Rolf Kinzl, (German pronunciation: [ʀɔlf kɪnʦl]; 19 October 1878 – 14 November 1938) was an Austrian tennis player, football player, and cyclist who was active during the beginning of the 20th century.[1][2]

Rolf Kinzl
Kinzl at the 1913 WHCC
Country (sports)Austria
Born(1878-10-19)19 October 1878
Prague, Austria-Hungary
Died14 November 1938(1938-11-14) (aged 60)
Vienna, Third Reich
Turned pro1897 (amateur tour)
Retired1927
PlaysRight-handed
Singles
Grand Slam singles results
Wimbledon3R (1907)
Other tournaments
WHCC1R (1913)
Olympic Games1R (1908)
Doubles
Other doubles tournaments
WHCCSF (1913)

Tennis career edit

In 1898 he reached the final of the Austrian Championship but lost in four sets to Jorge André.[citation needed] In 1901 he won the Adriatic Championships in Triest in a three-set match. His opponent in the final had been Miklós Horthy who later became the Regent of Hungary.[3][4]

In 1903 he won the international tournament of the Magyar Athletikai Club in Budapest with a victory over Josiah Ritchie.[5] With his compatriot Kurt von Wessely he celebrated his first important doubles title in the German International Championships.[6] In 1904 he was defeated in the semifinals of the Austrian Championship by Josiah Ritchie in straight sets. He and von Wessely also lost the doubles final to Herbert Roper-Barrett and B.W. Frost.[7]

Kinzl played for the Austrian Davis Cup team during the 1905 World Group semifinal against Australasia. He lost both his singles matches against Norman Brookes and Anthony Wilding as well as the doubles match with his partner Kurt von Wessely.[8] His best result at a Grand Slam tournament was reaching the third round at the 1907 Wimbledon Championships. In 1907 he was the finalist of the Budapest International Doubles Championships partnering von Wessely but eventually lost it to Tony Wilding and Oscar Kreuzer.[9]

In May 1908 he was runner-up at the Wiesbaden Cup having lost the final in straight sets to Anthony Wilding.[10][11] In July he participated in the singles event at the Summer Olympics but lost in the first round to Wilberforce Eaves.[12] In 1912 he clinched the title of the inaugural Academic Sports Association international tournament in Wawel.[13]

In 1913 he captured his second German International Championships doubles trophy in Hamburg alongside von Wessely.[6] The same year they reached the semifinals of the World Hard Court Championships.[14]

Other edit

In football, he played as the center-forward of the DFC Prague.[1] He was an occasional football referee as well.[15]

In civil life he was an editor-in-chief for a sport magazine called Wiener Sporttagblattes.[1]

He died in Vienna on 14 November 1938 of a sudden heart attack.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "Rolf Kinzl gestorben" [Rolf Kinzl died] (PDF). Mariborer Zeitung (in German). 78 (259). Maribor, Slovenia: Marburger Verlags- und Druckerei Ges: 7. 15 November 1938. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  2. ^ "Rolf Kinzl". Olympedia. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  3. ^ Mrs. Béla Kehrling (12 March 1930). Béla Kehrling (ed.). "Őfőméltósága mint tenniszező" [His Grace as a tennis player] (PDF). Tennisz és Golf (in Hungarian). II (5). Budapest, Hungary: Bethlen Gábor írod. és Nyomdai Rt: 68. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  4. ^ Béla Kehrling, ed. (29 February 1932). "Kertész János M.L.T.Sz főtitkára levele főszerkesztőnkhöz" [Letter from General secretary of the Hungarian Tennis Association to our editor-in-chief] (PDF). Tennisz és Golf (in Hungarian). IV (2). Budapest, Hungary: Egyesült kő- könyvnyomda, könyv- és lapkiadó rt: 20. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  5. ^ "Nemzetközi Lawn-Tennis verseny" [International Lawn tennis tournament] (in Hungarian). Budapest, Hungary: Huszadik század. June 1903. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Die Doppelsieger seit 1902" [The doubles winners since 1902]. ndr.de (in German). Hamburg, Germany: Norddeutscher Rundfunk. 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  7. ^ "Lawn Tennis". Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 14. 17 July 1905. p. 5.
  8. ^ "Davis Cup – Player Profile". ITF.
  9. ^ A. Wallis Myers (1916). Captain Anthony Wilding. London, UK: Hodder and Stoughton. p. 80.
  10. ^ Huka (11 July 1908). "Lawn Tennis". Evening Post, Volume LXXVI, Issue 10. p. 14.
  11. ^ "Internationales Lawn-Tennis-Turnier". Wiesbadener Tagblatt. 20 May 1908. p. 5.
  12. ^ "Rolf Kinzl Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  13. ^ "Poczatki tenisa" [The beginnings of tennis] (in Polish). Jakub Bilski Tennis Academy. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  14. ^ "Lawn Tennis" (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain: 5. 26 June 1913. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  15. ^ "Spielbericht". austriasoccer.at. Ambrosius Kutschera.

External links edit