Drobny, Jaroslav

▪ 2002

      Czechoslovak-born sportsman (b. Oct. 12, 1921, Prague, Czechoslovakia—d. Sept. 13, 2001, London, Eng.), during the 1940s was one of his country's finest tennis players and a key member of the national ice hockey team, but he achieved his greatest success on the tennis court after his defection to the West in 1950. Drobny played at Wimbledon in 1938 (representing Czechoslovakia) and in 1939 (representing “Bohemia-Moravia,” that part of Czechoslovakia not then under German occupation). After working in a munitions factory during World War II, he led Czechoslovakia to victory in the European zone of the 1947 and 1948 Davis Cup tennis tournaments. At the same time, he guided the Czechoslovak national ice hockey team to a gold medal at the 1947 world championships and a silver at the 1948 Winter Olympic Games. After his defection Drobny played tennis on an Egyptian passport and won the French (1951 and 1952) and Italian (1950, 1951, and 1953) championships. He lost in the final at Wimbledon in 1949 and 1952, but in 1954 he finally captured the All-England title in a thrilling four-set final against Ken Rosewall. In 1960 Drobny took British citizenship and retired from elite-level tennis, although he continued to compete for Britain in veterans' events. In 1983 he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

* * *