József Asbóth

Who was József Asbóth?

József Asbóth was a Hungarian male tennis player. Born in a family of railway workers, he is best remembered for being the first Hungarian tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles title, at the 1947 French Open. Asbóth also reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 1948. Hungary's Communist government had let him leave the country only after the personal warrant of the Swedish King Gustaf V that Asbóth would return to his homeland and wasn't going to emigrate. In 1941, he was a member of the Hungarian team that won the Central European Cup. Asbóth was ranked World No. 8 by John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph in 1948.

His Davis Cup record was 24 wins and 17 losses and he won the Hungarian National Tennis Championships 13 times.

After his career, he became responsible for the next generation of tennis players at the Belgian Tennis Federation. He later became a trainer in Munich.

In 1993 a street was named after Asbóth in Szombathely, the city where he was born.