 Ignacy Tłoczyński (left) | |
| Full name | Ignacy Stanisław Tłoczyński[1] |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |  Poland |
| Born | (1911-07-14)14 July 1911 |
| Died | 25 December 2000(2000-12-25) (aged 89) Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
| Turned pro | 1929 (amateur tour)[2] |
| Retired | 1955[2] |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Singles | |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| French Open | QF (1939) |
| Wimbledon | 3R (1931,1939,1946,1953) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| French Open | SF[3] |
| Mixed doubles | |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| French Open | 3R (1934)[4] |
| Wimbledon | 3R (1932)[5] |
Ignacy Tłoczyński (Polish pronunciation:[iɡˈnatsɨtwɔˈtʂɨj̃skʲi]; 14 July 1911 – 25 December 2000) was a Polish tennis player, coach andWorld War II veteran.
Tłoczyński participated in 10Davis Cup ties forPoland from 1930–1939, posting a 23–8 record in singles and a 3–9 record in doubles. He won two national titles in singles, seven in doubles and was a six-time International Polish Championship winner.[2] He was ranked number one inPoland in 1934.[6]
In international level he reached the third round at Wimbledon on four occasions. He was a doubles semi-finalist for the French Open withAdam Baworowski, won the Monte-Carlo tournament (now known as theMonte-Carlo Masters) in doubles withJózef Hebda, a two-times singles runner-up for theBritish Hard Court Championships, and three-times Scottish champion.
Ignacy Tłoczyński was born 14 July 1911, inPoznań, then part of theGerman Empire, and was considered a skilful young player practising at the local courts of the town. Despite being a kid he was the sparring partner of players of theAcademic Sports Association. He was born to a poor family and was forced to play tennis for money. According to the amateur rules that were in effect in pre-World War II tennis organisations, only professionals could financially benefit from playing. However thePolish Lawn Tennis Association suspended his penalty. He then moved toWarsaw and found a job at an insurance company.[2]
He first participated in the Polish Championship in 1929, eventually losing in the quarterfinals to national championMax Stolarow. Later he won his first title in doubles at theWarmian Voivodeship tournament. This earned him a spot in thePoland Davis Cup team next year for the upcoming match withRomania, where he won both of his rubbers. These achievements led to him being put up for voting by thePrzegląd Sportowy newspaper for thePolish Sportspersonality of the Year where he finished second, right behind track and field runnerJanusz Kusociński. The same year he was crowned Polish champion after his victory over Stolarow in the final.[2]
In September 1931 he defended his national title and paired up withWanda Dubieńska for the mixed contest, only losing in the final to Popławski/Volkmer. Also in September at the Polish International Championships, he was only beaten by FrenchBenny Berthet both in the singles and doubles event.[7] In 1932 he shared the Cannes L.T.C. trophy withGiorgio de Stefani, as their match remained unplayed. They also divided the doubles title. He lost the mixed doubles partneringJadwiga Jędrzejowska to Swiss team ofLolette Payot andCharles Aeschlimann. He then met de Stefani again for the Nizza L.T.C. championship, unsuccessfully. He and Jędrzejowska were runners-up again for the mixed doubles. De Stefani fought him for theNice L.T.C. as well, but Tłoczyński fell for the second time. He and Miss Jędrzejowska were beaten for the second time by Miss Payot andHector Fisher.[8] In 1933 he finally won the Nizza title both in singles and doubles, with his Davis Cup teammateJózef Hebda againstMax Ellmer and Aeschlimann-Journu respectively.[9] He won the Polish national championships as well without dropping a single set.[10]
In 1934 he lost theHungarian International Tennis Championships to CzechoslovakianLadislav Hecht.[2][11] In 1938 he repeated that feat beating Hebda and won the doubles withAdam Baworowski.[12] In March 1939 he won the doubles of theMonte-Carlo tournament withJózef Hebda, overcoming the Belgian duo ofPierre Geelhand de Merxem and Charles Naeyaert.[13] Just before the outbreak ofWorld War II, in July he won the Polish international championships held inGdynia in mixed doubles withJadwiga Jędrzejowska and was a runner-up for the gentlemen's doubles.[14]
In the1946 Wimbledon Championships he represented his nation, although theCommunist government of Poland protested against it because of his wartime affiliation withAnders and the partisans. He refused to remove the Polish badge from his cloth,[2] although his nationality indication was removed from the main draw.[15] In 1946 he won the singles title at theNorth of England Hard Court Championships on clay inScarborough and retained it in 1947,[16] he would go on to win it three more times consecutivley between 1948 and 1950. Additionally he also won theNorth of England Championships on grass two times from 1946 to 1947. Also in 1947 he participated in an international match between Poland and Great Britain still wearing the Polish colours.[2] In 1947 he was defeated in straight sets at theBritish Hard Court Championships by South AfricanEric Sturgess[17] as well as the next year also to Sturgess in straights.[18]
In July 1950 rain prevented the doubles final to be played at theMidland Counties Championships in Birmingham where Tłoczyński andCzesław Spychała were about to be featured and the prize was shared with their opponentsJaroslav Drobný andBill Sidwell.[19] That same year Tłoczyński won singles titles atBedford Open, St. Andrews, Carlisle and the covered court tournaments including theWelsh Covered Court Championships atLlandudno and thePalace Hotel Covered Courts atTorquay.[20] In May 1951 he was victorious in the doubles event of the Sutton Coldfield Hardcourts Tournament partneringPeter Hare. Although his efforts were fruitless in the singles competition as he was subdued in the final againstPeter Cawthorn.[21] In October he was a finalist for theCovered Court Championships of the United Kingdom facing eventual victorGeoffrey Paish.[22] In March 1952 he won theSouthdean Covered Court Championships atMiddleton-on-Sea againstGerry Oakley. In 1952 he entered theConnaught Hard Court Championships tournament where he reached the doubles final together withAnthony John Mottram where they were stopped by Cawthorn-Tregonning.[23] Between 1950–1952 he won theScottish Hard Court Championships three consecutive years.[24] In 1954 he captured theNorth of England Hard Court Championships title for the sixth time by defeatingMatthew Farhang Mohtadi in three sets although Mohtadi found success in the doubles final against Tłoczyński/Pryor.[25]
In early November 1939 after theInvasion of Poland he was reported missing and hiding inLatvia.[3] Later it turned out that he was working in a Warsaw Cafe with mixed doubles partnerJadwiga Jędrzejowska.[26] During the war he was involved in theWarsaw uprising[2] as a member of thePolish Resistance and smuggled hazardous cargoes in the city.[27] In the first days of the uprising along with his brother Ksawery and several prominent sportsmen includingCzesław Spychała,Jerzy Gottschalk,Antoni Smordowski andTadeusz Hanke he stormed an SS barrack and occupied it.[28] The assault, which took place on 1 August 1944 saw a one and a half-hour struggle in which the partisans threw in grenades and petrol bombs and surrendered the Germans.[28] They took 72 SS soldiers as prisoners and seized a handful of ammunition and an armoured car.[28] The Tłoczyński brothers and Spychała were all wounded as a result of the fight.[28] He kept on serving as acorporal and mainly operated in theŚródmieście-Północ as a member of the battalion "Ruczaj" within theWojskowa Służba Ochrony Powstania branch of theSub-district I of Śródmieście.[28][29] His codename was "Igo."[29] He was wounded and transferred to aPOW camp nearSalzburg-Maxglan. After being liberated by theAllies he joined the2nd Polish Corps ofWładysław Anders. After the war he emigrated to Britain.[2]
In 1955 he officially retired from tennis and went on to coaching at theDunlop Tennis Club inEdinburgh.[2]His most famous coachee wasSuzi Mair.[24]
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