Jan Kodeš

Jan Kodeš (born 1 March 1946) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time major singles champion, Kodeš was one of the premier players in the early 1970s.

Kodeš's greatest success was achieved on the clay courts of the French Open. He won the singles title in 1970 French Open beating Željko Franulović in straight sets in the final. He won the 1971 French Open over Ilie Năstase in the final in four sets, his "tireless running and gifted anticipation" proving too much for the Romanian. He also won Wimbledon on grass courts in 1973, beating Alex Metreveli in the final in straight sets, although the tournament was largely boycotted by top players that year in a show of solidarity over the ban of Nikola Pilić by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF).

Kodeš never played at the Australian Open, but was twice the runner-up at the US Open, in 1971 to Stan Smith and 1973 to John Newcombe. Kodeš reached his highest ATP ranking of world No. 5 in September 1973. During the Open Era, he won nine top-level singles titles and 17 doubles titles.

Kodeš was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2013, he received the Czech Fair Play Award from the Czech Olympic Committee. He is an economics graduate of the Prague University.

Career statistics

The table for open era finals below does not include victories and final participation in tournaments from 1966 to 1969, such as victories in international championships and tournaments in Santiago, Viña del Mar, Sao Paulo, Lyon, Cannes, Luxembourg, St. Petersburg (USA), Beirut, Zaragoza, Split, Varna, Plovdiv, Paris (Racing Club) and three times in the MM CSSR in Bratislava. In doubles with Javorsky in Bratislava, then with Jan Kukal, he won tournaments in Lyon, Hilversum, Macon (USA), Pittsburgh, Caracas, Istanbul, Bratislava, Beirut and Split. With Pala in Luxembourg and Zaragoza. With Rodriguez in Viña del Mar, Chile. In all these tournaments or championships, the starting field was always at least 32 players, like today's ATP tour tournaments, but they are not listed in the ATP Tour yearbooks because the ATP Tour did not exist at that time and did not publish publications.

In the book written by Petr Kolar and Jan Kodes, "A Journey to Glory from behind the Iron Curtain", there are 25 singles wins, 27 appearances in finals, 32 doubles wins and 29 appearances in doubles finals. He participated in the first Grand Prix "Masters" tournaments (now ATP Finals) from 1970-1974 (Tokyo 1970, Paris 1971, Barcelona 1972, Boston 1973 and Dallas 1974).

Grand Slam finals: 5 (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1970	French Open	Clay	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović	6–2, 6–4, 6–0
Win	1971	French Open (2)	Clay	Romania Ilie Năstase	8–6, 6–2, 2–6, 7–5
Loss	1971	US Open	Grass	United States Stan Smith	6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 6–7(3–5)
Win	1973	Wimbledon	Grass	Soviet Union Alex Metreveli	6–1, 9–8(7–5), 6–3
Loss	1973	US Open (2)	Grass	Australia John Newcombe	4–6, 6–1, 6–4, 2–6, 3–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Key
W	F	SF	QF	#R	RR	Q#	DNQ	A	NH

Tournament	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	SR	W–L	Win %
Australian Open	Absent	0 / 0	0–0	–
French Open	2R	4R	1R[a]	4R	W	W	QF	QF	4R	4R	3R	4R	3R	2R	2R	1R	2 / 16	43–13	76.79
Wimbledon	1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	SF	W	QF	2R	A	1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	1 / 15	19–14	57.58
US Open	A	A	A	2R	A	F	2R	F	4R	4R	QF	3R	A	2R	A	A	0 / 9	27–9	75.00
Win–loss	1–2	3–2	0–1	5–3	7–1	13–2	9–3	17–2	10–3	7–3	6–2	5–3	2–2	2–3	2–2	0–2	3 / 40	89–36	71.20

a 1968 French Open counts as 0 wins, 0 losses. Fernando Gentil received a walkover in the first round, after Kodeš withdrew, does not count as a Kodeš loss (nor a Gentil win).

Open era finals

Singles (9 titles, 19 runner-ups)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1.	1970	St. Petersburg, U.S.	Clay	Mexico Joaquín Loyo-Mayo	6–3, 6–3, 6–3
Win	2.	1970	French Open, Paris	Clay	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović	6–2, 6–4, 6–0
Loss	1.	1970	Rome, Italy	Clay	Romania Ilie Năstase	3–6, 6–1, 3–6, 6–8
Loss	2.	1971	Nice, France	Clay	Romania Ilie Năstase	8–10, 9–11, 1–6
Win	3.	1971	Catania, Italy	Clay	France Georges Goven	6–3, 6–0, 6–2
Loss	3.	1971	Rome WCT, Italy	Clay	Australia Rod Laver	5–7, 3–6, 3–6
Win	4.	1971	French Open, Paris	Clay	Romania Ilie Năstase	8–6, 6–2, 2–6, 7–5
Loss	4.	1971	US Open, New York	Grass	United States Stan Smith	6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 6–7
Loss	5.	1971	Stockholm WCT, Sweden	Hard (i)	United States Arthur Ashe	1–6, 6–3, 2–6, 6–1, 4–6
Loss	6.	1972	Nice, France	Clay	Romania Ilie Năstase	0–6, 4–6, 3–6
Loss	7.	1972	Rome, Italy	Clay	Spain Manuel Orantes	6–4, 1–6, 5–7, 2–6
Win	5.	1972	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Spain Manuel Orantes	6–3, 6–2, 6–3
Win	6.	1973	Cologne, West Germany	Carpet (i)	New Zealand Brian Fairlie	6–1, 6–3, 6–1
Loss	8.	1973	Vancouver, Canada	Carpet (i)	United States Tom Gorman	6–3, 2–6, 5–7
Win	7.	1973	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Soviet Union Alex Metreveli	6–1, 9–8, 6–3
Loss	9.	1973	US Open, New York	Grass	Australia John Newcombe	4–6, 6–1, 6–4, 2–6, 3–6
Loss	10.	1973	Prague, Czechoslovakia	Carpet (i)	Czechoslovakia Jiří Hřebec	6–4, 1–6, 6–3, 0–6, 5–7
Loss	11.	1974	Acapulco, Mexico	Carpet (i)	Netherlands Tom Okker	2–6, 6–7
Loss	12.	1975	Hampton, U.S.	Carpet (i)	United States Jimmy Connors	6–3, 3–6, 0–6
Loss	13.	1975	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Spain Manuel Orantes	6–3, 2–6, 2–6, 6–4, 1–6
Loss	14.	1975	Düsseldorf, West Germany	Clay	Chile Jaime Fillol	4–6, 6–1, 0–6, 5–7
Loss	15.	1975	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Italy Adriano Panatta	6–2, 2–6, 5–7, 4–6
Win	8.	1975	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Italy Adriano Panatta	6–2, 3–6, 7–6, 6–2
Win	9.	1976	Basel, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Czechoslovakia Jiří Hřebec	6–4, 6–2, 6–3
Loss	16.	1976	Nice, France	Clay	Italy Corrado Barazzutti	2–6, 6–2, 7–5, 6–7, 6–8
Loss	17.	1976	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Spain Manuel Orantes	6–7, 2–6, 6–7
Loss	18.	1976	Aviles, Spain	Clay	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović	6–7, 1–6, 7–5, 6–7
Loss	19.	1977	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Argentina Guillermo Vilas	7–5, 2–6, 6–4, 3–6, 2–6

Doubles (17 titles, 24 runner-ups)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	1970	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović	Australia Dick Crealy Australia Allan Stone	2–6, 6–2, 12–12 ret.
Loss	2.	1970	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović	Australia John Alexander Australia Phil Dent	8–10, 2–6, 4–6
Loss	3.	1970	Phoenix, U.S.	Hard	United States Charlie Pasarell	Australia Dick Crealy Australia Ray Ruffels	6–7, 3–6
Loss	4.	1970	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović	Australia Bob Carmichael Australia Ray Ruffels	5–7, 2–6, 7–5, 7–6, 3–6
Loss	5.	1971	Macon, U.S.	Carpet	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović	United States Clark Graebner Brazil Thomaz Koch	3–6, 6–7
Loss	6.	1971	Catania, Italy	Clay	Czechoslovakia Jan Kukal	France Pierre Barthès France François Jauffret	6–7, 6–2, 3–6
Win	1.	1971	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović	United States Clark Graebner United States Erik van Dillen	7–6, 5–7, 6–3
Win	2.	1972	Nice, France	Clay	United States Stan Smith	South Africa Frew McMillan Romania Ilie Năstase	6–3, 3–6, 7–5
Win	3.	1972	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Romania Ilie Năstase	South Africa Bob Hewitt Romania Ion Țiriac	4–6, 6–0, 3–6, 6–2, 6–2
Loss	7.	1972	Montreal, Canada	Clay	Czechoslovakia Jan Kukal	Romania Ilie Năstase Romania Ion Țiriac	6–7, 3–6
Win	4.	1973	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Czechoslovakia Vladimír Zedník	United States Jimmy Connors Romania Ilie Năstase	6–2, 6–4
Win	5.	1973	Prague, Czechoslovakia	Mateflex	Czechoslovakia Vladimír Zedník	Hungary Róbert Machán Hungary Balázs Taróczy	7–6, 7–6
Win	6.	1974	Palm Desert, U.S.	Hard	Czechoslovakia Vladimír Zedník	United States Raymond Moore New Zealand Onny Parun	6–4, 6–4
Win	7.	1974	Düsseldorf, West Germany	Clay	Czechoslovakia Jiří Hřebec	Japan Kenichi Hirai Japan Toshiro Sakai	6–1, 6–4
Loss	8.	1975	Salisbury, U.S.	Carpet	United Kingdom Roger Taylor	United States Jimmy Connors Romania Ilie Năstase	6–7, 2–6
Win	8.	1975	Munich, West Germany	Clay	Poland Wojciech Fibak	Czechoslovakia Milan Holeček West Germany Karl Meiler	7–5, 6–3
Loss	9.	1975	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Poland Wojciech Fibak	Spain Juan Gisbert Sr. Spain Manuel Orantes	3–6, 6–7
Win	9.	1975	Düsseldorf, West Germany	Clay	France François Jauffret	West Germany Harald Elschenbroich Austria Hans Kary	6–2, 6–3
Loss	10.	1975	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Romania Ilie Năstase	South Africa Cliff Drysdale South Africa Raymond Moore	4–6, 7–5, 6–7
Win	10.	1975	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Romania Ilie Năstase	Spain Juan Gisbert Sr. Spain Manuel Orantes	6–4, 3–6, 9–7
Win	11.	1976	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Czechoslovakia Jiří Hřebec	West Germany Jürgen Fassbender West Germany Hans-Jürgen Pohmann	6–7, 6–2, 6–4
Loss	12.	1977	Baltimore, U.S.	Carpet	Australia Ross Case	Romania Ion Țiriac Argentina Guillermo Vilas	3–6, 7–6, 4–6
Win	12.	1977	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	France François Jauffret	Poland Wojciech Fibak Netherlands Tom Okker	2–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	13.	1977	French Open, Paris	Clay	Poland Wojciech Fibak	United States Brian Gottfried Mexico Raúl Ramírez	6–7, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Win	13.	1977	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Poland Wojciech Fibak	South Africa Bob Hewitt South Africa Frew McMillan	6–0, 6–4
Loss	14.	1977	Vienna, Austria	Carpet	Poland Wojciech Fibak	South Africa Bob Hewitt South Africa Frew McMillan	4–6, 3–6
Loss	15.	1977	Oviedo, Spain	Carpet	Mexico Raúl Ramírez	United States Fred McNair United States Sherwood Stewart	3–6, 1–6
Loss	16.	1978	Springfield, U.S.	Carpet	United States Marty Riessen	United States Robert Lutz United States Stan Smith	3–6, 3–6
Loss	17.	1978	Nice, France	Clay	Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd	France Patrice Dominguez France François Jauffret	4–6, 0–6
Loss	18.	1978	Rome, Italy	Clay	Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd	Paraguay Víctor Pecci Chile Belus Prajoux	7–6, 6–7, 1–6
Win	14.	1978	Stuttgart, West Germany	Clay	Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd	Brazil Carlos Kirmayr Chile Belus Prajoux	6–3, 7–6
Loss	19.	1978	Aix-en-Provence, France	Clay	Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd	Romania Ion Țiriac Argentina Guillermo Vilas	6–7, 1–6
Win	15.	1978	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Poland Wojciech Fibak	Czechoslovakia Pavel Složil Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd	6–7, 6–1, 6–2
Win	16.	1979	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd	Australia Mark Edmondson Australia John Marks	6–3, 6–1, 7–6
Loss	20.	1979	Hilversum, Netherlands	Clay	Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd	Netherlands Tom Okker Hungary Balázs Taróczy	1–6, 3–6
Loss	21.	1979	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd	United States Gene Mayer United States John McEnroe	4–6, 6–7
Loss	22.	1980	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Hungary Balázs Taróczy	United States Steve Denton Czechoslovakia Ivan Lendl	2–6, 7–6, 3–6
Loss	23.	1980	Cologne, West Germany	Carpet	Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd	South Africa Bernard Mitton Zimbabwe Andrew Pattison	4–6, 1–6
Win	17.	1982	Hilversum, Netherlands	Clay	Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd	Hungary Balázs Taróczy Switzerland Heinz Günthardt	7–6, 6–4
Loss	24.	1983	Hilversum, Netherlands	Clay	Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd	Switzerland Heinz Günthardt Hungary Balázs Taróczy	6–3, 2–6, 3–6

At results above are not shown wins and runner-ups from 1965 to 1969, such as tournaments in Santiago, Viňa del Mar, São Paulo, Lyon, Cannes, Luxembourg, Split, Varna, Plovdiv, Paris (Racing Club) or International championships of Czechoslovakia in Bratislava. The draws of players were always minimum 32 players, same as at contemporary ATP Tour events, but they are not listed in ATP Annuals, since ATP was founded at 1972.

External links

at the Association of Tennis Professionals
at the International Tennis Federation
at the Davis Cup (archived)
at the International Tennis Hall of Fame