Wilhelm Paul Bungert (born 1 April 1939) is a former

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

tennis player 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 cove ...

best known for reaching the 1967 Wimbledon final. He participated in the

1970 Davis Cup The 1970 Davis Cup was the 59th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 31 teams entered the Europe Zone, 11 teams entered the Americas Zone, and 11 teams entered the Eastern Zone. Hong Kong ...

final as a player and in the

1985 Davis Cup The 1985 Davis Cup (also known as the 1985 Davis Cup by NEC for sponsorship purposes) was the 74th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 63 teams would enter the competition, 16 in the Wor ...

final as team captain.

Tennis career

In 1962 the right-handed Bungert reached the quarterfinals of the International Australian Championships, the doubles finals of the International French Championships and the International Tennis Tournament of Monte Carlo. Bungert was ranked as high as World No. 4 for 1964 by

Lance Tingay Lance Tingay (15 July 1915 – 10 March 1990) was a British sports journalist, historian, and author of several tennis books. For many years his annual ranking of top tennis players was "the only one that counted" before ATP rankings were introduc ...

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

. After reaching the semifinals in 1963 (beating

Roy Emerson Roy Stanley Emerson (born 3 November 1936) is an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, for a total of 28 Grand Slam titles. He is the only male player to have completed a caree ...

before losing to

Chuck McKinley Charles Robert McKinley Jr. (January 5, 1941 – August 11, 1986) was an American former World number 1 male tennis player rankings, world no. 1 men's amateur tennis champion of the 1960s. He is remembered as an undersized, hard-working dynamo, ...

) and 1964 (losing to Emerson), the unseeded Bungert was the second German player (thirty years after

Gottfried von Cramm Gottfried Alexander Maximilian Walter Kurt Freiherr von Cramm (; 7 July 1909 – 8 November 1976) was a German tennis champion who won the French Open twice and reached the final of a Grand Slam on five other occasions. He was ranked number 2 in ...

) to reach the

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 * ...

men’s finals in 1967 when he beat

Roger Taylor Roger Taylor may refer to: *Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen *Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran *Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series *Roger Taylor (college pr ...

in five sets. Bungert's victories in the quarterfinal and round of 16 had also been five-set affairs. The 100 greatest Wimbledon players ever – Times Online
/ref> However, he lost the final in straight sets against the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

John Newcombe John David Newcombe AO OBE (born 23 May 1944) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He is one of the few men to have attained a world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles. At the majors, he won seven singles titles, a fo ...

. In 1970 he (with Christian Kuhnke) was part of the German

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 ...

team which lost the finals against the U.S. 0–5. In July of the same year he won his only career singles title in Düsseldorf. In the eighties Bungert was captain of the German Davis Cup team (

Boris Becker Boris Franz Becker (, ; born 22 November 1967) is a German former world No. 1 tennis player. Becker was successful from the start of his career, winning the Wimbledon Championships at the age of 17. He ultimately won six Grand Slam singles tit ...

and

Michael Westphal Michael Westphal (19 February 1965 – 20 June 1991) was a male tennis player from West Germany. Westphal participated for his native country in the 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and ...

) which lost the finals against Sweden 2–3.

Nikola Pilić Nikola "Niki" Pilić (born 27 August 1939) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia. He was one of the Handsome Eight. Pilić was ranked world No. 6 in January 1968 and world No. 7 for 1967 by Lance Tinga ...

became his successor as captain. Today, Bungert owns a tennis and golf center in

Hilden Hilden is a town in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is situated in the District of Mettmann, west of Solingen and east of Düsseldorf on the right side of the Rhine. It is a middle sized industrial town with a forest and numero ...

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

named one of their tennis shoes after him and have been producing pairs up until (at least) October 2005. PUMA also named a tennis shoe after him, though exact production dates are unknown.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

Doubles (1 runner–up)

Career finals

* Singles titles (1): 1970 Düsseldorf * Doubles titles (1): 1968 Kitzbuehel (w/Jurgen Fassbender) * Singles finalist (3) 1967

, 1968 Kitzbuehel, 1968 Düsseldorf

References

External links

* * * 1939 births Living people Sportspeople from Mannheim West German male tennis players German tennis coaches Tennis people from Baden-Württemberg {{Germany-tennis-bio-stub