Helena Suková
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| Olympic medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's tennis | |||
| Silver | 1988 Seoul | Doubles | |
| Silver | 1996 Atlanta | Doubles | |
Helena Suková (b. February 23 1965 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. During her career she won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, and was a four-time Grand Slam singles runner-up.
Suková comes from a prominent Czech tennis family. Her mother, Věra Suková, was a women's singles finalist at Wimbledon in 1962. Her father, Cyril Suk II, was President of the Czechoslovakian Tennis Federation. Her brother, Cyril Suk III, is a professional player on the men's tour who teamed-up with Suková to win three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon and the French Open in the 1990s.
Suková turned professional in 1981. Her career-high world rankings were World No. 4 in singles and World No. 1 in doubles.
Suková was a singles runner-up at the Australian Open twice (in 1984 and 1989) and at the US Open twice (in 1986 and 1993). Sukova's most memorable singles win was against Martina Navratilova in the semifinal of the 1984 Australian Open, where she stunned Navratilova in three sets, ending her 74-match winning streak and preventing her from attempting a calendar year Grand Slam in the final.
Suková was a particularly outstanding doubles player. She won 9 Grand Slam women's doubles titles (4 Wimbledon, 2 US Open, 2 Australian Open, 1 French Open), and 5 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles (3 Wimbledon, 1 US Open, 1 French Open). She was also a women's doubles silver medalist at the Olympic Games in 1988 and 1996 (both times partnering Jana Novotná).
Suková helped Czechoslovakia win the Fed Cup 4 times in 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1988. She also teamed-up with Miloslav Mečíř to win the inaugural Hopman Cup for Czechoslovakia in 1989.
Over the course of her career, Suková won 10 singles titles and 73 doubles titles. Despite retiring from the professional tour in 1998, she has been given a wild card into the 2006 Wimbledon Mixed-Doubles draw partnering her brother Cyril Suk III giving the pairing a combined age of 80!!
[edit] External links
fr:Helena Suková ja:ヘレナ・スコバ pl:Helena Suková sv:Helena Suková
Categories: Czech tennis players | Tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics | Tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics | Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics | Summer Olympics medalists | Olympic silver medalists for Czechoslovakia | Olympic silver medalists for the Czech Republic | Australian Open champions | French Open champions | Wimbledon champions | US Open champions | 1965 births | Living people | People from Prague

