The Resume

(October 12, 1921-September 13, 2001)
Born in Prague, Czech Republic
Played tennis and ice hockey
Won two French National Championships (1951-52) and Wimbledon (1954)
At the French Championship, also won men’s doubles and mixed doubles (both 1948)
Center on Czech teams that won the World Ice Hockey Championship (1947) and the silver medal at the Winter Olympics (1948)
Only person to represent four different countries at Wimbledon: Czechoslovakia (1938,1946-49), Bohemia and Moravia (1939), Egypt (1950-59), and Great Britain (1960)
Only male player to win the singles title at Wimbledon while wearing glasses (Note: Arthur Ashe had switched to contact lenses when he won his Wimbledon title in 1975)

Why he might be annoying:

After defecting from Czechoslovakia, he tried unsuccessfully to gain Swiss, US, and Australian citizenship, before being given an Egyptian passport.
Although an Egyptian citizen, he spent little time there, primarily living in England.
He could have been the first European to play in the NHL, but he turned down an offer of $20,000 from the Boston Bruins (1949).

Why he might not be annoying:

He defected from Czechoslovakia partly over dissatisfaction with the Communist government touting his achievements for propaganda purposes and partly over growing restrictions being placed on where he could play (1949).
He said that when he defected, ‘All I had was a couple of shirts, the proverbial toothbrush, and $50.’
He was the first left-handed player to win the men’s title at Wimbledon in four decades.
He was inducted into both the International Tennis Hall of Fame (1983) and the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame (1997).

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 77]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [October] (Ranked: 10121921)
• Dual Sport Participants
• European Hockey Players
• Exiles
• I am Left Handed - Male [A-G]
• I Died in 2001 (Ranked: 79)
• I Was Tennis' #1 in the World
• I Won a Tennis Major
• Ice Hockey Players
• Look at Me, I'm Accepting My Award
• Profiles 47001-47250 (Ranked: 47188)
• Tennis Hall of Famers (Ranked: 1983)
• Tennis Stars
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 20010913)
• Wimbledon Champs: Men's Singles (Ranked: 1954)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying