József Asbóth

József Asbóth
Country (sports)  Hungary
Born (1917-09-18)18 September 1917
Szombathely, Austria-Hungary
Died 22 September 1986(1986-09-22) (aged 69)
München, West Germany
Turned pro 1939 (amateur tour)
Retired 1957
Plays Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Highest ranking No. 8 (1948, John Olliff)[1]
Grand Slam Singles results
French Open W (1947)
Wimbledon SF (1948)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
French Open SF (1947)

József Asbóth (Hungarian: [ˈjoːʒɛf ˈɒʒboːt]; 18 September 1917 – 22 September 1986) was a Hungarian male tennis player. Born in a family of railway workers,[2] he is best remembered for being the first Hungarian tennis and the first player from Eastern Europe to win a Grand Slam singles title, at the 1947 French Open (where as fifth seed he beat Yvon Petra, Tom Brown and Eric Sturgess).[3] As of today, he is still the only Hungarian male player who won a Grand Slam title in singles. Asboth was a clay court specialist who was good at keeping the ball in play.[4] Asbóth also reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 1948 (beating Sturgess and Brown before losing to John Bromwich).[5] Hungary's Communist government had let him leave the country only after the personal warrant of the Swedish King Gustaf V that Asbóth would return to his homeland and wasn't going to emigrate.[2] In 1941, he was a member of the Hungarian team that won the Central European Cup. Asbóth was ranked World No. 8 by John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph in 1948 (and No. 9 in 1947).[1]

His Davis Cup record was 24 wins and 17 losses and he won the Hungarian National Tennis Championships 13 times.[6]

After his career, he became responsible for the next generation of tennis players at the Belgian Tennis Federation. He later became a trainer in Munich.

In 1993 a street was named after Asbóth in Szombathely, the city where he was born.[7]

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 title)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Winner1947French Championships ClaySouth Africa Eric Sturgess8–6, 7–5, 6–4

References

  1. 1 2 United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 426.
  2. 1 2 Lass, Gábor (2011-06-29). "A magyar tenisz végvára" [Last resort of Hungarian tennis]. demokrata.hu (in Hungarian). Budapest, Hungary: Magyar Demokrata. Archived from the original on 2013-07-28. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
  3. ↑ "French Open 1947". www.tennis.co.nf.
  4. ↑ "Jozsef Asboth". www.tennis.co.nf.
  5. ↑ "Wimbledon 1948". www.tennis.co.nf.
  6. ↑ Árvay, Sándor (2009-01-05). "Bajnokaink" [Our champions] (in Hungarian). Budapest, Hungary: Magyar Tenisz Szövetség [Hungarian Tennis Association]. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Asbóth József" (in Hungarian). Webpage of the city of Szombathely, Hungary. Archived from the original on 2007-12-09. Retrieved 2008-03-02.


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