Hella Strecker born Hella Kovac (10 November 1911 – 1999) was a Yugoslav then later Austrian tennis player from Vienna active during the 1930s to 1950s. She was a losing finalist in the women's doubles at the 1939 French Championships partnering Alice Florian. At the Wimbledon Championships which she played six times, she reached the third round of the singles events in 1939 and 1953.

Career

Hella Kovac was born on 10 November 1911 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. During the 1930s until 1940 she represented

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 ...

on the international tennis circuit. After her marriage in 1941 marriage she represented

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, and continued playing until late 1950s. She played and won her first tournament in 1935 at

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 ...

against Vlasta Gostisa. In major tournament singles events, she reached the third round of the

French Championships 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 events eve ...

twice in 1936 and 1938. At the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

she reached the third round two times, in 1939 and 1953.AELTC Her other career singles highlights include winning the Yugoslavian International Championships three times, (1935–37) the Prince Hertier Cup (1938), the Durham County Lawn Tennis Championships (1938), the Italian Riviera Championships (1940), the Closed Croatian Championships (1940), Alassio International (1940), the Genoa International (1940), Coupe des Alpes, Kitzbühel (1949), the Gallia Lawn Tennis Club Tournament, Cannes (1951), Cimiez Club Tournament (1951), the Austrian International Championships three times ((1951–52, 1954), She was also a losing finalist at the Wiesbaden International (1936), Bordighera Championship (1938), German International Championships (1939), Polish International Championships (1939), Slovakian International Championships (1941). She won her final singles title at Munich in 1953 against Margot Dittmeyer, and played her final singles tournament the same year at

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

Personal life

She married Anton Strecker on 31 May 1941.

References

External links

Wimbledon player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strecker, Hella 1911 births Austrian female tennis players Yugoslav female tennis players Tennis players from Vienna 1999 deaths