Tennis Legends - Hana Mandlikova: The most successful Czech female player ever

Hana Mandlikova was one of the leading lights in women’s tennis during the 1980s. Aside from Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova, Czech star Mandlikova shone more brightly than any other.

Born in Prague on the 19th February 1962. Her father was Vilem Mandlik, who competed for Czechoslovakia at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics as a sprinter. Mandlikova's junior career coincided with the launch of a world rankings for the junior game. She became the first girls No. 1 junior.

Mandlikova's first title success, in 1978, came at a Madrid event on clay. A week later she followed up by winning another clay court event in Barcelona. The 1979 season witnessed Mandlikova build on this double success when claiming a quarter of titles. This included a trio of titles, late in the campaign, at events Down Under, beginning a love affair with Australia.

Mandlikova's 1980 campaign yielded a breakthrough in the majors which firmly cemented her in the upper echelons of women's women's tennis.

After losing her maiden Grand Slam final to Chris Evert-Lloyd at the US Open, Mandlikova went a step further in November's Australian Open. She defeated local player Wendy Turnbull 6-0, 7-5 to join the Grand Slam winners club.

It represented one of six titles for her this term. The first of which was an inaugural hard court title at Mahwah, New Jersey. Six tournament wins this year proved to be a seasonal high for Mandlikova.

The 1981 campaign saw Mandlikova pocket a title in February at the Houston event played on the defunct surface of carpet.

Having reached the semis at Roland Garros in 1980, Mandlikova faced clay court standard bearer Evert in the 1981 last four. In a notable upset, Mandlikova ended Evert's 72 match winning streak on clay. In the final, Mandlikova breezed past German Sylvia Hanika in straight sets. Between 1979 and 1986, the Czech reached at least the quarters of every French Open.

Mandlikova, now firmly established inside the top ten, went without a title across the 1982 and 1983 seasons. Three finals in 1982 included a loss to Evert-Lloyd in the US Open final. A further two WTA Finals were lost in 1983.

Her Grand Slam record in these two seasons was inconsistent. She failed to progress beyond round four at Wimbledon or in Melbourne. The US Open final appearance of 1982 was supplemented by a last eight showing in 1983. At Roland Garros, Mandlikova reached the semis in 1982 and then the quarters in 1983.

Mandlikova ended her fallow period with an electric start to the 1984 season, winning three titles in January. In fact, all five titles accrued by the Prague native this year were won on the carpet at venues in the USA. A semi-final run in Paris was her best showing at the majors this term.

The 1985 season witnessed the return of Mandlikova to the Grand Slam winner's circle. At the US Open, Mandlikova faced former Czech Martina Navratilova in the final. After taking the opening set on a tiebreak, Mandlikova lost the second 6-1, before winning a deciding set tiebreak. Her third Grand Slam singles titles meant she now required only Wimbledon to complete a Career Grand Slam. This also made her only the third woman to, after Evert and Navratilova, claim Grand Slam singles titles on grass, clay and hard courts.

Mandlikova won two other tournaments in 1985 at Oakland or Princeton. She finished both of these years at a career high number three in the world rankings.

The 1986 season of Mandlikova is defined by playing second fiddle to Navratilova. She lost five of her six finals this year to the naturalised American.

The first of these losses came at the elite Virginia Slims Championship. This was Mandlikova's only appearance in the final of what is now the WTA Finals.

Mandlikova got the better of Evert-Lloyd to reach her first Wimbledon final. However, waiting to snuff out her Career Grand Slam success, was Navratilova. A straight sets loss for Mandlikova was the closest she came to achieving the Career Slam.

In a moment of redemption and catharsis, Mandlikova carried out some revenge on Navratilova when beating her 7-5, 7-6 to win the Australian Open for a second time and secure a fourth Grand Slam singles title. It resulted in Navratilova losing a 56 match winning streak.

With her Australian Open wins coming on grass, Mandlikova managed to win majors on the three main surfaces. The Czech won four of her eight Grand Slam singles finals.

Mandlikova switched to represent Australia following her citizenship being cleared at the beginning of 1988.

This meant she was now playing under the Australian flag when defending her Australian Open title. A quarter-final loss was a creditable defence. Mandlikova never reached the last eight of a major again. Her final Grand Slam appearance was a second round loss at the Wimbledon Championships of 1990.

No further titles were added to her CV after switching allegiance. Mandlikova finished with 27 WTA titles from 52 finals. She won titles over a nine year period.

In the doubles discipline, Mandlikova achieved notable success. She won 19 doubles titles from 38 finals. The success materialised in tandem with a variety of different partners, including Turnbull, Navratilova, Claudia Kohde-Klisch and Pam Shriver. Mandlikova won doubles titles with Betty Stove early in her career, with the Dutch player later coaching her.

It was alongside Navratilova at the 1989 US Open where Mandlikova secured a solitary Grand Slam doubles title. She'd previously lost a triumvirate of major doubles finals, one with Kohde-Klisch and the other two with Turnbull.

Mandlikova was the star turn in a Czechoslovakian team which created a Fed Cup dynasty in the 1980s. She was part of a Czech squad that won three consecutive Fed Cup titles from 1983. She finished her Fed Cup career with an impressive 34-6 singles record.

When playing under the Australian flag, Mandlikova teamed up with Pat Cash to reach the 1989 Hopman Cup final.

She coached Czech Jana Novotna for nine years after her retirement. It proved to be a successful combination, peaking with Novotna's capture of Wimbledon in 1998. Her student was ranked number two and spent much of the top ten in the 1990s. Novotna won a multitude of Grand Slam doubles titles.

When discussing her coaching stint with Novotna, Mandlikova says: “I enjoyed it very much. She was a fighter. But when I started coaching Jana she was very lazy and overweight and it was very hard. After she won Wimbledon, I said, ‘I can’t do it anymore.’ "I was done.”

When interviewed about the state of tennis after her own playing career, Mandlikova would often lament the lack of variety in the women's game. “All the girls are so big now and they hit so hard,'' said Mandlikova. "They are stronger and more powerful players.

"I'm sad that a lot of the touch and feel has gone. When John McEnroe and I were playing, we were touch players. This remains an issue in modern tennis.

Mandlikova, who lives in Florida, has coached juniors Stateside. Her children played at academies for a time. Mandlikova married in 1986 to Jan Sedlak, a restaurant owner. The marriage lasted two years.

In 2001, Mandlikova gave birth to twins Mark Vilem and Elizabeth Hana. The father was a friend who had no involvement in their upbringing. She raised them with her partner Liz Resseguie.

During much of the 1990s, Mandlikova acted as captain of the Czech Fed Cup team. She was in position during the transition from a Czechoslovakian team to one representing the Czech Republic.

As one of only 13 women to reach all four Grand Slam finals in the Open Era, Mandlikova is in exalted company. She remains in a group of just six women to have triumphed in the majors on all three surfaces.

Mandlikova was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994, and received a ring to mark this achievement in 2017.

The elegant Mandlíková glided around the court with balletic movement and speed allied to fantastic anticipation. She frequently counter attacked, using her racquet skills to devastating effect.

Although Evert and Navratilova dominated their head-to-head series with Mandlikova, she managed to beat them on the biggest stages, sweetening the joy of her biggest triumphs. She has been on record saying that beating both of them to win the 1981 US Open made that triumph more exciting.

Despite a number of Czech players - Barbora Krejcikova, Petra Kvitova, Novotna and Marketa Vondrousova - winning Grand Slams singles titles, Mandlikova remains the most successful woman from what is now referred to as Czechia.