In 2022, I’m counting down the 128 best players of the last century. With luck, we’ll get to #1 in December. Enjoy!
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Hana Mandlíková [CZE/AUS]Born: 19 February 1962
Career: 1978-90
Plays: Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Peak rank: 3 (1984)
Peak Elo rating: 2,316 (3rd place, 1986)
Major singles titles: 4
Total singles titles: 27
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7-6, 3-1, 40-15. Hana Mandlíková’s second time in the Wimbledon round of 16, and she was only a few volley winners away from a place in the quarters. Across the net was the veteran Evonne Goolagong, a player just as graceful as Hana, but with considerably less of the youthful fire that made the 18-year-old Mandlíková the most watchable woman on tour.
The fourth-round contest could have represented a passing of the torch from one generation’s most stylish one-handed backhand to another. Instead, it degenerated into a farce. Mandlíková missed serves, biffed volleys, and double faulted to let her opponent back into the match. From 2-3 in the second set, Goolagong won ten of the next eleven games and a spot in the final eight.
A collapse of that magnitude at Wimbledon would have been enough to make a reputation for years. Indeed, six years later, Mandlíková would say, “Every player has a label; one is a choker, one is a quitter…. Sometimes, I don’t think I get enough credit.”
She may have been right about that. But if anyone ever deserved the “choker” tag–or the less loaded version, that of a “talented flake”–it was Hana.
The week before the Wimbledon loss to Goolagong, Mandlíková fell apart in even more shocking fashion against Tracy Austin at Eastbourne. She won the first set 6-1 and held a game point for 4-0 in the second. After losing that game, she failed to convert another three chances to go up 4-1, then another three opportunities for 4-3. She never did win that fourth game of the second set, and she went out limply in the third, 6-2.
“She can go through a streak of form when I don’t really know what to do, so I just hang in there,” Austin said after the match. “This was the best comeback I have ever made.”
Hana had a knack for helping her peers achieve memorable comebacks. The Eastbourne defeat was already her fourth loss of the season to Austin, all of them in three sets. Only a few months past her 18th birthday, she had already lost 12 professional matches after winning the first set.
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A lot of ink would be spilled over the following decade in an attempt to explain the perplexing Miss Mandlíková. She would struggle with injuries while still in her teens, and no matter how much she matured, the dominant duo of women’s tennis–Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova–would make it impossible for her to get a handhold at the top of the ranking ladder.
The raw talent was never, ever in doubt. The International Tennis Federation introduced their world junior rankings in 1978, and Hana was its inaugural number one. She won her first adult tournament in Europe the same year, at age 16. In 1979, she needed just three events on the Avon Futures circuit before winning one and gaining promotion to the top level of tournaments in North America.
Mandlíková made her first big move at the end of the 1979 campaign. She claimed three titles in four weeks leading up to the Australian Open, knocking out veterans Sue Barker, Dianne Fromholtz, Virginia Ruzici, and Wendy Turnbull. In early 1980, she took a set from Navratilova in the Amelia Island final, then pushed Evert to three sets at both the Italian and the French.
17-year-old Mandlíková at Wimbledon, in 1979
The Roland Garros semi-final against Evert was, for many, the introduction to Czechoslovakia’s latest star. For the Washington Post, Barry Lorge wrote of Hana’s “great athletic gifts … bursts of inspiration and mental lapses.” He continued, “She has so many shots, she sometimes doesn’t seem to know which to call on, and seems to have little concept of percentage play.” As in so many matches that season, Mandlíková seemingly disappeared. She won a topsy-turvy first-set tiebreak, then managed only four games the rest of the way. Evert ran off 16 points in a row to open the deciding set.
Regardless of outcome, Hana’s game was immensely appealing. She reminded fans of Goolagong and Maria Bueno, two of the most popular players of the previous two decades. She showcased immense variety, especially off the backhand side. Her netrushing came naturally–her father was an Olympic sprinter–and she pulled off shots at net that even Navratilova didn’t dare dream of.
What neither the press nor Mandlíková’s growing legion of fans recognized was the difficulty of life on the circuit for a teenager from the Eastern Bloc. Jan Kukal, a former tour player and Czech Davis Cup coach, worked with Hana in the early 1980s. He told Peter Bodo in 1984:
She had trouble with the language and, of course, the way of life was to her very strange. To me, it isn’t fair when people speak of Hana as a great talent who is weak or who doesn’t have good discipline for tennis. It makes it sound like she came up easy, like she had no problems to reach a high position. Actually, survival was difficult for her even before her trouble with injuries or motivation.
Kukal’s comments don’t entirely explain why the talented teenager was so strong early in matches and so weak when victory neared. But on a tour dominated by Americans and Australians, held mostly in English-speaking countries, Mandlíková faced challenges much more vexing than finding someone to restring her racket.
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If Hana was indeed a choker, she didn’t seem to suffer any aftereffects. The collapse against Goolagong would’ve destroyed many careers. It was a mere stepping stone for Mandlíková.
In 1980, the teenager began working with Betty Stöve, the Dutch player who had reached the Wimbledon final in 1977. Stöve provided tactical savvy and training advice. Perhaps more importantly, she was a friend who helped Hana navigate life on tour.
The breakthrough came just two months after Wimbledon, at the US Open warmup in Mahwah. The Czech won her first title of the season, defeating Navratilova and Andrea Jaeger in three sets apiece. She took the first set from Martina, dropped the second, yet somehow held on for the victory.
For a player of Hana’s flightiness, such a win might have proved as meaningless as the collapse at the All-England Club. Instead, she built on it. Seeded ninth at the US Open, she drew Navratilova in the round of 16 and beat her in straights. Another narrow escape against Jaeger earned her a place in the final. Playing for the title against Evert, it was the French Open all over again. Mandlíková won the first set, then Chrissie took over. Final score: 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.
The pattern was remarkable. Between Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows, the two women met three times. Hana won the first set of each contest. Evert swept the rest, never losing more than two games per set.
Mandlíková in 1984 with Stöve, whose
expertise went beyond the tennis court
Still, the US Open final represented a step forward for the 18-year-old. She finally beat Chrissie (in straights!) a month later in Atlanta and piled up four more titles before the end of the year. One of them was the Australian Open, marking her first major championship just a few months after her debut appearance in a grand slam final.
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Hana continued her fine form at majors into 1981. She won the French, beating Evert in the semi-finals. It was Chrissie’s first loss at Roland Garros in eight years. The final, against sixth-seeded Sylvia Hanika, was a mere formality in comparison.
At Wimbledon, Mandlíková beat Martina in the semi-final. Once again, she took the first set, lost the second, and somehow recovered to win the third. Evert got her revenge in the final, skipping the first-set drama and dispatching Hana, 6-2, 6-2.
The Czech had reached four consecutive grand slam finals, winning two of them. Remarkably, she wasn’t even at full strength. A few years later, Stöve told Bodo, “When she won the French, she was only able to warm up for 10 minutes before her matches, that’s how much her back hurt…. Hana actually withdrew from Wimbledon, but changed her mind after five minutes and re-entered.”
Mandlíková later suggested that her back spasms were triggered by nerves. Whatever the cause, they slowed her down, and they would linger for years.
Another problem she had to contend with in 1981 was the ranking system. The WTA algorithm at the time was an average, not a cumulative point total. It was also very complicated, and the tour did a poor job explaining it to players and fans.
Somehow, it was possible to reach the final of four straight majors and still be ranked fifth. In practical terms, there was an enormous difference between fourth and fifth. Any time the top four players entered a tournament, number five could face Evert or Navratilova as early as the quarter-finals. That was Mandlíková’s fate in Toronto, where Chrissie beat her in straight sets. Hana’s draw in Flushing was the same. Evert unceremoniously ended her slam final streak, 6-1, 6-3.
This particular fifth-ranked player, understandably, didn’t like it. (It didn’t help that no one understood it.) She felt she’d have a better chance against Evert later in tournaments. She was right to be skeptical of the computer. In 2019, a researcher applied a later WTA ranking algorithm to results from 1980 and 1981. He found that Mandlíková not only would’ve cracked the top four, she would’ve been number one for much of that summer.
My historical Elo ratings disagree. That formula ranks Hana fifth for the entirety of the 1981 season, behind Evert, Navratilova, Austin, and Jaeger. Mandlíková’s inconsistency, winning Roland Garros one week, dropping a decision to qualifier Kim Sands at Eastbourne two weeks later, counts against her in many ranking systems. Still, she was a bigger threat at the majors than Elo–or the WTA computer of the time–gives her credit for.
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5-3, 30-love. In March of 1985, Mandlíková had bounced back from injuries and apathy and appeared ready–again–to dislodge the best players in the game. It was the semi-final of the Virginia Slims Championships, and she was two points away from taking the first set from Navratilova.
After Martina lost to Hana at Wimbledon in 1981, she dominated her younger rival. For much of that span, the fitter-than-ever Navratilova crushed everyone. She won nine matches in a row against Mandlíková. Part of it was Hana’s own punchlessness: she dropped eleven straight to Chrissie, as well.
The stylish Czech slipped a level, but she never lost her self-belief. After losing to Evert at the 1983 French Open, she said, “I think I am a much better player than Chris. If I’m in good shape, I beat her two-and-two.”
(After another Hana boast, Chrissie responded, “I guess she should be cocky. She beat me three years ago.”)
In 1984, Mandlíková beat Martina in Oakland, snapping a 74-match win streak. In Princeton the following year, she ousted Navratilova 7-5, 6-0. Martina lost only two bagel sets in seven years, and Hana was responsible for both of them.
Still, a second consecutive upset proved to be a bridge too far. From 5-3, 30-love, Navratilova won four straight points. Martina saved a set point at 4-5. Hana’s 44 winners were impressive, but they weren’t quite enough to do the job. The match went to the veteran, 7-5, 7-6.
Sports Illustrated called it “some of the finest shotmaking ever seen in women’s tennis.” Mandlíková’s confidence remained unshaken. She would concede only that her opponent “was luckier today—not a better player—just luckier.”
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5-0, 40-30. Six months later, Mandlíková and Navratilova were at it again, now at the 1985 US Open. Hana had failed to capitalize on her big wins (and “unlucky” near-misses) from the beginning of the season, losing in the quarters in Paris and the third round at Wimbledon. At Manhattan Beach in July, she turned in a classic Hana performance, losing to Claudia Kohde Kilsch despite leading one set 5-1 and the other 5-2.
Mandlíková reached the final after surviving a challenge from Evert in the semis. It was only Hana’s second victory against the American in her last fifteen tries, and unlike so many of their previous matches, it was Chrissie who won the first set, and the Czech who came back to win.
Hana rode her momentum into the final for 17 minutes. In that time, she won five games and earned a set point on Martina’s serve. The stadium, presumably, held its collective breath. Navratilova saved the break point with a backhand winner, then held for 5-1. Another backhand, an aggressive return of Hana’s second serve, got Martina a break for 5-2.
And so it went. Navratilova broke again–at love–for 5-4. At 5-all, Hana fell to love-40 before she finally reacquainted her brain with her right arm. She saved eight break points (and squandered three game points of her own) before finally holding for 6-5. Martina was the one who crumbled in the tiebreak, converting only one of her five service points and dropping the breaker, 7-3.
At its best, the match featured the same jaw-dropping net play that characterized the Slims Championship semi-final in March. As Stöve told her charge, “It’s a battle of who gets to the net first.” Both players moved forward over 100 times. If one of them didn’t serve-and-volley, the other would often charge in behind the service return. Mandlíková was the only woman capable of holding her own against the Navratilova attack.
At the 1985 US Open, Hana was hitting shots
like this even before the final.
Except for when she couldn’t. Hana lost the second set, 6-1, allowing her opponent 11 of 12 points in one stretch.
But as ever, Mandlíková’s form returned as quickly as it disappeared. A brilliant mimic, one of her strokes could go astray simply because an opponent was hitting her own badly. In this final, there was no chance of getting into a rhythm. The average rally lasted less than three strokes.
Hana once again reengaged, and she served for the match at 5-3. Martina broke her–of course–this time with an opportunistic forehand passing shot. The next three games were comfortable holds, and the title would be decided in a shoot-out.
Finally (finally–finally!), Mandlíková got hot at exactly the right moment. She won the first six points of the breaker, landing all but one of her first serves. None of them came back. On her third match point, she put away a backhand volley, and she became a US Open champion.
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For years, it seemed that every feature article about Hana asked the same questions. Had she changed? If not: Could she change? It’s an irresistible hook when writing about immature, inconsistent, or otherwise inscrutable athletes.
In some ways, the answer was yes. She eventually became more comfortable speaking English, got used to life on tour, and–for the most part–learned not to say the first thing that popped into her head about the shortcomings of her fellow players. Her tactical sense improved, and she got better at closing out matches.
But at the level that really mattered, the answer was no. While late-career Hana was an improvement on the teenage version, the results didn’t differ much. The cumulative effect of injuries had some say in that. Navratilova had an even bigger influence: After the 1985 US Open final, the two women played 16 more matches, and Martina won 15 of them. Hana’s consolation prize was the title at the 1987 Australian Open, the last time the pair met in a final.
What truly never changed was Mandlíková’s belief in her own abilities. By the end of her reign at number three, she no longer trailed Evert. Now she had to chase Steffi Graf. Before she lost in the fourth round at the 1987 US Open, the New York Times described Hana as “undaunted.” She thought Graf’s time at the top wouldn’t last long: “When I was 18 and I look at how mentally immature I was, I just can’t see it.”
Twelve months later, Graf would hold the Grand Slam and erase all doubts. Mandlíková, struggling with a heel injury and waning motivation, was on her way out.
It’s a shame, because while Hana lost seven of her eight meetings with Steffi and may never have made any progress, Graf was the kind of opponent she would’ve gotten worked up for. She said in 1986 of her earlier rivals, “Any time I step on the court, I believe I can beat Chris. The other players don’t and that’s the wrong attitude. Same with Martina. Nobody believes they can beat her. I do.”
Mandlíková’s self-assurance was evident to all who watched her play, and it helped her amass more victories against Evert and Navratilova than almost anyone else. At her best–even if it didn’t quite last for an entire set–she could beat anyone.