Helena Suková

Olympic medal record
Women's tennis

Helena Suková
Country (sports)	Czech Republic
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro	1983
Retired	1998
Plays	Right-handed
Prize money	US$ 6,391,245
Singles
Career record	614–307
Career titles	10
Highest ranking	No. 4 (18 March 1985)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	F (1984, 1989)
French Open	SF (1986)
Wimbledon	QF (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1993)
US Open	F (1986, 1993)
Doubles
Career record	752–220
Career titles	69
Highest ranking	No. 1 (5 February 1990)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (1990, 1992)
French Open	W (1990)
Wimbledon	W (1987, 1989, 1990, 1996)
US Open	W (1985, 1993)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	W (1992)
Mixed doubles
Career titles	5
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	F (1994, 1998)
French Open	W (1991)
Wimbledon	W (1994, 1996, 1997)
US Open	W (1993)
	Last updated on: 18 September 2009.

Helena Suková (born 23 February 1965, in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. During her career, she won 14 Grand Slam titles, 9 of them in women's doubles and 5 of them in mixed doubles. She also was a four-time Grand Slam singles runner-up and won 10 singles titles and 69 doubles titles.

Personal life

Suková comes from a prominent Czech tennis family. Her mother, Věra Pužejová 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 former professional player on the men's tour who teamed with Suková to win three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, at the French Open in 1991 and at Wimbledon in 1996 and 1997.

Career

Suková turned professional in 1981. Her career-high world rankings were fourth in singles and first in women's 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). Suková's most memorable Grand Slam singles win was against Martina Navratilova in a semifinal of the 1984 Australian Open, where she ended Navratilova's 74-match winning streak and her chance at winning a calendar year Grand Slam. Chris Evert defeated her in the final.

In 1987, she became the fourth player to defeat Navratilova and Evert in the same tournament at Eastbourne and she also stopped Navratilova's 69 grass-win streak.

Suková was very successful as a doubles player. She had a career Grand Slam in women's doubles, winning four titles at Wimbledon, two at the US Open, one at the Australian Open, and one at the French Open.

She won three mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon, one at the US Open, and one at the French Open. She also was 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 four times, in 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1988. She also teamed 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 69 doubles titles.

Despite retiring from the professional tour in 1998, she was given a wild card into the 2006 Wimbledon mixed doubles tournament with her brother Cyril Suk. They lost their first round match.

Post-retirement activity

In 1999, Suková helped re-establish the International Lawn Tennis Club of the Czech Republic and became its president.

From January 2001 until June 2008, she was a co-opted member of the executive committee of the Council of the International Clubs. From February 2001 until November 2008, she served on the presidium of the Czech Olympians' Club.

In June 2007, Suková was appointed by The Czech Olympic Committee to the presidium of the Czech Fair Play Club. She is also a co-founder of the Kids and Junior Tennis Advancement Organization in the Czech Republic.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 4 (0 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1984	Australian Open	Grass	Chris Evert	6–7(4), 6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	1986	US Open	Hard	Martina Navratilova	6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	1989	Australian Open	Hard	Steffi Graf	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	1993	US Open	Hard	Steffi Graf	6–3, 6–3

Doubles: 14 (9 titles, 5 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1984	Australian Open	Grass	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	1985	French Open	Clay	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	4–6, 6–2, 6–2
Winner	1985	US Open	Hard	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	6–7(5), 6–2, 6–3
Runner-up	1985	Australian Open	Grass	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	6–3, 6–4
Winner	1987	Wimbledon	Grass	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Betsy Nagelsen Elizabeth Sayers Smylie	7–5, 7–5
Runner-up	1988	French Open	Clay	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	6–2, 7–5
Winner	1989	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Jana Novotná	Larisa Savchenko Neiland Natalia Zvereva	6–1, 6–2
Winner	1990	Australian Open	Hard	Jana Novotná	Patty Fendick Mary Joe Fernandez	7–6(5), 7–6(6)
Winner	1990	French Open	Clay	Jana Novotná	Larisa Savchenko Neiland Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 7–5
Winner	1990	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Jana Novotná	Kathy Jordan Elizabeth Sayers Smylie	6–4, 6–0
Runner-up	1990	US Open	Hard	Jana Novotná	Gigi Fernández Martina Navratilova	6–2, 6–4
Winner	1992	Australian Open (2)	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Mary Joe Fernandez Zina Garrison	6–4, 7–6(3)
Winner	1993	US Open (2)	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Amanda Coetzer Inés Gorrochategui	6–4, 6–2
Winner	1996	Wimbledon (4)	Grass	Martina Hingis	Meredith McGrath Larisa Savchenko Neiland	5–7, 7–5, 6–1

Mixed doubles: 8 (5 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1991	French Open	Clay	Cyril Suk	Caroline Vis Paul Haarhuis	3–6, 6–4, 6–1
Runner-up	1992	US Open	Hard	Tom Nijssen	Nicole Provis Mark Woodforde	4–6, 6–3, 6–3
Winner	1993	US Open	Hard	Todd Woodbridge	Martina Navratilova Mark Woodforde	6–3, 7–6
Runner-up	1994	Australian Open	Hard	Todd Woodbridge	Larisa Savchenko Neiland Andrei Olhovskiy	7–5, 6–7, 6–2
Winner	1994	Wimbledon	Grass	Todd Woodbridge	Lori McNeil T.J. Middleton	3–6, 7–5, 6–3
Winner	1996	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Cyril Suk	Larisa Savchenko Neiland Mark Woodforde	1–6, 6–3, 6–2
Winner	1997	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Cyril Suk	Larisa Savchenko Neiland Andrei Olhovskiy	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	1998	Australian Open	Hard	Cyril Suk	Venus Williams Justin Gimelstob	6–2, 6–1

Year-End Championships finals

Singles: 1 final (0 titles, 1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1985	New York City	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	6–3, 7–5, 6–4

Doubles: 5 finals (1 title, 4 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1985	New York City	Carpet (I)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	6–7(4), 6–4, 7–6(5)
Runner-up	1986(1)	New York City	Carpet (I)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Hana Mandlíková Wendy Turnbull	6–4, 6–7(4), 6–3
Runner-up	1986(2)	New York City	Carpet (I)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	1–6, 6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	1987	New York City	Carpet (I)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	6–1, 6–1
Winner	1992	New York City	Carpet (I)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Jana Novotná Larisa Savchenko Neiland	7–6(4), 6–1

Titles (79)

Singles (10)

Legend
Legend
Grand Slam (0)
WTA Championships (0)
Tier I (0)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (1)
Tier IV & V (3)
VS (6)

Titles by Surface
Hard (4)
Clay (0)
Grass (2)
Carpet (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	17 January 1982	Newport, USA	Carpet (I)	Pat Medrado	6–2, 6–7, 6–0
2.	18 November 1984	Brisbane, Australia	Grass	Elizabeth Sayers Smylie	6–4, 6–4
3.	10 August 1986	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Pam Shriver	6–2, 7–5
4.	5 October 1986	Hilversum, Netherlands	Carpet (I)	Catherine Tanvier	6–2, 7–5
5.	4 April 1987	Piscataway, USA	Carpet (I)	Lori McNeil	6–0, 6–3
6.	20 June 1987	Eastbourne, UK	Grass	Martina Navratilova	7–6, 6–3
7.	8 January 1989	Brisbane, Australia	Hard	Brenda Schultz-McCarthy	7–6, 7–6
8.	6 January 1991	Brisbane, Australia	Hard	Akiko Kijimuta	6–4, 6–3
9.	9 February 1992	Osaka, Japan	Carpet (I)	Laura Arraya Gildemiester	6–2, 4–6, 6–1
10.	15 November 1992	Indianapolis, USA	Hard (I)	Linda Harvey Wild	6–4, 6–3

Doubles (69)

Grand slam events in boldface.

1984: Marco Island (with Hana Mandlíková)
1984: Rome (with Iva Budařová)
1984: Filderstadt (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1984: Sydney (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1984: Tokyo Pan Pacific (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1985: Berlin (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1985: Lugano (with Bonnie Gadusek)
1985: Los Angeles (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1985: US Open (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1985: Tokyo Pan Pacific (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1986: Boca Raton (with Pam Shriver)
1986: Dallas (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1986: Amelia Island (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1986: Berlin (with Steffi Graf)
1986: Hilversum (with Kathy Jordan)
1986: Brighton (with Steffi Graf)
1986: Chicago (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1987: Tokyo Bridgestone Doubles (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1987: Berlin (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1987: Wimbledon (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1987: Brighton (with Kathy Jordan)
1987: Chicago (with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1988: San Antonio (with Lori McNeil)
1988: Tokyo Pan Pacific (with Pam Shriver)
1988: Montreal (with Jana Novotná)
1988: Mahwah (with Jana Novotná)
1989: Brisbane (with Jana Novotná)
1989: Boca Raton (with Jana Novotná)
1989: Key Biscayne (with Jana Novotná)
1989: Wimbledon (with Jana Novotná)
1989: Zurich (with Jana Novotná)
1990: Brisbane (with Jana Novotná)
1990: Sydney (with Jana Novotná)
1990: Australian Open (with Jana Novotná)
1990: Indian Wells (with Jana Novotná)

1990: Boca Raton (with Jana Novotná)
1990: Key Biscayne (with Jana Novotná)
1990: French Open (with Jana Novotná)
1990: Wimbledon (with Jana Novotná)
1990: Brighton (with Nathalie Tauziat)
1990: Worcester (with Gigi Fernández)
1991: Sydney (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
1991: Tarpon Springs (with Gigi Fernández)
1991: Amelia Island (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
1992: Sydney (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
1992: Australian Open (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
1992: Tokyo Pan Pacific (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
1992: Osaka (with Rennae Stubbs)
1992: Rome (with Monica Seles)
1992: Manhattan Beach (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
1992: Zurich (with Natasha Zvereva)
1992: Filderstadt (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
1992: Virginia Slims Championships (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
1993: Tokyo Pan Pacific (with Martina Navratilova)
1993: Indian Wells (with Rennae Stubbs)
1993: Lucerne (with Mary Joe Fernandez)
1993: Stratton Mountain (with Elizabeth Smylie)
1993: San Diego (with Gigi Fernández)
1993: Manhattan Beach (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
1993: US Open (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
1993: Essen (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
1995: Oakland (with Lori McNeil)
1995: Philadelphia (with Lori McNeil)
1996: Wimbledon (with Martina Hingis)
1996: Karlovy Vary (with Karina Habšudová)
1996: Zurich (with Martina Hingis)
1997: Strasbourg (with Natasha Zvereva)
1997: Luxembourg (with Larisa Neiland)
1998: Sydney (with Martina Hingis)

Singles runner-ups (21)

Grand slam events in boldface.

1982: Austin (lost to Claudia Kohde-Kilsch)
1982: Indianapolis US Clay Courts (lost to Virginia Ruzici)
1984: Boston (lost to Hana Mandlíková)
1984: Australian Open (lost to Chris Evert)
1985: Virginia Slims Championships (lost to Martina Navratilova)
1985: Eastbourne (lost to Martina Navratilova)
1986: Princeton (lost to Martina Navratilova)
1986: Eastbourne (lost to Martina Navratilova)
1986: US Open (lost to Martina Navratilova)
1986: Zurich (lost to Steffi Graf)
1987: Boca Raton (lost to Steffi Graf)

1988: Sydney (lost to Pam Shriver)
1988: Tokyo Pan Pacific (lost to Pam Shriver)
1988: Berlin (lost to Steffi Graf)
1989: Australian Open (lost to Steffi Graf)
1990: Indian Wells (lost to Martina Navratlova)
1990: Birmingham (lost to Zina Garrison)
1990: Brighton (lost to Steffi Graf)
1993: US Open (lost to Steffi Graf)
1994: Brighton (lost to Jana Novotná)
1996: s-Hertogenbosch (lost to Anke Huber)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	Career SR
Australian Open	3R	1R	3R	F	QF	NH	4R	4R	F	SF	3R	3R	A	3R	2R	3R	1R	1R	0 / 16
French Open	A	2R	4R	1R	2R	SF	4R	QF	2R	A	2R	A	A	3R	1R	1R	2R	A	0 / 13
Wimbledon	A	A	A	4R	QF	QF	QF	QF	4R	4R	1R	3R	QF	4R	2R	2R	4R	1R	0 / 15
US Open	A	1R	3R	QF	QF	F	SF	4R	QF	4R	3R	4R	F	A	2R	3R	1R	A	0 / 15
SR	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 59

NH = tournament not held.

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

References

External links

Helena Suková Official Website
Helena Suková at the Women's Tennis Association
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Helena Suková at the Billie Jean King Cup