Wimbledon, beaten by eventual runner-up
Neale Fraser
Neale Andrew Fraser (born 3 October 1933) is a former number one amateur male tennis-player from Australia, born in Melbourne, Victoria, the son of a Victorian judge. Fraser is the last man to have completed the triple crown, i.e. having won ...
.
In 1959 he moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
with his family. At the LA Tennis Club(LATC) he defeated many Top US and Australian tennis players in the Pacific South West(PSW) tournament in Septembers after the US Championships in New York. His son
Glenn competed on the professional tennis circuit.
See also
*
List of Yugoslavia Davis Cup team representatives
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrovic, Vladimir
1929 births
Living people
Yugoslav male tennis players
Croatian male tennis players
Yugoslav emigrants to Germany
Yugoslav emigrants to the United States
Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni
Tennis players from Los Angeles