Krešimir Friedrich (Croatian pronunciation: [krěʃimir ˈfriːdrix];[1][tone of the surname?]
He and his brother Ferdo began visiting the local tennis courts in Koprivnica in their youth, frequenting the same club where contemporary painter and eventual fifth-ranked national player and subsequent Davis Cup captain Fedor Malančec trained at the time.
[3] Friedrich and his brother Dragutin began playing at the NK Slaven Belupo but soon left for the HAŠK club in 1923 although Krešimir was mostly a reserve player in the latter team.
[2] Friedrich had minor local achievement in the 1920s, including the third place at the VIII HAŠK tournament doubles competition, partnering his brother; the match was won by Ivan Balás and Franz Wilhelm Matejka.
[5] That same year, he reached third place in the Serbian International Championship in singles and was a runner-up in doubles, pairing with Emil Gabrowitz of Hungary; they only lost to the eventual champions, Franjo Šefer and Ivan Radović.