József Asbóth

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The native form of this personal name is Asbóth József. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
József Asbóth
Country (sports) Hungary
Born(1917-09-18)18 September 1917
Szombathely, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary
Died22 September 1986(1986-09-22) (aged 69)
München, West Germany
Turned pro1939 (amateur tour)
Retired1957
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Highest rankingNo. 8 (1948, John Olliff)[1]
Grand Slam Singles results
French OpenW (1947)
WimbledonSF (1948)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
French OpenSF (1947)

József Asbóth (Hungarian: [ˈjoːʒɛf ˈɒʒboːt]; 18 September 1917 – 22 September 1986) was a Hungarian tennis player. Born to a family of railway workers,[2] he is best remembered for being the first Hungarian and first player from Eastern Europe to win a Grand Slam singles title, at the 1947 French Open (where as the fifth seed he beat Yvon Petra, Tom Brown and Eric Sturgess).[3] He remains the only Hungarian male player to win a Grand Slam singles title. Asbóth 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, then 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. 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
Winner 1947 French Championships Clay South Africa Eric Sturgess 8–6, 7–5, 6–4

References[]

  1. ^ a b United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 426.
  2. ^ a b 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]. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. 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.

External links[]


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