Frank Kovacs (December 4, 1919 – February 9, 1990) was an American amateur and professional tennis player in the mid-20th century. He won the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships singles title in 1941. He won the World Professional Championships tournament in 1945 in San Francisco. Kovacs was successful on clay and won the Great Lakes Professional Clay Court Championships near Chicago in 1946, defeating Riggs in the final, and five U.S. Professional Clay Court Championships from 1948 to 1953. Kovacs won U.S. Professional Championships or International Professional Championships at Cleveland in 1951. He also won the U.S. Professional Challenge Tour in 1947 against Bobby Riggs.
Kovacs was ranked the world No. 1 professional tennis player in two different years, by the WPTA (World Professional Tennis Association) for 1945 and by the PTPA (Professional Tennis Players Association) for 1951.
Biography Kovacs' father was a Hungarian immigrant upholsterer. In his youth he had tennis lessons at the Berkeley Tennis Club. Kovacs had a reputation as an eccentric tennis player and showman on the court. Once, serving for a match point, he tossed three balls in the air - hitting the middle one for an ace. He was known to jump into the stands to applaud his opponents, and once staged a sit-down strike during a match. A newspaper article in 1940 said "Kovacs' comments as he races about the court are remindful of Bob Hope or Milton Berle before a microphone, and that these ad libs are spoken in a voice that overcomes the poor acoustics of a tennis court and are audible to everyone in the gallery." Jack Kramer writes in his autobiography that Kovacs "was a big attractive guy, with a great smile—sort of a Nastase type, only harmless, not mean." He goes on to say that during an important match against Joe Hunt "Kovacs looked up at an airplane. Hunt mimicked him, so Kovacs lay down for a clearer view, and Hunt did the same, and they were both soon lying flat out on the turf watching an airplane fly by while the fans watched them."
Career Amateur 1936 In July Kovacs reached the quarter-finals of the Oregon championships in Portland before losing to Elwood Cooke. Later in the month he lost in the quarter-finals of the Washington State championships in Seattle to Dick Bennett.
1937 In May Kovacs won the Central California championships beating Ed Amark in the final. In June Kovacs was beaten in the final of the California State Championship tournament at Berkeley. Dick Bennett of the University of California tennis team defeated him in five sets. John Murio, former California state champion, said Kovacs was better at 17 years of age than Don Budge. Murio opposed Budge, when Budge was 17, in various tournaments around California. In July Kovacs beat Walter Senior to win the Ohio championships. In July, Kovacs won the Badger State Championships beating Donald Leavens in the final. In August, Kovacs won the Port Stockton tournament beating Ed Amark in the final.
1938 In May Kovacs beat 16 year old Jack Kramer in the final to win the California State championship. In very hot conditions in the third round at the Newport Casino event in August, Kovacs faced William Murphy. Murphy won the first set and then led 3-1 lead in the second. In the fourth game, Kovacs slumped to the ground and had to be assisted to the dressing room. He lost in the third round of the 1938 U. S. National championships to Gene Mako.Tennis Observed, Bill Talbert, 1967, p.116
1939 Kovacs beat Eddie Alloo in the final of the Northern California indoor tournament in San Francisco in February. Kovacs beat Alloo in the final to win the California State championships in May. In June, Kovacs beat Tom Brown and Nick Carter to win the Central California championships.
Kovacs was not selected by the USLTA to the U.S. Davis Cup team due to a controversy over his tennis coachSackmann. https://www.tennisabstract.com/blog/2022/03/17/the-tennis-128-no-110-frank-kovacs/ and did not play in Europe. Kovacs also missed much of the season due to an arm injury or "tennis elbow".Another Budge? https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,764220,00.htmlFrank Kovacs. https://www.tennisabstract.com/blog/2022/03/17/the-tennis-128-no-110-frank-kovacs/ Kovacs recovered enough to play in October but lost to reigning Wimbledon and U. S. champion Bobby Riggs in the final of the Pacific Coast championships in five sets, despite leading 5-2 in the fifth set. Kovacs had missed much of the year and was not ranked for 1939.USTA Top Ten. https://www.usta.com/en/home/about-usta/usta-history/national/mens-womens-year-end-top-10.html#tab=men's
1940 In May, Kovacs beat Welby Van Horn to win the California State Championships for the third year in a row. In June Kovacs beat Frank Parker in straight sets in the final of the Triple A tournament in St. Louis. In July, Kovacs beat Elwood Cooke in five sets in the final to win Nassau Country Club Invitation Tournament in New York. In July, Kovacs beat Seymour Greenberg to win Eastern Slopes Gold Racquet tournament in New Hampshire. In August he beat Bobby Riggs in the semifinals at Southampton before losing to Don McNeill in the final. Kovacs beat young Vic Seixas from two sets to love down in the third round of the U. S. Nationals. He lost in the quarter-finals in straight sets to Joe Hunt.Tennis Observed, Bill Talbert, 1967, p.118 In October Kovacs lost in the final of the Pacific Coast championships to Riggs. In December, Kovacs beat Bobby Riggs in the final of the Oklahoma indoor tournament. Kovacs was the No. 3 ranked American amateur by the USLTA in 1940.
1941 In January Kovacs beat Eddie Alloo in the final of the Dixie tournament in Tampa. In January, Kovacs beat Riggs in the quarter-finals of the Florida state tournament in Orlando and went on to beat Jack Kramer in the semis and Don McNeill in the final. In January, Kovacs beat Riggs in four sets to win the title at St. Petersburg, Florida. In February, Kovacs beat Riggs in the final of the University of Miami event from two sets to love down. Kovacs won the title at the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships in March, which was held at the Oklahoma Coliseum, after three-straight-set wins in the semifinal against Riggs and in the final against Wayne Sabin. In April, Kovacs won the River Oaks tournament in Houston beating Kramer in the semifinals and Bitsy Grant in the final. In June, Kovacs won at Orange Lawn Tennis Club, N.J. on grass, defeating Kramer in the final. In August, Kovacs won the Eastern Grasscourt Championships at the Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y., defeating Schroeder, McNeill, and Sabin in three-straight-set matches. Kovacs was runner-up in the U.S. National Championships at Forest Hills, beating Jack Kramer and Don McNeill before losing to top-seeded Bobby Riggs in a five-set final. Kovacs beat Riggs in the final of the Pacific Coast championships in October, allowing Riggs just five games in three sets. "I've never seen Frank play better tennis. He played brilliantly and outplayed me all the way. I have never taken a worse beating" said Riggs after the match. Kovacs won nine tournaments in 1941, defeating Riggs in five of those events. After the Pacific Coast final the Oakland Tribune reported that "it was their nineteenth encounter and Kovacs' seventh victory". Kovacs was ranked the No. 2 American amateur in 1941 by the USLTA. He was ranked the world No. 3 behind Riggs and Perry in a combined amateur-professional ranking for 1941 compiled by Ray Bowers in 2006.Bowers, Ray (2006). "Forgotten Victories: A History of Pro Tennis 1926-1945, Chapter XI: AMERICA, 1940-1941", Tennis Server: Between the Lines, 1st October 2006.
Kovacs was also responsible for something of a scandal over money in tennis, which before the Open era was strictly divided into amateurs and professionals. After he was barred from amateur tennis in 1941 (leaving with a characteristic witticism - "Amateur tennis stinks - there's no money in it any more."), he talked about how money was quietly - and widely - paid to supposedly amateur players for entering tournaments.
Professional After being evicted from the amateur ranks, Kovacs and Riggs turned professional at the same time, both signing a professional contract in November 1941 for $25,000 guarantees.
1942 From December 1941 through April 1942 the Pro tour consisted of round-robin matches between Don Budge, Bobby Riggs, Fred Perry, and Kovacs (with Gene Mako, Lester Stoefen and even Bill Tilden, for one match, as replacements for the injured Kovacs and Perry). Budge ended up with the best record, 52 wins to 18 losses, ahead of Riggs 36-36 and Kovacs, 25 wins to 26 losses. Kovacs led the early part of the tour mainly because he defeated Budge in their first five matches. Kovacs missed one month of play on this tour due to an arm injury.Ray Bowers, Forgotten Victories, Chapter XII: America 1942. http://www.tennisserver.com/lines/lines_07_03_19.html Kovacs was ranked world No. 3 in a combined professional-amateur ranking in February, 1942 behind Budge and Riggs."Budge Is Tennis' Best In Current Game, Players Vote", The Evening Star, Washington D.D., 9 Feb. 1942. P. 15. https://untothebreach.net/dump/1942/1942-02-09.pdf
After the tour he entered the U.S. Pro Championships at Forest Hills and reached the semifinals, losing to Riggs. As with the other great pros of the time, he then joined the U.S. Army. From 1943 to the end of WWII, Kovacs served in the army.
1943-1945 Though the tennis activity was very limited between 1943 and 1945 Kovacs defeated the players he was able to play against such as Welby Van Horn, Don McNeill, Adrian Quist, Bill Tilden, Jack Crawford, Jack Jossi, Martin Buxby, Joe Whalen, George Lott, George Lyttleton Rogers. Kovacs played matches in Australia in 1943 against Australian amateurs. At Brisbane on 28 and 29 August, Kovacs played Crawford. Kovacs won in straight sets on 28th, but lost in three sets on 29th. On 26 November at Brisbane, Kovacs beat Crawford for the loss of two games. The following day, Kovacs beat Crawford in straight sets. He beat Quist on 4 September in Sydney. In March, 1945 Kovacs won the World Professional Championships tournament in San Francisco organized by the WPTA (World Professional Tennis Association), defeating Van Horn in the final. Kovacs was ranked the world No. 1 professional tennis player for 1945 by the WPTA, ahead of 2) Van Horn 3) Budge 5) Riggs. Budge was reported to be out of condition due to military duties. Tilden ranked Kovacs as No. 2 behind Budge.McCauley, P. 39 YANK, The Army Weekly, stated that of the professional tennis players serving in uniform, "the best of them was Frank Kovacs".
Kovacs was recalled to military duty in July and was reported to be in hospital in August,YANK, The Army Weekly, Vol. 4, No.9, 17 August 1945 thus missing the USPLTA U.S. Pro won by Van Horn over a depleted field.
1946