Věra Suková (née Pužejová) (13 June 1931 – 13 May 1982) 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 Czechoslovakia. She was the women's singles runner-up at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

in 1962, losing to

Karen Hantze Susman Karen Susman (née Hantze; born December 11, 1942, San Diego) is an American former tennis player. Susman won the women's singles title at The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon in 1962 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, 1962. She won ...

6–4, 6–4. Suková was a women's singles semifinalist at 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 ...

in 1957 and 1963. She teamed with

Jiří Javorský Jiří Javorský (9 February 1932 – 16 September 2002) was a Czech tennis player. Javorský played in the Davis Cup for Czechoslovakia between 1955 and 1966. In 1957, he and his partner Věra Suková won the mixed doubles at the French Open. In ...

to win the mixed doubles title at that tournament in 1957. They were the runners-up in 1961. According to

Lance Tingay Lance Tingay (15 July 1915 – 10 March 1990) was a British sports journalist, historian, and author of several tennis books. For many years his annual ranking of top tennis players was "the only one that counted" before ATP rankings were introduc ...

, Suková was ranked in the world top ten in 1957, 1962, and 1963, reaching a career high of World No. 5 in those rankings in 1962. Suková was the Czechoslovak national women's singles champion 11 times between 1952 and 1964. After retirement from tennis, Suková served as the coach of Czechoslovakia's national women's team. Under her guidance, the team won the

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 ...

in 1975.

Personal life

Her husband Cyril Suk II, whom she married in 1961, was president of the Czechoslovak Tennis Federation. Their two children,

Helena Suková Helena Suková () (born 23 February 1965) is a Czech former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and No. 4 in singles. Suková won 14 major titles: nine in wo ...

(born 1965) and Cyril Suk III (born 1967), both became successful professional tennis players. Věra Suková died from

brain cancer A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cance ...

in 1982.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner–up)

Mixed doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

References

External links

Official website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sukova, Vera Czech female tennis players Czechoslovak female tennis players French Championships (tennis) champions Sportspeople from Uherské Hradiště Tennis players from the Zlín Region 1931 births 1982 deaths Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Deaths from brain tumor