Jan Kodeš

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Jan Kodes (Czech: Jan Kodeš; born March 1, 1946, in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a right-handed Czech former tennis player who won three Grand Slam events in the early-1970s.

Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), Kodes' greatest success was on the clay courts of the French Open. He won his first title there in 1970, beating Zeljko Franulovic 6–2, 6–4, 6–0. He followed that the next year by beating Ilie Nastase 8–6, 6–2, 2–6, 7–5, before he made the successful transition to grass by winning Wimbledon in 1973. He beat home favourite Roger Taylor in the semi-final in a five-set match 6–1, 6–8, 3–6, 6–3, 7–5. The final against Alex Metreveli was more straightforward, winning in straight sets 6–1, 9–8, 6–3.

Kodes could never repeat the success of Wimbledon and the French Open elsewhere. Indeed, he never appeared at the Australian Open. At the US Open, he was runner-up twice in 1971 and 1973.

Kodes reached his highest tour ranking of World No. 5 in September 1973. During his career, he won a total of 8 top-level singles titles and 17 doubles titles.

He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1990.

[edit] Grand Slam singles finals

[edit] Wins (3)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1970	French Open(1)	Zeljko Franulovic	6–2, 6–4, 6–0
1971	French Open (2)	Ilie Nastase	8–6, 6–2, 2–6, 7–5
1973	Wimbledon	Alex Metreveli	6–1, 9–8, 6–3

[edit] Runner-ups (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1971	U.S. Open(1)	Stan Smith	3–6, 6–3, 6–2, 7–6
1973	U.S. Open (2)	John Newcombe	6–4, 1–6, 4–6, 6–2, 6–2

[edit] Singles finals (25)

[edit] Wins (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1970	French Open, Paris	Clay	Zeljko Franulovic	6–2, 6–4, 6–4
2.	1971	Catania, Italy	Clay	Georges Goven	6–3, 6–0, 6–2
3.	1971	French Open, Paris	Clay	Ilie Nastase	8–6, 6–2, 2–6, 7–5
4.	1972	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Manuel Orantes	6–3, 6–2, 6–3
5.	1973	Cologne WCT, Germany	Carpet	Brian Fairlie	6–1, 6–3, 6–1
6.	1973	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Alex Metreveli	6–1, 9–8, 6–3
7.	1975	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Adriano Panatta	5–7, 2–6, 7–6, 6–2, 6–3
8.	1976	Basel, Switzerland	Carpet	Jiri Hrebec	6–4, 6–2, 6–3

[edit] Runner-ups (17)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1970	Rome, Italy	Clay	Ilie Nastase	6–3, 1–6, 6–3, 8–6
2.	1971	Nice, France	Hard	Ilie Nastase	10-8, 11-9, 6–1
3.	1971	Rome, Italy	Clay	Rod Laver	7–5, 6–3, 6–3
4.	1971	U.S. Open, New York City	Grass	Stan Smith	3–6, 6–3, 6–2, 7–6
5.	1971	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Arthur Ashe	6–1, 3–6, 6–2, 1–6, 6–4
6.	1972	Nice, France	Clay	Ilie Nastase	6–0, 6–4, 6–3
7.	1972	Rome, Italy	Clay	Manuel Orantes	4–6, 6–1, 7–5, 6–2
8.	1973	Vancouver WCT, Canada	Other	Tom Gorman	3–6, 6–2, 7–5
9.	1973	U.S. Open, New York City	Grass	John Newcombe	6–4, 1–6, 4–6, 6–2, 6–3
10.	1973	Prague, Czechoslovakia	Clay	Jiri Hrebec	4–6, 6–1, 3–6, 6–0, 7–5
11.	1975	Hampton, U.S.	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	3–6, 6–3, 6–0
12.	1975	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Manuel Orantes	3–6, 6–2, 6–2, 4–6, 6–1
13.	1975	Düsseldorf, Germany	Clay	Jaime Fillol	6–4, 1–6, 6–0, 7–5
14.	1975	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Adriano Panatta	2–6, 6–2, 7–5, 6–4
15.	1976	Nice, France	Clay	Corrado Barazzutti	6–2, 2–6, 5–7, 7–6, 8–6
16.	1976	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Manuel Orantes	7–6, 6–2, 7–6
17.	1977	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	5–7, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3, 6–2