The greatest tennis player of all time - Part IV

Remember the guy in the black and white picture at the end of my part II blog? It's his turn now to be addressed as one of the candidates for the title of GOTA.

Pancho Gonzales is a name that is rarely mentioned nowadays within the same level of the likes of Federer, Sampras, Borg or Laver when the discussion of tennis legends open up. To know the name means that you are more than a tennis fan; it means that you are truly passionate about our sport and that you admire and pursue greatness, and you honor the fact that historic figures deserve a place right where current trends currently sit.

I first heard the name of Pancho Gonzales when I was six years old, back when I was picking up a tennis racket for the first time and my dad -who was a remarkable tennis player- felt it was his dream come true. As he started to teach me the first lessons, he made me watch this movie called "Players", who starred some guy I don't remember, along with Ali McGraw and, precisely Pancho Gonzales. The actor guy is a young ambitious tennis player who is looking for a professional coach to take his tennis to the next level. He finds that man in Pancho, who despite initial reluctance, eventually picks the kid up. There are also some cameos of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Illie Nastase, John Lloyd and Guillermo Vilas. All through the movie Pancho looks like an outcast, a loner, a guy who just wants to be alone in his own world. Apparently, this was no act: this was the way he was in his real life.

After winning two US Opens in the late 40s, young Pancho Gonzales turned pro in 1949 at the age of 21, meeting high standard rivals like Jack Kramer, Frank Palmer and Don Budge, who beat him regularly up to the point of demoralizing him and turning him into an un happy person that started to grow great desire of becoming the best player of all time, at any cost required. Nobody knows for sure what happened or what triggered the reaction that was to come, but by the end of 1952/start of 1953 Gonzales had begun to establish his dominance, beating Sedgeman, Tony Trabert, Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad, Pancho Segura and basically anyone and anybody that would stand in his way. Gonzales' serve and volley game impossible to defeat, to the point that the professional tennis cirquit had to modify the rules of actually coming to the net after the ball had been served, requiring for it to bounce first before being hit, yet still Gonzales' found ways to win.

There are only a few surving sources about Pancho's career, however the majority of them agree that had there been an official ATP Ranking as there is today, he would have been ranked #1 player of the world from either 1952 or 1953, until 1960. Some quotes from tennis players and editors include:

• Bud Collins: "If I had to choose someone to play for my life, it would be Pancho Gonzales". He said this in 2006, having seen Laver, Borg, Sampras, Federer and other greats.
• Jack Kramer: "Gonzales was better than either Laver or Sampras"
• Andre Agassi: "I wouldn't have enjoyed playing against him"
• Gene Scott: "The most formidable serve in the history of the game
• Howard Cossell: "Pancho has a special place in my heart. He is the most competitive athlete I have known"

Pancho kept playing competitive tennis until the early 1970s. His results were mixed during the 60s, and while he was still a threat to most top players, he wasn't as dominating as before against new comers like Rod Laver, Arthur Ashe and Roy Emerson, who were able to beat him more often than him beating them. But hey! All of them were 10 years younger! That's quite remarkable...

Since his retirement, Gonzales kind of faded out once again into loniness and made rare appearances on TV and special events. He married Agassi's sister Rita in the 90s and he passed away in 1995, shortly after hailing Sampras as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. His legacy still lives and hopefully one day there will be a proper homenage to the man who could be trusted on playing on behalf of the survival of all Earth habitants.