Josip Palada
Palada (right) reading newspapers together with Franjo Punčec
|
|
| Country (sports) |
 Yugoslavia
|
|---|---|
| Born |
5 February 1912 Zagreb, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 4 May 1994 (aged 82) Zagreb, Croatia |
| Turned pro | 1933 (amateur tour) |
| Retired | 1956 |
| Plays | Left-handed |
| Singles | |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| French Open | SF (1938) |
| Wimbledon | 4R (1935) |
| US Open | 2R (1939) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | SF (1938, 1946) |
| Mixed doubles | |
| Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | 3R (1935, 1937) |
Josip Palada (Croatian: Josip Palada, Serbian: Јосип Палада, [jɔ̌sip pǎlaːda]) (5 February 1912 – 4 May 1994) was a Yugoslav tennis player of Croatian ethnicity.
Palada was born in Zagreb and started to play tennis at the age of fifteen on the courts of the Neurological Clinic of the Faculty of Medicine in Zagreb. He was hired as a ball boy by the doctors of the clinic. His talent was discovered by doctor of rheumatology Drago Čop, later a Davis Cup captain and president of the Yugoslav Tennis Association. Palada began practising with "Star" racquets on a daily basis. He was a self-taught player and trained by playing squash alone. He made his first international appearance at a Budapest-Zagreb inter-club match. He began working as a state official in the meantime.
Palada debuted in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia Davis Cup team in 1933. The team's first big tour was a visit to India in the winter of 1934. Palada won tournaments in Bombay, Calcutta, and Allahabad; in the latter final he defeated Franjo Punčec and won the championship of India. In 1937 Palada traveled to South Africa, where he became the champion of the South African international tournament. He became a worldwide sensation in 1938, visiting and winning in various continents such as the Irish Open, where he partnered with George Lyttleton-Rogers in the men's doubles, and the Scandinavia covered courts championship in Helsinki, teaming with Punčec. He even competed in Buenos Aires, in the championships of South America, and finished second, losing the final to Punčec. In 1940 Palada won, among many championships, the National Championship of Denmark in Copenhagen. The Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia caught Punčec and Palada by surprise while they were playing in the French Riviera.
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