Franjo Punčec
(;
25 November 1913 – 5 January 1985) was a
Yugoslav 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. He played for the
Yugoslavian team at the
International Lawn Tennis Challenge from 1933 to 1946.
Early life and family
Punčec started playing tennis at the
Čakovec sports club and was coached by Géza Legenstein. He was crowned junior champion of Yugoslavia in 1931. He celebrated his first international match win at the 1931 Hungarian International Championships, over Wilhelm Brosch of Austria, at the age of 17. Though he lost in the second round in singles and first round of mixed doubles, he reached the quarterfinals of the doubles. He was asked to be a
line judge at the 1931
Davis Cup tie against
Japan Davis Cup team 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 ...
. He then joined the CWC Concordia Zagreb tennis club.
Tennis career
Punčec played for the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia Davis Cup team at the
International Lawn Tennis Challenge, and later the Davis Cup, from 1933 to 1946. His greatest successes were reaching the semifinals of the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
in 1938, where he lost against Czechoslovakian
Roderich Menzel, and reaching the semifinals at
Wimbledon, where he lost to American
Don Budge that same year. In 1939 he again reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, but lost to American
Bobby Riggs. He was the first Croatian ever to be placed in the rankings list, reaching as high as World No. 4 in
Gordon Lowe's 1939 amateur rankings.
[United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). ''Official Encyclopedia of Tennis'' (1st edition), p. 425.] Punčec was also ranked World No. 10 by
A. Wallis Myers of ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' in 1938.
''Sport'' Magazine of
Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
ranked him first in the European rankings and third in the World's top ten.
In 1933 Punčec fell in the semifinal of the
Italian International Championships to eventual winner
Emanuele Sertorio in three straight sets. The following year, he returned to the tournament and was more successful in the mixed doubles, partnering
Madzy Rollin Couquerque; they ceded the title match victory to
Dorothy Andrus and
André Martin-Legeay.
In 1935 he traveled to India, where he clinched the
Madras
Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
and
Punjab city titles. The following year, he became the champion of
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
.
In 1937 Punčec won the Paris International tournament and bested
Kho Sin-Kie in four sets. The same year, he reached the semifinal of the singles of the
Tennis Napoli Cup and the quarterfinals in the doubles. He also won tournaments in
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
and in
Båstad
Båstad () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Båstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden, with approximately 5,000 permanent residents. It is however one of Sweden's most typical summer resorts. The population is presumably mor ...
.
In 1938 Punčec won the
Monte Carlo international tournament and the International Championship of Scandinavia. On the
French Riviera, he won the Beaulieu tournament after back-to-back victories over
Bunny Austin and
František Cejnar. According to
John Bromwich, he was ranked 8th in the world that year.
In 1939 he was a runner-up for the
Pacific Southwest Championship, losing to John Bromwich in what described as the best match of the tournament. According to Bromwich, he was ranked 5th in the world that year.
During World War II the Davis Cup was suspended and Yugoslavia was dissolved. Punčec joined the newly formed
Croatian Tennis Association. Apart from the Davis Cup, he played for the Rome Cup and Danube Cup (substitutes for an international team competition). He last represented the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...
in a friendly match against Hungary, which ended up in a tie. In 1941 he was ranked sixth on the list of European rankings. He represented
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
in 1942 against
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
in
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
, which also ended in a tie. He played only an exhibition match at the meeting.
In 1943 it was reported that Punčec was planning to change nationality and join the Hungarian tennis ranks, although the rumor was unconfirmed.
Punčec returned to tennis in 1946 to represent Yugoslavia in the Davis Cup. The match inaugurated the upgraded
Stade Roland Garros, which had a sold-out crowd of 12,000. The French team kicked off with a 2–0 lead after the first two singles. Both players were so unfocused that
Dragutin Mitić made six
foot faults on serve, while Punčec botched four. In the doubles,
Bernard Destremau and
Pierre Pellizza were leading 7–6 in the fifth deciding set when the Yugoslavian pair turned the tide and delivered a 10–8 victory. Mitić equaled the tally with his singles win the next day. The decider was fought between
Yvon Petra and Punčec. It was a "collision of playing styles" as Petra approached the net frequently while Punčec operated with
passing shot
A passing shot is a forceful shot, as in tennis or team handball, that travels to one side out of the reach of one's opponent. In tennis, this shot is generally a groundstroke and is used when one's opponent is running to the net or if they are at ...
s. Punčec led through five sets, not allowing his opponent to even hold his serve. During the final game, the Yugoslavs missed four match points but converted the fifth, winning the match and Punčec's last team victory.
Personal
In Yugoslavia Punčec worked as a state official. In 1943 he married Zora Punčec (1927–2012) and moved 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 ...
with her in 1948. They had three children, Frank, Victor, and Sylvia. The sons were also involved in tennis and
Frank was featured in the singles main draw of the
1983 French Open; he was ranked 179th in the world.
Gallery
File:Franjo Punčec (Croatia).jpg, Bust of Franjo Punčec in Čakovec, his home town
File:Noć muzeja 2018 (Čakovec) - pokali Franje Punčeca.jpg, Some of Punčec's tennis cup trophies in the Međimurje County Museum
File:Reket Franje Punčeca.jpg, Racket of Punčec in a wooden frame
Footnotes
Works cited
Primary
*
Secondary
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puncec, Franjo
Sportspeople from Čakovec
1913 births
1985 deaths
Croatian male tennis players
Yugoslav male tennis players
Croatian emigrants to South Africa
History of Čakovec