Dragutin Mitić ( sh-Cyrl, Драгутин Митић, ; 16 September 1917 – 27 August 1986) was a
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 from
Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
. He defected to the West in 1952 and afterwards lived in the United States.
Early life and family
Dragutin Mitić was born in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
on 16 September 1917. He was nicknamed ''Dragec''. His first tennis performance was an instant success. In 1932 he played at the national junior championships and won. At eighteen, he competed in Bled and upset Czechoslovak Josef Caska, and brought home the mixed doubles with Hella Kovač. He made his Davis Cup debut in 1936. That same year he traveled to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
and, although he didn't return with any major result, gained international experience.
Tennis career
Mitić played tennis for Zagreb clubs ''Akademski teniski klub'' ATK, between 1935 and 1940, ''Slavija'' in 1946, ''Dinamo'' in 1947–48, ''Naprijed'' in 1949, and ZTK in 1951. He played for the Kingdom of Yugoslavia Davis Cup team, first at the International Lawn Tennis Challenge, and later the
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
, from 1936 to 1951.
Mitić's breakthrough year was in 1938 with back-to-back victories over well-established names such as Czechoslovak Roderich Menzel, French Christian Boussus, and Ignacy Tłoczyński in matches in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
,
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
, and Beaulieu, respectively. In
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionKho Sin-Kie. He also did well in two big tournaments. At the 1938 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles he dropped out of the Australian Mervyn Weston in four sets, then Argentine Alejo Russell in five, and Brazilian Alcides Procopio in three, losing in the fourth round to Max Ellmer. In the Roland Garros he advanced one more round into the quarterfinals, but there won only one game against Menzel. He booked his first and only Grand Slam title (as it was called in the Open era) in the mixed doubles, where he and
Simonne Mathieu
Simonne Mathieu ( Passemard;) (31 January 1908 – 7 January 1980) was a tennis player from France, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, who was active in the 1930s. She won the French Championships singles title in 1938 and 1939.
During ...
Monaco
Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
he won the first post-war tournament in Budapest, the Hungarian Tennis Championships, from József Asbóth, along with the doubles with partner Josip Pallada, and the mixed doubles. He also won five consecutive singles titles in the Yugoslavian Nationals from 1946 to 1950.
In 1947 Mitić repeated his Hungarian success and became a two-time singles champion. In 1948 he won the Czechoslovakia International doubles tournament with Palada. In 1950 he was crowned Indian champion in the mixed doubles category, teaming with Patricia Canning Todd.
Mitić defected to the
West
West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
together with
Milan Branović
Milan Branović (born 26 September 1922) is a Croatian former tennis player.
Branović, originally from Čakovec, played for the Yugoslavia Davis Cup team between 1949 and 1951. In 1952 he defected to the west along with his Davis Cup teammate ...
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, where he opened a tennis center.
Playing style
According to tennis expert Predrag Briksi: "Mitić had a world-class backhand, sharp and accurate, coherent and well coordinated. He had a very good service and refined volley, strong smash, and the only weak point in his refined game was his above-average forehand shot. The Mitić forehand was slightly weaker because it was regularly struck with the weight of the body on the 'wrong foot'. His on-court reach showed vulnerability when it came to movement. He covered a great range from right to the left side, but he was a little slower relative to his front-back reach. He was excellent at baseline, and just as good at the net when he went volleying".