Miroslava "Mirka" Koželuhová (born 16 December 1951) is a Czech former professional

tennis 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 ...

player. She has also been known by her married name Mirka Bendlová.

Biography

Koželuhová is the great-niece of tennis player

Karel Koželuh Karel Koželuh (; hu, Kozeluh Károly ; 7 March 1895 – 27 April 1950) was a Czech tennis, association football, and ice hockey player of the 1920s and 1930s. Koželuh became a European ice hockey champion in 1925 and was one of the top-ranked ...

, who is an inductee to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. During her career she featured in four editions of the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

, the first in 1973. The

1973 French Open The 1973 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 21 May until 3 June. It was the 77th staging of the French Open, and the second Grand S ...

was also the debut of her then compatriot

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...

and they played each other in the first round, Navratilova emerging victorious. In 1975 she was a member of the Czechoslovak squad which won the country's first

Federation Cup Federation Cup or Fed Cup is the former name of the premier world team competition in women's tennis. Federation Cup may also refer to: * Capital Football Federation Cup, an Australian territory-based association football tournament *Federation Cup ...

title, then sat out of international tennis for two years when the authorities took away her passport as a reaction to Martina Navratilova's defection to the United States. During this time she got married and had a child. She made a comeback in 1978 when she was allowed to compete in the French Open and had to win her way through qualifying as she had no ranking points. Once in the main draw she had the best performance on her career, reaching the quarter-finals.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kozeluhova, Mirka 1951 births Living people Czechoslovak female tennis players Czech female tennis players