Ivan Balás
| Country (sports) |
 Yugoslavia (1922-1928) Hungary (1930-1944) |
|---|---|
| Born | 1894 Elemir, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 1971 (aged 76–77) Paris, France |
| Turned pro | 1922 (amateur tour) |
| Retired | 1951 |
| Plays | right-handed |
| Team competitions | |
| Davis Cup | 2REU |
Iván Balás (Serbian: Iván Balaž, Иван Балаж [iʋan balâːʒ]; Hungarian: Balázs Iván [ˈbɒlaːzs ˈivaːn]; 1894 in Elemir – 1971 in Paris) was a Yugoslav tennis player of Hungarian ethnicity. He was the one of the first to play for the Yugoslavian team at the International Lawn Tennis Challenge, and later the Davis Cup in 1927. Technically his match was the second rubber of the tie. Apart from team competitions, he clinched international championships for Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, Romania and Slovakia in various events.
Iván Balás was born in Elemir in 1894 to a wealthy landowner family, which mostly contributed to his rapid growth in tennis. His father was born in Budapest in 1866 and died in 1909. He built two tennis courts in Elemir where his son Iván learned tennis. Iván attended the Nagybecskerek high school. He continued his studies in Budapest.
In college Balás played tennis as well as basketball, hockey, football and athletics. He began to win club and international tournaments in Nagybecskerek. Balás' first public triumph was recorded in 1922 in the men's singles of the National Championship in Novi Sad, and in 1926 he was crowned the champion of Yugoslavia. He was drafted into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia Davis Cup team for the first-ever Davis Cup match against India in Zagreb in May 1927, joined by György Dungyersky. Although they didn't win a game or set, both of them provided strong resistance. Balás even had two balls to have a chance to serve out the first set in the match against Hassan-Ali Fyzee, but did not succeed, as the Indian player came back to claim the match. On the third ball, the game was suspended due to bad weather, and so the match was decided after the first two days' results. The organizers agreed not to wait on Monday but to pass the remaining two dead rubbers and the victory to India.
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