Henner Henkel

Henner Henkel was a German tennis player who was born on October 9, 1915 in Berlin. He was the second German who won the singles title during the French Open in 1937. In that same year, he won the French Open doubles together with Gottfried Von Cramm.

He had a promising junior carrier winning his own German junior title in 1932 and 1933 before he pave his way to the senior circuit. During the French Open in 1937 he defeated three British players en route for the title. Henkel hit a variety of strokes and attacked his enemies in a varied pace and method. He had also used the drop shot in a very good way.

He was a very good player often found much better than his partner Von Cramm. Before any player can totally beat him, they had to struggle hard first because he had a lot of varying techniques that surely surprises his opponents.

During the Wimbledon, he had reached the quarters before losing to Frank Parker in five sets. In 1938 Wimbledon, Henkel beat Ladislav Hecht in the quarters straight before being defeated in the semifinals straight by Austin.

The last grand slam played by Henner Henkel was when he beat veterans Jacques Brugnon in the fourth round and Franco Kukuljevic in the quarters before losing to Elwood Cooke in the semis four set during Wimbledon in 1938

Three years later, Henkel was victim to the Second World War while serving in the German army in Stalingrad. He was only 27 then, that’s why he was greatly mourned by his fans and many other people who had supported him all throughout his fruitful career.