It was 40 years ago on Sunday, June 6, 2010 that Jan Kodes won his first major singles title at the French Open. The following is an except from the new book JAN KODES: A JOURNEY TO GLORY FROM BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN by Jan Kodes with Peter Kolar ($49.95, available here on amazon.com for $32.97: http://www.amazon.com/Jan-Kodes-Journey-Behind-Curtain/dp/0942257685/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275534098&sr=1-1) that discusses that French Open 40 years ago.
There is no other tournament that would be as physically demanding as Roland Garros.
The slow heavy clay and tough competition, as well as the assumed significance of the World Clay Court Championship in addition to the Grand Slam status elevate it to one of the most challenging tennis events in the world. Several hours long marathon matches are not exceptions and startling surprises are not in short supply.
In 1970 many astonishing results cropped up. Arthur Ashe arrived as a fresh Australian Open champion hoping to go after the Grand Slam title like Laver in the previous years. His hope was crushed by the Yugoslav Zeljko Franulovic. The winner of the Italian Open, the Romanian Ilie Nastase, who was also one of the favorites in Paris, exited Paris after his quarterfinal with the American Cliff Richey. Two more tremendous achievements were accomplished by the host country’s player, a spectacular youngster, Georges Goven. He defeated first his countryman Francois Jauffret and afterwards the Spaniard Manuel Santana!
Jan Kodes won three rounds and made it past the Frenchman Jean Batiste Chanfreau, the Australian Bob Howe, and the Czech Stepan Koudelka, who he beat with a merciless score of 6:0, 6:1, 6:2! That was a sweet revenge for all those defeats during junior years….
At that point Stepan was traveling from tournament to tournament with his South African girlfriend and was trying to decide where to settle down. Ultimately, he received a contract in Osnabrück and stayed in Germany. I steamrolled him and realized that I was playing at a different level than in Pardubice a few years previously.
In the fourth round Jan Kodes beat Ion Tiriac, a shrewd Romanian, 4:6, 7:5, 4:6, 6:2, 6:2.
At a set score 1:2 we had a break and went to the locker room. There were wooden lockers there and all of a sudden I heard a horrific bang! Tiriac slammed his fist into one of the lockers and punched a hole through it!
Players asked in wonder: “What is the matter? Have you lost?”
“No, I am ahead 2:1 in sets.”
“So what‘s this madness for?”
“Because I was up 4:2 in the second set and we could have been done by now!”
The quarterfinal duel with the naturalized Australian Martin Mulligan, the three times the winner of the Championship in Rome, was a sure victory for the Czech player: 6:1, 6:3, 7:5. The above mentioned Georges Goven then awaited Kodes in the semifinals!
The sold out Centre Court pushed forth their favorite. This would have brought the third surprise, of Kodes’ accord, and the French audience would have loved it because their own player would become the “dark horse” of the tournament.
I sensed it was not going to be an easy match but Goven surprised me with everything. He played brilliantly! The first set went to him and I only shook my head in disbelieve. I felt like he manipulated me any which way he wanted to. He ran me on the court and made no unforced errors! There was plenty of wind and I could not find a weapon against the misery he created for me! The wind was taking balls off my racket, and they landed everywhere and anywhere only not where I wanted them to.
I played quick points largely out of control. I did win the second set but Goven took the third in no time and was ahead 2:1 in sets. Thank God there was a 15 minutes break….
During the break Karel Sulc came up to Kodes in the locker room. Yes, it was the same Karel Sulc, who Jan met for the first time in 1965 during the Coupe Michel Bivort in Paris, and who offered Jan his help whenever he would be in France.
He suddenly appeared in the locker room and said: “Jaroslav Drobny is sending you a message: do not keep approaching the net after a topspin backhand.”
Goven played a great defense and our rallies usually took place first from the baseline; when I could no longer stand that I approached the net after a topspin backhand. However, he found a faultless counter weapon that he used consistently and that was almost hundred percent effective: he tackled my topspin and executed a chopped passing shot down the line. He took it soon after the bounce and pulled it down with a low under-spin! If I caught the passing shot with my forehand volley I would be forced to lift it which, in turn, would make it easy for Goven to put away with the next shot.
It did not occur to me that I should change my strategy; his forehand was strong and I was hesitant to play that side. I kept banging the ball from the baseline, then I approached the net with a backhand topspin… and his unreachable down-the-line passing shot flew by me. Over and over again….
“So, Jaroslav suggests to play an under-spin instead of top-spin approach because then he won’t be able to play an under-spin passing shot.”
I was taking a shower and lamented: “It is easy for Jaroslav to know what to play; he is sitting somewhere in the audience! I am not able to hit an under-spin backhand as well as the topspin. I am not as consistent with the slice; it is not so simple to change one’s game.”
I kept grumbling to myself…and Karel Sulc stopped persuading me. He passed the message and was done with it.
The fourth set was on the way: Goven 2:0! And again a long exchange! I was close to the end of my strength and knew I must do something. Drop-shot him, approach the net, or… whack, beautiful top-spin backhand! I was dashing to the net and before I knew it the ball passed me down-the-line! I was at the end of my wits!
All of a sudden, I raised my eyes – I don’t even know why, perhaps I was trying to beg somebody up above for help – and I looked into the audience, that great anonymous mass of people.
And what did I see? There was Jaroslav Drovny, sitting almost at the top of the players’ section, and with him Karel Sulc, and some others. At that moment I internalized what Karel Sulc had told me in the locker-room: “not top-spin but under-spin!”
Well, smart Jaroslav! How am I going to be able to do that with the wind blowing? Nevertheless, since the bright minds above advised it, I was going to try it out. Right at the first opportunity!
With a shaking hand I attempted to hit a slice, a careful but deep slice. He ran to it but it bounced considerably lower than the top-spin. He tried to slice is back and pass me but… it hit the tape! Gee! Is it going to work for real? I’ll try it again.
The next good moment came a few seconds later. I sliced the ball, and so did he and passed me but it landed an inch outside! The battle continued; I felt revived whereas he lost confidence. I won the fourth and fifth sets 6:2, 6:3!
We finished and I succumbed to the most magnificent feeling at Roland Garros, when skilful hands of the masseur Robert Laurens, my friend, drew the exhaustion out of my legs, arms, and the entire body after the five-setter while I was lying on top of the massage table. I experienced it several times over….
He kneaded my calves and commented: “Jan, you are ok. Look at these muscles; they aren’t even stiff!”
All of a sudden the doors burst open and in walked Karel Sulc. He patted my shoulder and said: “Jaroslav sends his congratulations, you played magnificently!”
“And where is he?” I asked.
“On a plane! When you were ahead 3:0 in the fifth he left for the airport saying: It’s all his now!”
“Well, but I play the finals tomorrow with Franulovic! And he beat Richey in the semis!”
“He is confident that you’ll win that too!”
I only shook my head in disbelief. That was Jaroslav Drobny.
Jan Kodes competed with Franulovic ever since his junior years. However, they became close friends only during the Caribbean Circuit and occasionally played doubles together. Now these two friends had to play each other in Roland Garros finals. In Kodes’ first grand slam final! The American Cliff Richey had needed very little to reach that final.
Generally speaking, the Americans did not do well on the Parisian red clay but Cliff was one who knew how to handle the game on clay. I must admit that I did not like playing against him and it was lucky that I didn’t have to face him here. If he had made it to the finals I wasn’t sure what my chances to victory would have been. But that was just my speculation….
Richey was ahead 2:1 in sets against Franulovic and 5:1 in the fourth with two match-points.
The sold out Centre Court wasn’t yet ready to see the end of the match. Only one more point could have ended the tennis show. Throughout the years I realized that the Grand Slam finals were won by the player who was supported by the spectators. It was hard to believe but it was so.
Final matches, specifically at Roland Garros, often turn out to be long exhausting marathons.
When the fifth set comes around and one of the players is not French, the audience seems to root for the player who is trailing behind at any given moment, which may be the other player five minutes later. They want the match to go on and on; they want to make the best of every minute of it. And in that instant, when there is a line controversy and the players begin to argue with the umpire, the audience knows how to make their stance stick. And that is what happened at the moment of Richey’s double match point.
There was a controversial line-call and Cliff began to argue; in so doing he inflamed people against him. The umpire ordered to play the point over…. I was up in the stands and, naturally, rooting for Franulovic. But Richey was winning and I started to calm myself with thoughts like: if I play against the American at least the audience will be on my side cheering for me.
However, after that controversial line-call the atmosphere in the stadium changed as if some magic wand had been waved. Franulovic battled back both of the match-points, his game caught on fire, and he diminished Richey’s lead to 2:5; from that point on the crowd pushed Zeljko to an amazing performance and final victory. Richey got so unnerved that he lost the fourth and fifth sets identically 5:7!
The Yugoslav Franulovic was a much nicer opponent than Richey would have been; to some extent, because Kodes knew him well, and to another extent because he was not as dogged a player as Richey. Kodes also knew that he was more unsteady mentally and his backhand passing shot was not as lethal. They played each other quite often and there were many times when Franulovic had the edge. But the Grand Slam final was altogether another matter! The sold out “furnace” of the Centre Court, the June heat and the very tense atmosphere…it was all a play of nerves.
Initially, Kodes’ legs were stiff, his hands were a bit off, and he had a hard time getting into the game. He was arriving a few hundreds of seconds late to strike the ball than he needed to. On the contrary, Franulovic was light on his feet, broke Kodes’ first serve and subsequently won his own, and in no time he was leading 2:0. In the next game he needed only two more points to raise the score to 3:0!
That would have put me in a real jam. I kept telling myself “there must come a point that will help me catch on and all will turn around”. I knew that he held high respect for my game.
When we were entering the court I looked into his face and sensed that he was somewhat fearful. Suddenly, he hit a sloppy shot, possibly he felt overconfident. More importantly, I noticed that he stayed behind the base line. Drop-shot him! I scaled down the power of the ball and pushed it onto his side. The ball slid on the clay, Franulovic had no chance to catch it. The audience roared and I lost the initial inhibition!
I often pulled him out to the forehand side and approached the net hitting to his backhand. The subsequent volley or smash finished off the point!
The third set closure – Kodes’ backhand landed in the open space on Franulovic’ side. Zeljko resigned himself and did not even budge… The score board read: 6:2, 6:4, 6:0. Jan Kodes was jumping over the net… Marcel Bernard, the former notable player and present day chairman of the French Tennis Federation was walking in with the Cup for the Champion.
It flashed through my head that last year he presented that cup to Laver, now my name would be added. Even if I didn’t win any other tournament in my entire career this moment was worth all the effort I have put into my preparation so far! The crowd was applauding and it sounded like the most beautiful melody to me. I felt a bit sorry for Zeljko; after a few years nobody would remember the runner-up…