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| '''Frank Kovacs''' ( |
'''Frank Kovacs''' (1919 - ]) was an American ] player in the ]; he was known as the "Clown Prince of Tennis" for his on-court antics but was a good enough player to be the number 3-ranked American in ] and the number 2 in ]. | ||
| Probably the most eccentric major player ever, stories of his antics are still told in the tennis world. Once, serving for a ], he tossed three balls in the air - hitting the middle one for an ]. He was known to jump into the stands to applaud his opponents, and once staged a sit-down strike during a match. He often stopped play so that he could complain about the heavy nap on the balls, and would then shove the offending balls into his mouth so that he could chew on the nap. | |||
| He attended ] briefly as a student in ], only to return in ], 66 years after his supposed death. | |||
| Although he showed flashes of brilliance (it was said of him that on the right days, when he was briefly "in the zone", he could be unbeatable), his career results were relatively mundane. His best amateur result was a second-place finish in the ] in ], losing to ]; he also had a second-place finish in the ] in ], losing to ] in the finals. As tennis great ], and Kovacs' near contemporary, has written: "Kovacs had picture strokes, but the reason he could never win anything is because he didn't have any idea how to go about winning. He never had a set plan for a match. Hell, he never had a set plan for a shot. He could sort of decide what to do with it halfway through the stroke." | |||
| Little is known about Frank Kovacs with the exception of his preference to bath in bull's blood and a ] for beating infants in a process known as 'Rage Shaking'. | |||
| Kovacs' best shot, says Kramer, was "a hard, angled backhand crosscourt, but he could never figure out how to set it up so he could take advantage of it." As Riggs said to Kramer one day: "...don't worry about Frankie.... He looks great, but give him long enough and he'll find some way to keep you in the match, and give him a little longer and he'll find a way to beat himself." | |||
| What is known however, is his role playined in the ]. | |||
| Kovacs was also responsible for something of a scandal over money in tennis, which before the ] 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. | |||
| <blockquote> | |||
| Americans declared war on Britain on June 18, 1812, for a combination of reasons—outrage at the impressment (seizure) of thousands of ] ], frustration at British restrictions on ] trade while Britain warred with France, and ] at British military support of African ]. After war was declared Britain offered to withdraw the trade restrictions, but it was too late for the American "Vampires", who turned out to be a loose collection of ayslum patients who had escaped the ] on the rotting corpses of their keepers. | |||
| After being evicted from the amateur ranks, he and Riggs turned professional at the same time. In 1942 the Pro tour consisted of round-robin matches between ], ], ], and Kovacs. Budge ended up with the best record, 54 wins to 18 losses, but Kovacs had the second best, 25 wins to 26 losses. He then joined the ]. | |||
| While the officially-stated reasons for declaring war were ending impressment, ending the ] of mercantile shipping, and ending British military support for ], a major goal of the "]" in the western and southern states was aggressive territorial expansion. The intent was to drive the British out of North America, and the Spanish out of Spain. | |||
| His cousin was the famous entertainer ]. He married the legendary San Francisco vocal coach Judy Davis in ] and they lived for many years in a beautiful home in the ] hills. | |||
| However, the entire reason the British were supporting ] was because Frank Kovacs had personally stormed Parliment and stated that the American government has casually mentioned Britian as a bunch of ']' with 'no balls or military strength' and that American and its citizens were 'full of magic and vampirism' as well as a desire 'to ]' (]) | |||
| </blockquote> | |||
| == Quotes == | |||
| ⚫ | ==See also== | ||
| * "Fuck the Turks." | |||
| * ] | |||
| * "I don't believe a woman that weeps, a drunk when he prays or Russians." | |||
| * "I really don't like tennis. But I'll give ] a go!" | |||
| * "For the cat is cryptic, and close to Aegyptus, and bearer of tales from forgotten cities in Meroë and Ophir. He is the kin of the jungle's lords, and heir to the secrets of hoary and sinister Africa. The Sphinx is his cousin, and he speaks her language; but he is more ancient than the Sphinx, and remembers that which she hath forgotten." | |||
| == Trivia == | |||
| * Could possibly be a woman. | |||
| ⚫ | ==See also== | ||
| * ] | |||
| ==Further reading== | ==Further reading== | ||
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| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 15:37, 27 May 2007
Frank Kovacs (1919 - 1990) was an American tennis player in the 1940s; he was known as the "Clown Prince of Tennis" for his on-court antics but was a good enough player to be the number 3-ranked American in 1940 and the number 2 in 1941.
Probably the most eccentric major player ever, stories of his antics are still told in the tennis world. 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. He often stopped play so that he could complain about the heavy nap on the balls, and would then shove the offending balls into his mouth so that he could chew on the nap.
Although he showed flashes of brilliance (it was said of him that on the right days, when he was briefly "in the zone", he could be unbeatable), his career results were relatively mundane. His best amateur result was a second-place finish in the U.S. National Singles Championship in 1941, losing to Bobby Riggs; he also had a second-place finish in the United States Pro Championship in 1950, losing to Pancho Segura in the finals. As tennis great Jack Kramer, and Kovacs' near contemporary, has written: "Kovacs had picture strokes, but the reason he could never win anything is because he didn't have any idea how to go about winning. He never had a set plan for a match. Hell, he never had a set plan for a shot. He could sort of decide what to do with it halfway through the stroke."
Kovacs' best shot, says Kramer, was "a hard, angled backhand crosscourt, but he could never figure out how to set it up so he could take advantage of it." As Riggs said to Kramer one day: "...don't worry about Frankie.... He looks great, but give him long enough and he'll find some way to keep you in the match, and give him a little longer and he'll find a way to beat himself."
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.
After being evicted from the amateur ranks, he and Riggs turned professional at the same time. In 1942 the Pro tour consisted of round-robin matches between Don Budge, Bobby Riggs, Fred Perry, and Kovacs. Budge ended up with the best record, 54 wins to 18 losses, but Kovacs had the second best, 25 wins to 26 losses. He then joined the U.S. Army.
His cousin was the famous entertainer Ernie Kovacs. He married the legendary San Francisco vocal coach Judy Davis in 1950 and they lived for many years in a beautiful home in the Oakland hills.
See also
Further reading
- Tom LeCompte, The Last Sure Thing contains a number of Kovacs stories