Frank Kovacs

Frank Kovacs (December 4, 1919 – February 1990) was an American amateur and professional tennis player in the mid-20th century.

He lost in the third round of the 1938 U. S. National championships to Gene Mako.

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 coach and did not play in Europe.

Kovacs also missed much of the season due to an arm injury or "tennis elbow".

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

He also won the U.S. Professional Challenge Tour in 1947 against Bobby Riggs.

Kovacs won U.S. Professional Championships or International Professional Championships at Cleveland in 1951.