Ladislav Hecht
American tennis player
Died when: 94 years 270 days (1136 months)Star Sign: Virgo
Ladislav Hecht (Czech pronunciation: ['la??slav '??xt];Hungarian: Hecht László ['h?kt 'la?slo?];August 31, 1909 – May 27, 2004) was a Jewish Czechoslovak-American professional tennis player.
He won the gold medal in singles at the 1932 Maccabiah Games in Mandatory Palestine, and won the 1934 Hungarian International Tennis Singles Championship.
In 1937 he reached the semifinals of the doubles at Wimbledon with Roderich Menzel, and the following year he reached the 1938 Wimbledon quarterfinals in singles.
Despite being Jewish, he was invited to the Germany Davis Cup team in 1938 by an aide to Adolph Hitler who was not aware that he was Jewish, but chose not to accept the invitation.
He represented Czechoslovakia in the Davis Cup during the 1930s, was captain of the team, and had a record of 18-19.
In the 1930s, he was ranked world #6 in singles.
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