Karel Kozeluh

Karel Kozeluh – born March 07, 1875 in Prague, Czech Republic; died 27 April 1950.

Kozeluh was one of the top tennis players in the world. It was said that Kozeluh had a “professional status” ever since. Therefore, he never played any amateur events. With this, he was considered one of the greatest players in history.

Tournament Record

In 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1932 French Professional Singles Champion
1932 European Professional Tour Champion
1929, 1932, 1937 U.S. Pro Singles Champion
1925 World Professional Tennis Title

Karel Kozeluh one of the sons of Josef and Maria Kozeluh. He had 6 other brothers and two sisters. All of the nine siblings were active and passionate about sports. In fact, one of his brothers, Jan Kozeluh, is also one of the most famous tennis players of his time. However, he was the most distinguished of the entire family. At a very young age, he had already showed great promise in sports, especially in tennis. He was even described later on as "the Fred Astaire of the courts, with faultless ground strokes and a safecracker's touch at net."

In 2006, he was enlisted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. But he actually started out as a rugby player. It was only when he was 16 that he learned how to play tennis. In fact, he played other kinds of sports including soccer (he joined one strong team in Sparta Praha, then later DFC Prag and the Austrian National team). After the war, he also became a member of the Czechoslovak national soccer team up to 1921. Additionally, he also joined the Czechoslovakian ice hockey team where he was able to score the final winning goal to win them the European Championship.