These two exceptional players have much in common: singles and doubles prowess, versatility and exquisite one-handed backhands. On July 21, 2018, they will forever be linked as two of the incoming class of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The game’s highest honor will be bestowed upon Michael Stich of Germany and Helena Sukova of the Czech Republic.

Located in Newport, Rhode Island, this national historic landmark designed by the esteemed architectural firm of Mckim, Mead & White in 1880, also hosts the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open, a 250 level event on the ATP Tour.

Michael Stich, now forty-nine years of age, won 18 singles titles including one grand slam and reached a career-high ranking of world #2 in 1993. At 6’4”, Stich excelled on all surfaces reaching the finals at the US Open in 1994 and the French Open in 1996.

His lone slam came on the lawns of the All England Club where, in 1991, he dispatched the three-time Wimbledon champion and compatriot, Boris Becker in straight sets. On route to the Wimbledon final, Stich defeated the defending champion and world #1 Stefan Edberg in the semis 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6 without breaking serve!

In addition to his exemplary play in singles, Stich won ten doubles titles including a five-set, five-hour final at Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in 1992. At the All England Club, he teamed with hall of famer John McEnroe and at the Barcelona Olympics won gold with hall of famer, Boris Becker. That same year, he defeated hall of fame inductee Michael Chang in the final of the Grand Slam Cup.

The German continued to impress the following year winning the season-ending championships undefeated in round robin play. In the final, he defeated 14-time grand slam champion and 2007 hall of fame inductee, Pete Sampras 7-6, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 and is the only player in the 1990’s to have won the ATP Tour World Championships without losing a match on route to the final.

His all-court game translated well on all surfaces and it’s not surprising that he is one of only five players of his era to have a winning head-to-head record against Sampras. That same year he brought additional honors to his country by helping Germany win both the Davis Cup and Hopman Cup.

Michael Stich officially retired from the tour following the Wimbledon Championships in 1997 where he reached the semis, losing in five to the Frenchman, Cedric Pioline.

Helena Sukova, the fifty-three-year-old native of the Czech Republic, attained a career-high ranking of world #4 in 1985 and won ten titles on the WTA Tour. Although she never won a grand slam title in singles, she reached four finals – two at the Australian Open (1984, 1989) and two at the US Open (1986, 1993).

Like fellow inductee Michael Stich, Sukova had an incredible one-handed backhand used to great effect on the grass at Wimbledon where she reached the quarter-finals in singles five times.

At 6’2”, she used her considerable height to her advantage capturing 14 grand slam doubles titles – nine in women’s doubles and five in mixed. She ended her extraordinary career with 69 doubles titles and in 1990 was ranked #1 in the world in doubles.

Her grand slam doubles resume is outstanding and with various partners won the following: Australian Open doubles 1990, 1992, French Open doubles 1990, Wimbledon doubles 1987, 1989, 1990, 1996 and US Open doubles 1985, 1993.

She assisted the Czech Republic in winning a remarkable four Fed Cup titles, one Hopman Cup and two silver medals in doubles at the Seoul and Atlanta Olympic Games. It is worth mentioning that her partner at both Olympic Games was the 2005 Hall of Fame inductee, Jana Novotna who sadly died last fall at the age of forty-nine.

Three of her grand slam mixed doubles titles were won with her brother, Cyril Suk III, an accomplished, former professional player on the ATP tour.

For Helena Sukova, 1993 was a career-defining season for she reached the finals in all three events at the US Open winning two – the doubles and mixed but succumbed in the women’s final to twenty-two-time grand slam champion, Steffi Graff.

She will most probably be remembered for shattering the calendar year grand slam hopes of a fellow Czech, Martina Navratilova. In 1984, Sukova ended Navratilova’s 74 match winning streak in the semis at the Australian Open which at that time, was still contested on grass.

Equally memorable were her victories over Chris Evert and Navratilova in 1987 on the lawns at Eastbourne which ended Navratilova’s 69-match winning streak on grass.

Since Stich and Sukova both relished and triumphed on the grass, it is most fitting that in three weeks’ time, both will be inducted into the prestigious International Tennis Hall of Fame on the historic lawns of the Newport Casino - the perfect place to punctuate their stellar careers.