// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Thomas Emmrich? Rich in history.
| Country (sports) |  East Germany | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 21 July 1953 Berlin, East Germany | |||||||||||
| Plays | Right-handed | |||||||||||
| Singles | ||||||||||||
| Career record | 3–2 | |||||||||||
| Career titles | 0 | |||||||||||
| Doubles | ||||||||||||
| Career record | 7–1 | |||||||||||
| Career titles | 1 | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||
Thomas Emmrich (born 21 July 1953) is a former tennis player for East Germany. Between 1970 and 1988, Emmrich won 46 German Democratic Republic (GDR) titles (17 singles and 29 in the doubles and mixed). He entered the tennis scene after the GDR had decided to promote only those sports which were relevant for the Olympics’ medals table. Thus, he was barred from international competitions outside the Eastern bloc countries and had to keep the status as an amateur. However, he gained some points at an ATP tournament in Sofia as GDR functionaries had not noticed that it had become part of the ATP tour. After this tournament, the ATP ranked him number 482—the only entry of a GDR tennis player in the ATP rankings.[1]
Martina Navratilova claimed that he could have become a top-ten player in the 1970s.[2]
After the German reunification in 1990, Emmrich proved that he could compete on a high international level as he won several titles, i.e. runners-up in the European Championships of the 35+ Seniors (1996), runners-up in the Doubles World Championships in 2003 (50+), European Champion (50+) in 2006. In addition, he gained many national titles after 1990 in senior competitions.
His daughter Manuela Emmrich also picked up the tennis sport and played college tennis in the US. She won the National Championship in 2005. His son, Martin Emmrich, is a professional tennis player and is successful on the doubles pro circuit.
Career finals
[edit]Doubles (1 win, 1 loss)
[edit]| Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Dec 1980 | Sofia, Bulgaria | Carpet |  Vadim Borisov |
 Hartmut Kirchhübel Robert Reininger |
6–4, 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Dec 1981 | Sofia, Bulgaria | Carpet |  Jiří Granát |
 Ismail El Shafei Richard Meyer |
7–6, 2–6, 6–4 |
Notes
[edit]- ↑ "ATP World Tour profile".
- ↑ Molitor, P. (20 November 1989). kicker Sportmagazin. p. 74.
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References
[edit]External links
[edit]
  | This biographical article relating to German tennis is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |
- German male tennis players
- East German male tennis players
- Tennis players from Berlin
- Summer World University Games medalists in tennis
- 1953 births
- Living people
- FISU World University Games silver medalists for East Germany
- Medalists at the 1977 Summer Universiade
- Sportspeople from East Berlin
- German tennis biography stubs