Toomas Leius Explained

Toomas Leius
Birth Date:1941 8, df=yes
Birth Place:Tallinn, Estonia[1]
Australianopenresult:3R (1969)
Frenchopenresult:QF (1965)
Wimbledonresult:3R (1960, 1963)
Usopenresult:2R (1962)
Australianopendoublesresult:QF (1969)
Wimbledondoublesresult:QF (1963)
Mixed:yes
Australianopenmixedresult:1R (1969)
Frenchopenmixedresult:F (1971)
Wimbledonmixedresult:3R (1967)
Team:yes
Daviscupresult:FEu (1967, 1969, 1970)
Medaltemplates-Expand:yes

Toomas Leius (born 28 August 1941) is a former tennis player from Estonia who competed for the Soviet Union.[2]

Career

Leius was the boys' singles champion at the 1959 Wimbledon Championships. He won the Soviet Championships in 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1968. He also won the Moscow International Indoor Championships five times from 1961 to 1963, 1965, 1969. Other good performances during his career include reaching the final of the 1964 Queen's Club Championships, which he lost to Roy Emerson, and taking Rod Laver to five sets at the 1969 Heineken Open. He was a gold medalist in the mixed doubles at the 1970 Summer Universiade in Turin, with Tiiu Parmas.

His best performance in the singles draw of a Grand Slam tournament came at the 1965 French Championships, where he made the quarter-finals.[3] He was due to face South African player Cliff Drysdale in the quarter-final but the Soviet delegation made him forfeit the match, in protest against apartheid. Leius and Winnie Shaw were mixed doubles runners-up at the 1971 French Open.

He was a regular fixture in the Soviet Davis Cup team during the 1960s and appeared in a total of 20 ties, from which he managed 23 wins, 17 of them in singles.[4]

Murder conviction and prison

On 13 May 1974, Toomas Leius strangled his wife Ene Leius (née Visnapuu) to death after finding her in bed with another man. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and was released after serving five years for good behavior.[5] [6]

Coaching

Leius worked as a tennis coach after leaving prison and spent some time as captain of the Estonia Fed Cup team.[7]

Grand Slam finals

Mixed doubles: 1 (0–1)

Awards

1961, 1963, 1965

Notes and References

  1. https://www.atptour.com/en/players/toomas-leius/le06/overview ATP World Tour: Toomas Leius
  2. https://www.itftennis.com/en/players/toomas-leius/800173703/est/mt/d/activity/ ITF Tennis: Toomas Leius
  3. https://archive.today/20130203173843/http://www.tennisarchives.com/coureurfiche.php?coureurid=3714 Tennis Archives: Toomas Karlovich Lejus
  4. http://www.daviscup.com/en/players/player/profile.aspx?playerid=10002783 Davis Cup: Tomas Leius
  5. Book: Brown, Cameron. Wimbledon Facts, Figures & Fun. 2005. AAPPL.
  6. Web site: Gennady Fyodorov. Former Soviet Soccer Star Arrested for Killing Woman. The Moscow Times. 23 September 1997.
  7. http://www.fedcup.com/en/results/tie/details.aspx?tieId=20004579 Fed Cup - Tie details - 2000 - Estonia v Madagascar