Jaroslav Drobny

Jaroslav Drobny was also a great tennis player. He started his career in LTC Praha (Lawn Tennis Cercle Praha) playing tennis and ice-hockey. In 1949, after communists came to power in Czechoslovakia, he had to emigrate, first to Switzerland, then USA, Egypt and United Kingdom. In 1949 Boston Bruins put him on a reserve list and offered him 20,000 dollars. He could have become the first european NHL player, but he refused and prefered to stay in amateur hockey. As a tennis player he won French open (2 times), Italian open (3 times) and Wimbledon (1 time). He was inducted in Tennis Hall of Fame in 1983 and in IIHF Hall of Fame in 1997. He died on September 13, 2001 in London. (Jan Jech)