| Guillermo Vilas |
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Guillermo Vilas (born August 17 , 1952 in Buenos Aires , Argentina ) was a star professional Tennis player. Vilas turned professional in 1969, finishing in the top ten from 1974 to 1982. A southpaw, Vilas became the first and US Open titles, and the 1978 and 1979 Australian Open titles. Raised in the sea resort of Mar Del Plata , Vilas played his first tour event in 1969 and got his first big break in the 1974 Masters tournament, where he defeated Ilie Nastase in the final match. A left-handed Baseliner Vilas's best season on tour was 1977 when he not only won two of the four majors but also 16 of the 33 tournaments he entered (absolute record in the Open era), a record which at the time had only ever been equaled by the legendary Rod Laver . His playing record for that season was an amazing 145 wins against 14 losses. The season climax was winning the last US Open played at Forest Hills against Jimmy Connors 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-0 in a match where Vilas surprised his American rival by attacking the net. He was world number 2 in the ATP rankings only below Jimmy Connors. However, the magazine World Tennis, greater the referring one of that sport at that time, recognized like number one ranking and Champion of the World. Vilas retired from the tour in 1989. His highest tour ranking was World No. 2. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall Of Fame in 1991. At the end of his career, he had 62 official singles titles with 39 other finals played, and 15 doubles titles with other 10 more finals. Vilas won the most singles titles of all players who did not reach the world No. 1 ranking. He also took Argentina to its first-ever Davis Cup finals, together with José Luis Clerc , who was also a top-ten player. The Argentine press made many mentions of the tensions between the two, which even reverberated to the 2004 French Open awards ceremony, in which Vilas presented Gastón Gaudio with his trophy, over Clerc's objections. Vilas is single-handedly responsible for the popularity of tennis in Argentina. Guillermo Coria was named after him. TITLES (77) Singles (62) Singles Finals (41):
GRAND SLAM / MASTERS SINGLES PERFORMANCE SIGNIFICANT SUCCESS IN 1977 In 1977, Guillermo Vilas played 31 ATP Tour Singles Tournaments, entered 22 finals (including 3 Grand Slam Tournaments) and won 16 titles (Record of number of singles titles won by one player in a year in the Open Era, including 2 Grand Slam titles). He also had a 46 winning streak (50 if we count an unofficial tournament), 2nd best in history, and an ATP record 53 Matches Winning Streak On Clay .
Vilas in 1977 EXTERNAL LINKS
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