The Open Era
Hungary · born Budapest, 1954 · right-handed · Wimbledon doubles champion 1985 with Heinz Günthardt, the first Hungarian to win a Wimbledon title
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1985
Wimbledon doubles title with Heinz Günthardt, the first Wimbledon title won by a Hungarian
24-22
Fifth set of the 1985 quarter-final against Paul Annacone and Christo van Rensburg
5h 05m
Length of that quarter-final, played in a single day
3
Career-high doubles ranking, July 1985
12
Career-high singles ranking, April 1982
Taróczy was born in Budapest on 9 May 1954. He became Hungary's No. 1 in 1973, the year he first played Davis Cup, and represented his country in the competition until 1985. He was six times national champion and won 13 singles titles, all on clay according to the Hungarian record, six of them at the Dutch Open in Hilversum (1976 and 1978 to 1982). He reached No. 12 in the world in April 1982 and twice made the quarter-finals at Roland Garros.
His great successes came in doubles with the Swiss Heinz Günthardt: the French Open in 1981 and Wimbledon in 1985, when they took a fifth set 24-22 in the quarter-finals and then beat Pat Cash and John Fitzgerald on Centre Court. He reached No. 3 in the doubles rankings that July and, playing only part-time, was still No. 45 in 1989.
From September 1989 to the end of 1990 he coached the young Goran Ivanišević. He later served the Hungarian federation as technical director and Davis Cup captain until 2004, worked as a television commentator, and in 2019 became Hungary's consul general in Barcelona.
| Wimbledon 1985 final | Seeded eighth with Heinz Günthardt, beat the fifth seeds Pat Cash and John Fitzgerald 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 on Centre Court in 118 minutes |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 1985 quarter-final | Beat Paul Annacone and Christo van Rensburg 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 24-22: 87 games in 5 hours 5 minutes, one of the longest men's doubles matches on the Wimbledon record |
| Invitation doubles | With Günthardt won the 35 and over invitation doubles in 1994, beating Andrew Jarrett and Jonathan Smith 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-2, and reached the 45 and over final in 2004, losing to Kevin Curren and Johan Kriek 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 |
| Wimbledon singles | His best singles run was to the fourth round, in 1980 |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Men's doubles | with Heinz Günthardt |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. † single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 1985
The ATP describes Taróczy as one of the game's premier doubles players and notes that he and Günthardt had never been especially proficient on grass before their 1985 run, which ended with a four-set win over Cash and Fitzgerald on Centre Court.
Source: ATP Tour biographyWimbledon 1985 · Quarter-final
The quarter-final against Annacone and van Rensburg was played in one day and lasted 5 hours 5 minutes. The fifth set alone ran to 46 games, and the 87-game total stands among the highest for a men's doubles match at Wimbledon.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025 (AELTC)Hilversum
Nearly half of his 13 singles titles came at one event: the Dutch Open, which he won in 1976 and then five years running from 1978 to 1982.
Source: Balázs Taróczy, Wikipedia1989 to 1990
After his own career wound down, Taróczy coached the teenage Goran Ivanišević from September 1989 to the end of 1990, years before the Croatian won Wimbledon in 2001.
Source: Balázs Taróczy, WikipediaHungary
He was named Hungary's tennis player of the year every year from 1973 to 1986, and in 2014 was made an honorary citizen of Budapest.
Source: Taróczy Balázs, Hungarian WikipediaBarcelona
In 2019 Taróczy, who had long spent much of his time in Barcelona, was appointed Hungary's consul general in the city. Hungarian papers still introduced him in the post as the former Wimbledon champion.
Source: Magyar Nemzet, 2020Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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