Pavel Složil

Who is Pavel Složil?

Pavel Složil is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia.

Složil enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles and singles. During his career he won 32 doubles titles and finished runner-up an additional 29 times, including at the French Open in 1984. Slozil and his partner, Renata Tomanová, won the 1978 French Open Mixed Doubles Championship, defeating Virginia Ruzici and Patrice Dominguez. In 1985, Složil achieved a career-high doubles ranking of World No. 4.

Složil participated in 11 Davis Cup ties for Czechoslovakia from 1978 to 1986, posting a 7–2 record in doubles and a 4–2 record in singles. He was a member of the winning Czech Davis Cup team in 1980, along with teammates Ivan Lendl, Tomáš Šmíd and Jan Kodeš.

Složil served as Steffi Graf's coach from mid-1986 until the end of 1991. Shortly after the start of his tenure as Graf's coach, she had her Grand Slam breakthrough year in 1987, winning six tournaments and then defeating Martina Navratilova in the French Open. Graf went on to be a finalist at Wimbledon and the US Open, losing both times to Navratilova. The next year, Graf achieved a calendar year's Grand Slam, a feat performed only twice before. She also won the 1988 Olympics singles and the Wimbledon Ladies doubles that same year.