Heinrich Kleinschroth


Heinrich Kleinschroth was an amateur German tennis player who found success in the early 20th century, mainly in doubles competitions.

Tennis career

At the age of 20 he became the Catalan champion by winning both the singles and doubles with his brother in the Barcelona tournament. The same year he won the Homburg Cup by defeating the three-times defending champion and Germany's top player Otto Froitzheim. He also became Austrian Champion after claiming the Austrian International Championships in Vienna. In September 1910 he won the singles title at the Montreux Tournament after defeating R. Norris Williams in the final in five sets.
In 1911 he won several French Riviera mixed doubles titles pairing Hedwig Neresheimer. He also retained his Austrian title. In the South of France championships he and Max Decugis lost the doubles final to Tony Wilding and Josiah Ritchie. In the Menton tournament he was defeated again by the former team in the doubles championships match partnering his brother Robert.
In 1913 he won the South of France Championships doubles and the Monte Carlo Cup alongside Friedrich Wilhelm Rahe who later became his partner for the 1913 Wimbledon Championships doubles final which they subsequently lost.
In major tournaments, Kleinschroth reached the quarter-finals of the World Covered Court Championships in 1913 and the quarter-finals of the World Hard Court Championships in both 1912 and 1913. He was on the Germany Davis Cup team several times, including Germany's World Group semi-final and Inter-Zonal final showings in 1913 and 1929 respectively.
A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph ranked Kleinschroth as World No. 9 in 1914.
During World War I he fought in the Western Front and fell into captivity in France.
He was the manager/coach of Gottfried von Cramm and Henner Henkel and the Germany Davis Cup team in the 1930s.
Heinrich's brother, Robert Kleinschroth, also competed on the amateur tour, reaching the semi-finals of the World Hard Court Championships in 1912.
He was a Juris Doctor, a degree he earned at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and used that title later on and registered as such for tournaments.
In his post-retirement years in the 60s he worked for the International Tennis Federation management committee and also was a part of a subcommittee dedicated to work on the possible merging of amateur and professional tennis scene, a project that came to life just a year after.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles (1 runner-up)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss1913Wimbledon ChampionshipsGrass Friedrich Wilhelm Rahe Charles P. Dixon
Herbert Roper Barrett		2–6, 4–6, 6–4, 2–6