Zeljko Franulovic

Zeljko Franulovic

Zeljko Franulovic grew up in Split after his family brought him over from the island of Korcula as a baby, and he became the finest clay-court player Yugoslavia produced before the boom years. He reached world No. 3 in March 1971, on the back of a run to the 1970 Roland Garros final, where Jan Kodes beat him in straight sets so lopsided it remains one of the shortest finals in the tournament's history. A semifinal followed in 1971, and that same spring of 1970 he won the Monte-Carlo title, beating Manuel Orantes in the final.

Franulovic built 13 career titles almost entirely on clay, patient tennis suited to long Mediterranean afternoons. He stayed in the game long after retiring in 1983, coaching Croatia's Davis Cup team through the mid 1990s and serving on the ATP board before taking over as Monte-Carlo Masters tournament director in 2005. He ran it for eighteen years, shaping the clay season's opening act until David Massey succeeded him in 2022.