Roderich Menzel

Roderich Ferdinand Ottomar Menzel (; 13 April 1907 – 17 October 1987) was a Czech-German amateur tennis player and, after his active career, a writer.

Birth Roderich Menzel was born in Reichenberg in Bohemia (today Liberec in the Czech Republic). He lived with his parents and two brothers in a three-storey house in Römheldstraße 7 (Tatranská street these days). His father Ernst, who was born in the family of glassworks manager in the mountain village Wilhelmshöhe, rose from a correspondent to the position of a partner of cable manufacturer Felten & Guilleaume's North Bohemia office.

During his studies at a business high school he started playing football as a goalkeeper for RSK Reichenberg – at the age of 16 (1923) he joined the senior team. Looking back on his goalkeeper career, Menzel often gave a story about his idol, goalkeeper of RSK Reichenberg, Ende. As is usual, home team goalkeeper's name always appeared at the very end of both team rosters in the home programme but in this case people often thought that at that point the programme actually ends.

But as he was playing tennis at same level as football, an important decision had to be made. He chose tennis and soon became a Czechoslovak junior champion (1925). Shortly before he had to cope with a large family tragedy, when his father died of a heart attack due to complicated double pneumonia.

Tennis career In 1928, Menzel first qualified for the main Wimbledon competition and also entered a Davis Cup competition against Sweden. He immediately won his first two singles in his long successful Davis Cup career (61 wins/23 defeats), which in a history of the Czech (Czechoslovak) Davis Cup team remains unsurpassed. Among his memorable Davis Cup performances belongs a couple of five set battles against Gottfried Von Cramm, his great rival at the time.

Menzel also collected his trophies at other tournaments. In 1931, he won one of the most prestigious tournaments at the time, the German Open Tennis Championships, over Gustav Jaenecke and Monte-Carlo Masters just one year later, over George Rogers. Only few weeks later he achieved his big first Grand Slam result when he made it to the French Championships semifinals, where he lost to Giorgio de Stefani. His excellent form continued as he won over von Cramm in the semifinal and Jacques Brugnon in the final of the Rot-Weiß Club tournament in Berlin.

Arrival of international tennis stars to compete in the summer 1934–1935 Australian tournaments. Menzel with his first wife Bucky on the right. His stable form Menzel also confirmed one year later, in 1933, when he was playing quarterfinals at the French Championships and Wimbledon. He reached the same result in 1934, narrowly losing against von Cramm at the French Championships and, in one of the most memorable matches of all time, to Fred Perry at Wimbledon. Things got better at the Czechoslovakian International Championships (against von Cramm) and Egypt International (against Pat Hughes), which he both won. What is more, he triumphed at the tournament in Cairo in following four years in a row. In 1934 he and Ladislav Hecht won the Butler Trophy of Monte Carlo, defeating Jacques Brugnon and Jean Lesueur in the final. A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph ranked Menzel as the World No. 7 for 1934. She later married Josef, Baron von Colloredo-Mansfeld. Her daughter, Kristina Colloredo-Mansfeld is the owner of the Opočno Castle in the Czech Republic. They divorced in 1937. Erika Franziska Josefa Wurdinger (1914), had a tragic personal experience with the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II – her father was murdered. They married on 18 January 1938 in Saaz an der Eger. They have two sons: Michael and Christian. Gerda ?. They have two daughters: Renate and Carola. Johanna Sengler (1924), an illustrator and graphic artist, exhibited her work worldwide (e.g. USA, Srí Lanka, Netherlands, Switzerland). In 1972, she founded an art school for children, later also for adult. They married on 12 December 1952 and divorced in 1970. They have one son: Peter.

Death In spring 1983, Menzel was injured in an automobile accident from which he never fully recovered. He died on 17 October 1987 in hospital in Munich-Pasing, Germany, aged 80.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1938 French Championships Clay Don Budge 3–6, 2–6, 4–6

Mixed doubles (1 runner-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1935 U.S. National Championships Grass Kay Stammers Sarah Palfrey Enrique Maier 3–6, 6–3, 4–6

Performance timeline

Career finals

ResultNo.DateChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1. May 1929 Rot Weiss Club, Berlin Clay Henri Cochet 11–9, 3–6, 1–6, 1–6Loss 2. Sep 1929 Hungarian Championships, Budapest Béla von Kehrling 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 ret.Loss 3. Jul 1930 Netherlands Championships, Noordwijk Bill Tilden 6–8, 8–6, 3–6, 4–6Win 1. Sep 1930 Hungarian Championships, Budapest Béla von Kehrling 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–1Loss 4. May 1931 Austrian Championships, Vienna Henri Cochet 6–4, 1–6, 1–6, 4–6Win 2. Aug 1931 German International Championships, Hamburg Clay Gustav Jaenecke 6–2, 6–2, 6–1Win 3. Feb 1932 Monte-Carlo Masters Clay George Lyttleton-Rogers 6–4, 7–5, 6–2Win 4. May 1932 Rot Weiss Club, Berlin Clay Jacques Brugnon 6–4, 6–3, 6–3Loss 5. Aug 1932 German International Championships, Hamburg Gottfried von Cramm 6–3, 2–6, 2–6, 3–6Loss 6. 1933 Rot Weiss Club, Berlin Gottfried von Cramm 6–2, 1–6, 13–15Win 5. May 1933 Czechoslovakian International Championships Ladislav Hecht 6–3, 6–2, 6–1Loss 7. Aug 1933 German International Championships, Hamburg Clay Gottfried von Cramm 5–7, 6–2, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6Win 6. Sep 1933 Yugoslavian Championships, Zagreb Umberto De Morpurgo 6–4, 6–1, 6–1Win 7. Sep 1933 Hungarian Championships Emil Gábori 6–2, 6–0, 6–1Win 8. Mar 1934 Egypt International Tournament Pat Hughes 6–3, 6–4Win 9. May 1934 Czechoslovakian International Championships Gottfried von Cramm 3–6, 6–1, 6–3, 6–2Win 10. 1935 Cairo Championships Adam Baworowski 7–5, 5–7, 6–2Win 11. Mar 1935 Egypt International Tournament Hermann Artens 6–4, 6–0, 6–0Win 12. 1935 Czechoslovakian International Championships Giovanni Palmieri 6–2, 6–1, 6–1Loss 8. Sep 1935 Pacific Southwest Tournament, Los Angeles Don Budge 6–1, 9–11, 3–6 w.o.Loss 9. Nov 1935 Japan International Championships, Osaka Jiro Yamagishi 5–7, 2–6, 1–6Loss 10. Jun 1938French Open Clay Don Budge 3–6, 2–6, 4–6Win 13. 1938 Egypt International Tournament Franjo Punčec 6–4, 6–2Loss 11. 1939 French Covered Courts Championships Pierre Pellizza 6–4, 2–6, 2–6, 1–6Loss 12. 1939 German International Championships, Hamburg Clay Henner Henkel 6–4, 4–6, 0–6, 1–6

Davis Cup

For Czechoslovakia

For Germany