Hana Mandlikova

Hana Mandlikova was born on February 19, 1962, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, the daughter of Olympic 200-meter semi-finalist Vilém Mandlík. She started her tennis career as a junior, becoming the first female world No. 1 junior in 1978. Mandlikova’s professional journey began in 1978. Hana Mandlikova secured her first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in 1980 at the age of 18. The following year, she won the French Open. She was a finalist at the US Open in 1980 and 1982, and at Wimbledon in 1981, facing Chris Evert in all three finals. From the 1980 US Open to Wimbledon in 1981, she made four consecutive Grand Slam singles final appearances. In 1983, she guided Czechoslovakia to the first of three consecutive Federation Cup victories, repeating the feat in 1984 and 1985.

In 1984, she ended Martina Navratilova’s 54-match winning streak at the Oakland, California tournament. Mandlikova achieved her career-high world No. 3 ranking in April 1984. At the 1985 US Open, she became the first woman since Tracy Austin to defeat both Chris Evert in the semifinals and Martina Navratilova in the final of the same tournament, claiming her third Grand Slam. This achievement made her only the third woman, after Evert and Navratilova, to win Grand Slam titles on different court surfaces. In 1986, Mandlikova and Wendy Turnbull won the women’s doubles title at the WTA Tour Championships. Mandlikova won her fourth and final Grand Slam singles title at the 1987 Australian Open, defeating Navratilova in the final. This victory ended another of Navratilova’s winning streaks, this time after 56 matches. She obtained Australian citizenship in 1988.

Mandlikova retired from professional tennis in 1990 at age 28, having amassed 27 singles and 19 doubles titles. Her career Federation Cup singles record was 34 wins and 6 losses. She is one of only 13 women in the Open Era to have reached the singles finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments. Mandlikova was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994, later receiving her Hall of Fame ring at the 2017 Miami Open. Post-retirement, she coached Jana Novotná to a Wimbledon singles title and a world No. 2 ranking. Mandlikova also served as the Czech Republic’s Olympic and Fed Cup coach.