Hana Strachoňová (born 2 January 1961) is a retired professional tennis player who represented both Czechoslovakia and Switzerland.

Biography

Born in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

, Strachoňová competed originally for her native Czechoslovakia. As a 17-year old in 1978 she played in two

Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...

ties for Czechoslovakia's

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. In both ties, she partnered with

Hana Mandlíková Hana Mandlíková (born 19 February 1962) is a Czech–Australian former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 3 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in the mid-1980s. Mandíková won 27 WTA Tour-level sin ...

in the doubles rubbers, and the pair won both matches. At the

1978 French Open The 1978 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 29 May until 11 June. It was the 77th staging of the French Open, and the first Grand Sla ...

, she had a win over ninth seed

Renáta Tomanová Renáta Tomanová (born 9 December 1954) is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. Career Tomanová won the girls' singles title at the 1972 French Open. In 1975, she and Martina Navratilova represented Czechoslovakia in the ...

to make the third round. Strachoňová reached the third round of the

1979 Wimbledon Championships The 1979 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 25 June until 7 July. It was the 93 ...

. Soon after her appearance at Wimbledon, she defected to Switzerland, and in November, it was announced that she had been granted political asylum. She already had been based out of Zurich. She returned to the WTA Tour in February 1980 under the Swiss flag. Highlights that year included making the quarterfinals at

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a town rights, medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbüh ...

and Amsterdam as well as at the U.S. Clay Court Championships in Indianapolis, where she upset third seed

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 ...

. Her best performance in a

Grand Slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

tournament after defecting was a third round appearance at the 1980 French Open, which was the first time someone who entered the draw as a lucky loser had reached that stage at Roland Garros. In 1981, she defeated

Dianne Fromholtz Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat (née Fromholtz; born 10 August 1956) is an Australian former professional tennis player who reached a highest singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1979. Career Fromholtz began playing tennis at the age of seven. She ...

en route to the quarterfinals at Indianapolis, and she was a quarterfinalist at

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

. She retired from professional tennis after the 1984 US Open.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Strachonova, Hana 1961 births Living people Swiss female tennis players Czechoslovak female tennis players Czechoslovak defectors Czechoslovak emigrants to Switzerland Tennis players from Brno