General Czeslaw
Spychala
Male
Poland
1917-01-01
Poznan, Poland
1994-12-25
London, England


About

He was a Polish tennis player active in the decade before and after World War II.
Spychała was born in Posen, German Empire (modern Poznań, Poland).

He represented Poland in the Davis Cup on a single occasion. In 1938 Poland played against Italy in the second round of the European zone. He played the doubles match with his teammate Ignacy Tłoczyński against Ferruccio Quintavalle and Valentino Taroni and lost in five sets. Italy won the tie, played on clay courts in Milan, by 3–2. Spychała was scheduled to play the doubles match against The Netherlands in the first round of the 1939 Davis Cup competition but was replaced by Tłoczyński when he did not how up on time.

His first participation in a Grand Slam event was the 1938 French Championships. He made it to the third round of the singles event in which he was defeated in straight sets by Robert Abdesselam. That year he was ranked No.3 in Poland.

In 1939 at the start of World War II Spychała was taken prisoner by the Soviet Army after they invaded Poland but escaped captivity and went underground. He took the identity of "Marian Tworowski" and as a member of the "Ruczaj" battalion of the Polish resistance was involved in raids on the German forces. In 1944 during the Warsaw uprising he was shot through the hand and retaken prisoner which he remained until the end of the war.

In 1946 he was the runner-up at the All England Plate, a tennis competition held at the Wimbledon Championships which consisted of players who were defeated in the first or second rounds of the singles competition. He lost the final in straight sets to Robert Abdesselam. Until 1954 he played a further eight times in the singles event at Wimbledon but did not make it past the second round. He reached the third round in both the doubles (1946) and mixed doubles events (1957).

Spychała won the Welsh Championships singles title in July 1946 as well as the doubles title with compatriot Ignacy Tłoczyński. The same year he also won singles titles at tournaments in Bognor and Chiswick. In April 1947 he won the singles title at the Tally Ho tournament in Birmingham and in July successfully defended his Welsh singles and doubles title. In August 1948 he won the singles titles at Cranleigh and New Malden and in September he defeated Tłoczyński in the final of the South of England Championships in Eastbourne and together they won the doubles title. The titles at the Cranleigh and New Malden tournaments were successfully defended the following year.

In 1949, he won the singles event at the Surrey Grass Court Championships in Surbiton, defeating Geoffrey Paish in the final. The following year, 1950, he lost this title to Narendra Nath but in 1952 regained it after a win in the final against David Samaai. In 1950 Spychała and Tłoczyński were to play the doubles final of the Midlands Counties Championships in Birmingham against Jaroslav Drobný and Bill Sidwell but rain prevented play and the prize was shared with their opponents.

Spychała was decorated by the Polish government in exile with the Gold Cross of Merit in 1966. In 1971 he received the Lawn Tennis Writers award for his services to the game.

He was married to Gladys Pilkington.



Media


Archive statistics 1933 - 1964
22
285
182


Tournament wins 1953 - Hunstanton (Amateur)
1953 - Southport Hardcourts (Amateur)
1952 - Bedford (Amateur)
1952 - New Malden (Amateur)
1952 - Cranleigh (Amateur)
1951 - Cranleigh (Amateur)
1951 - Surrey Championships (Amateur)
1951 - North of England Hardcourts (Open)
1950 - Cranleigh (Amateur)
1950 - London Hard Courts (Amateur)
1949 - Cranleigh (Amateur)
1949 - New Malden (Amateur)
1949 - Nottingham (Open)
1949 - Surrey Championships (Amateur)
1948 - Cranleigh (Amateur)
1948 - New Malden (Amateur)
1948 - South of England Championships (Amateur)
1947 - Tally Ho! (Open)
1947 - Championships of Wales (Amateur)
1946 - Middlesex Championships (Amateur)
1946 - West Sussex Championships (Amateur)
1946 - Championships of Wales (Amateur)


Tournaments Palace Hotel - 1964 Beaulieu - 1963 British Hard Court Championships - 1960 British Hard Court Championships - 1959 British Covered Court Championships - 1959 International Club Matches - GBR - 1959 Palace Hotel - 1959 British Hard Court Championships - 1958 Shirley Park - 1958 British Hard Court Championships - 1957 Palace Hotel - 1957 British Hard Court Championships - 1956 British Covered Court Championships - 1956 British Hard Court Championships - 1955 British Covered Court Championships - 1955 Wimbledon - 1954 British Hard Court Championships - 1954 British Covered Court Championships - 1954 Palace Hotel - 1954 Wimbledon - 1953 Cheltenham - 1953 Surrey Championships - 1953 Midland Counties Championships - 1953 Roehampton Grass Courts - 1953 Palace Hotel - 1953 Wimbledon Plate (Consolation) - 1953 New Malden - 1953 Cranleigh - 1953 Guildford Hardcourts - 1953 Southport Hardcourts - 1953 Hunstanton - 1953 Wimbledon - 1952 Queens Club Tournament - 1952 Surrey Championships - 1952 Essex Championships - 1952 British Covered Court Championships - 1952 Palace Hotel - 1952 North of England Hardcourts - 1952 London Hard Courts - 1952 New Malden - 1952 Cranleigh - 1952 Guildford Hardcourts - 1952 Bedford - 1952 Wimbledon - 1951 North of England Championships - 1951 Surrey Championships - 1951 South of England Championships - 1951 British Covered Court Championships - 1951 North of England Hardcourts - 1951 London Hard Courts - 1951 Cranleigh - 1951 Guildford Hardcourts - 1951 Wimbledon - 1950 Surrey Championships - 1950 Midland Counties Championships - 1950 Western India Championships - 1950 Oostende - 1950 Wimbledon Plate (Consolation) - 1950 Surrey Hard Court Championships - 1950 London Hard Courts - 1950 New Malden - 1950 Cranleigh - 1950 Indian International Championships - 1950 Knokke Le-Zoute - 1950 Tally Ho! - 1950 Guildford Hardcourts - 1950 South West India - 1950 Wimbledon - 1949 British Hard Court Championships - 1949 Surrey Championships - 1949 Nottingham - 1949 South of England Championships - 1949 Palace Hotel - 1949 Asian Championships - 1949 New Malden - 1949 Cranleigh - 1949 Ulster Championships - 1949 Guildford Hardcourts - 1949 Wimbledon - 1948 British Hard Court Championships - 1948 West of England Championships - 1948 Championships of Wales - 1948 South of England Championships - 1948 Wimbledon Plate (Consolation) - 1948 New Malden - 1948 Cranleigh - 1948 Tally Ho! - 1948 Bedford - 1948 Wimbledon - 1947 British Hard Court Championships - 1947 West of England Championships - 1947 Championships of Wales - 1947 South of England Championships - 1947 Wimbledon Plate (Consolation) - 1947 London Hard Courts - 1947 Tally Ho! - 1947 Chapel Allerton - 1947 Wimbledon - 1946 Monte Carlo - 1946 Cannes Championships - 1946 Queens Club Tournament - 1946 South of France Championships - 1946 West of England Championships - 1946 Championships of Wales - 1946 Midland Counties Championships - 1946 Hampshire Championships - 1946 South of England Championships - 1946 Wimbledon Plate (Consolation) - 1946 Middlesex Championships - 1946 Torquay - 1946 Cromer Covered Courts Autumn Meeting - 1946 West Sussex Championships - 1946 Polish International Championships - 1939 Roland Garros - 1938 Côte d'Azur Championships - 1938 German International Championships - 1938 Sopot - 1938 Polish International Championships - 1937 Blau-Weiss Club - 1937 Polish National Championships - 1937 Sopot - 1937 Polish International Championships - 1936 Polish International Championships - 1935 Sopot - 1935 Polish International Championships - 1934 Polish International Championships - 1933

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