Pancho Gonzales won 15 major singles titles, including two US National Singles Championships in 1948 and 1949, and 13 Professional Grand Slam titles.
120 Facts About Pancho Gonzales
2.
Pancho Gonzales won three Tournament of Champions professional events in 1957,1958, and 1959.
3.
Pancho Gonzales was ranked world amateur No 1 in 1948 by Ned Potter and in 1949 by Potter and John Olliff.
4.
Pancho Gonzales was often at odds with officials and promoters.
5.
Pancho Gonzales was given a 51-cent racquet by his mother when he was 12 years old.
6.
Pancho Gonzales received tennis analysis from his friend, Chuck Pate, but mostly taught himself to play by watching other players on the public courts at nearby Exposition Park in Los Angeles.
7.
Pancho Gonzales was befriended by Frank Poulain, the owner of the tennis shop at Exposition Park, and sometimes slept there.
8.
Pancho Gonzales then joined the Navy just as World War II was ending and served for two years, finally receiving a bad-conduct discharge in 1947.
9.
Pancho Gonzales did go East that year to play in the US Championships at Forest Hills.
10.
The top-ranked American player, Schroeder, decided at the last moment not to play in the US Championships and Pancho Gonzales was seeded No 8 in the tournament.
11.
Pancho Gonzales was ranked world No 1 amateur by Ned Potter.
12.
In 1949, Pancho Gonzales performed poorly at Wimbledon, where he was seeded second but lost in the fourth round to Geoff Brown, and was derided for his performance by some of the press.
13.
Pancho Gonzales was called a "cheese champion" and, because of his name, his doubles partner of the time, Frank Parker, began to call him "Gorgonzales", after Gorgonzola, the Italian cheese.
14.
When Pancho Gonzales returned to the United States Championships in 1949, he repeated his victory of the previous year.
15.
The only time Pancho Gonzales had beaten Schroeder, he was playing with a nose that had been broken the day before by his doubles partner's tennis racquet during a misplayed point at the net.
16.
Pancho Gonzales was ranked world No 1 amateur by John Olliff and Ned Potter.
17.
Pancho Gonzales won both his singles matches in the Davis Cup finals against Australia.
18.
Pancho Gonzales was badly beaten in his first year on the professional tour, 94 matches to 29, by the reigning king of professional tennis, Jack Kramer.
19.
Pancho Gonzales was a hamburger-and-hot-dog guy to start with and had no concept of diet in training.
20.
Pancho Gonzales had terrible sleeping habits made even worse by the reality of a tour.
21.
Pancho Gonzales improved enough to win 15 of the remaining 32 but it was too late.
22.
Pancho Gonzales won the tournament at Wembley, beating Don Budge and Welby Van Horn.
23.
Pancho Gonzales did not play in the 1950 US Professional Championships in Cleveland, which were authorized by the USPLTA.
24.
Pancho Gonzales bought the tennis shop at Exposition Park and ran that while playing in short tours and occasional professional tournaments throughout the world.
25.
In December 1950, Pails won the short tour in New Zealand, but in January and February 1951 Pancho Gonzales won a second and longer tour in Australia.
26.
Pancho Gonzales lost the deciding match of the US Professional Indoor Championships at Philadelphia in February 1951 to Kramer.
27.
Pancho Gonzales finished second to Segura in the 1951 US Professional Championships at Forest Hills, organized by Riggs and Kramer, and authorized by the USPLTA.
28.
Pancho Gonzales did not play in the 1951 Cleveland International Professional title at Cleveland, won by Kovacs.
29.
In 1952 Pancho Gonzales reached the top level of the pros.
30.
The Tennis Hall of Fame gives Pancho Gonzales "Top ranking: World number 1 ".
31.
In 1953, Pancho Gonzales was omitted by Kramer from the big pro tour, which featured Frank Sedgman against Kramer himself and Ken McGregor against Segura.
32.
Pancho Gonzales won the Cleveland event, defeating Don Budge in the final in four sets.
33.
Pancho Gonzales was awarded the Pilsner of Cleveland Trophy for his victory.
34.
Pancho Gonzales was awarded the Pilsner of Cleveland Trophy for his victory at Cleveland.
35.
In early June 1954, Pancho Gonzales won the US Professional Championships held by Jack Kramer at the Los Angeles Tennis Club in California.
36.
Pancho Gonzales was seeded No 1 and defeated both Sedgman and Segura, the latter in a close five set final to win the USPLTA Benrus Trophy for the only time in his career.
37.
Pancho Gonzales thus won two US Pro titles in one year, a unique achievement in tennis.
38.
Pancho Gonzales then played in the Far East tour that visited Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and Hong Kong.
39.
Pancho Gonzales finished second to Sedgman and barely won over Segura and Kramer, who was making a comeback in singles after a 14-month retirement.
40.
Pancho Gonzales had a poor and often adversarial relationship with most of the other players and generally travelled and lived by himself, showing up only in time to play his match, then moving on alone to the next town.
41.
Pancho Gonzales was a loner, sullen most of the time, with a big chip on his shoulder and he rarely associated with us on the road.
42.
Pancho Gonzales was a very prideful man, not proud, prideful.
43.
Pancho Gonzales played against Trabert in a South American tour, losing six matches to Trabert on outdoor clay, but winning the three indoor matches.
44.
Pancho Gonzales won the inaugural Los Angeles Masters tournament in early August 1956, defeating Sedgman in the deciding match.
45.
In early 1957, Pancho Gonzales flew to Australia for the first ten matches against Rosewall in his native country.
46.
Pancho Gonzales had developed a "half-dollar"-size cyst on the palm on his right hand and there was speculation in the newspapers that his tennis career might be over.
47.
Pancho Gonzales won the Cleveland tournament, beating Trabert and Segura, and the Los Angeles Masters tournament.
48.
Pancho Gonzales built a 5 to 1 lead over Rosewall in the Australian portion of the tour.
49.
Later that year, Pancho Gonzales sued in California superior court to have his seven-year contract with Kramer declared invalid.
50.
The most difficult challenge that Pancho Gonzales faced during his dominant years came from Lew Hoad, the powerful young Australian who had won four Grand Slam titles as an amateur.
51.
Pancho Gonzales won the 1958 series by a margin of 51 wins to 36 wins for Hoad.
52.
Pancho Gonzales received his record sixth Pilsner of Cleveland Trophy award for the victory.
53.
Pancho Gonzales lost to Hoad in the semifinal at the Roland Garros World Professional Championships.
54.
Pancho Gonzales lost to Sedgman in the semifinal of the World Professional Indoor Championships at Wembley, and had earlier lost to him in the semifinal of the Sydney Masters.
55.
Gonzales played Hoad again in the 4-man World Professional Championship Tour in 1959 and Pancho finished with 13 wins and 15 losses against Hoad, but Gonzales achieved a perfect record against rookies Cooper and Anderson to keep his world championship title.
56.
The series concluded at the end of May and Pancho Gonzales was proclaimed in 1959 and 1960 press reports as the "world champion".
57.
Pancho Gonzales was referred to in a paid advertisement for the pro tour in a 1960 Boston Globe edition as "world champion".
58.
Pancho Gonzales beat Hoad to retain his Cleveland title, played during the 4-man tour and not part of the Ampol Open Trophy tournament series.
59.
Pancho Gonzales faced Rosewall, Segura and new pro signing Alex Olmedo on the 1960 World Professional Championship tour.
60.
Pancho Gonzales was at the peak of his form, beating Rosewall 20 to 5 and easily overcoming Segura and Olmedo.
61.
Pancho Gonzales did return to touring and played in the 1961 World Series.
62.
Pancho Gonzales beat Andres Gimeno, Trabert, Sedgman, Hoad, Barry MacKay, Olmedo, and Butch Buchholz.
63.
Pancho Gonzales beat Gimeno 21 match wins to 7, in single-set matches.
64.
Pancho Gonzales beat Gimeno and Sedgman to win at Cleveland.
65.
Later in the year there were signs Pancho Gonzales' dominance was waning.
66.
Pancho Gonzales lost to Rosewall in the final of the French Pro championships on red clay at Roland Garros, and at Wembley on indoor wood he lost in the semifinals to Hoad.
67.
An out-of-shape, semi-retired Pancho Gonzales was beaten in the first round by Alex Olmedo.
68.
Pancho Gonzales returned to play on the pro circuit in 1964.
69.
In early May, 1964, Pancho Gonzales defeated Gimeno and Anderson to win the Cleveland World Pro, his ninth Cleveland title.
70.
Pancho Gonzales finished third behind Rosewall and Laver in the points series for the season, which did not include the Australian tournaments.
71.
In January 1965, Pancho Gonzales won the New South Wales Pro in Sydney beating Laver and Rosewall.
72.
Pancho Gonzales beat Laver and Rosewall to win the 1965 CBS TV Pro at Dallas on a clay surface.
73.
Pancho Gonzales was the leading money winner on the pro tour through the US series of tournaments with $18,945, not including the $8,000 first prize for winning the Dallas event.
74.
However, Pancho Gonzales did not play in Europe that year, and Laver, Rosewall, Gimeno and Buchholz all earned more prize money than Pancho Gonzales by the end of the year.
75.
The first major open tournament was the 1968 French Open, when Pancho Gonzales had just turned 40.
76.
In spite of the fact that he had been semi-retired for a number of years and that the tournament was held on slow clay courts that penalize serve-and-volley players, Pancho Gonzales beat the 1967 defending champion Roy Emerson in the quarterfinals.
77.
Pancho Gonzales then lost in the semifinals to Rod Laver.
78.
Pancho Gonzales lost in the third round of 1968 Wimbledon but later beat the second-seeded Tony Roche in the fourth round of the 1968 US Open, before losing an epic match to the Dutch Tom Okker.
79.
Pancho Gonzales finished third in the NTL rankings for 1968, and was selected to enter the season combined professional final at Madison Square Garden together with the top four WCT players in an eight-man field.
80.
Pancho Gonzales won a close dramatic win over Rosewall, then defeated Gimeno in the semifinal, before losing the final to Roche.
81.
In 1969, it was Pancho Gonzales's turn to prevail in the longest match ever played till that time, one so long and arduous that it resulted in the advent of tiebreak scoring.
82.
Pasarell won a lengthy 46-game first set, then with daylight fading, the 41-year-old Pancho Gonzales argued that the match should be suspended.
83.
The referee didn't relent, and the petulant Pancho Gonzales virtually threw the second set.
84.
Pancho Gonzales went on to the fourth round of the championship, where he was beaten in four sets by Arthur Ashe.
85.
In late 1969, Pancho Gonzales won the Howard Hughes Open in Las Vegas and the Pacific Southwest Open in Los Angeles, beating, among others, John Newcombe, Ken Rosewall, Stan Smith, Cliff Richey, and Arthur Ashe.
86.
Pancho Gonzales was the top American money-winner for 1969 with US$46,288.
87.
Pancho Gonzales continued to play in the occasional tournament in his 40s.
88.
In spite of the fact that Pancho Gonzales was still known as a serve-and-volley player, in 1971, when he was 43 and Jimmy Connors was 19, he beat the great young baseliner by playing him from the baseline at the Pacific Southwest Open.
89.
Around this time, Pancho Gonzales relocated to Las Vegas to be the Tennis Director at Caesars Palace, and he hired Chuck Pate, his childhood friend, to run the Pro Shop.
90.
In 1972, Pancho Gonzales became the oldest player to have ever won a professional tournament, winning the 1972 Des Moines Open, which was part of the USLTA Indoor Circuit, over 24-year-old Georges Goven when he was three months shy of his 44th birthday.
91.
In June 1972, Pancho Gonzales reached the semifinals of the Queen's Club Championships, at age 44, and was leading by a set against John Paish when he was disqualified by the tournament referee after an argument over the replacement of a linesman.
92.
Pancho Gonzales made his final Grand Slam singles appearance, losing in round one of the US Open to Tom Okker.
93.
Pancho Gonzales didn't come from a wealthy family, but from a stable middle-class background, probably a lot like mine.
94.
Pancho Gonzales had a great mother and there was always a warm feeling of family loyalty.
95.
Pancho Gonzales pushed a scooter too fast, ran into a passing car, and had his cheek gashed open by its door handle.
96.
Pancho Gonzales spent two weeks in the hospital as a result.
97.
Pancho Gonzales was referred to as either "Richard" or "Ricardo" by his friends and family.
98.
Pancho Gonzales reportedly disliked the nickname "Pancho", as it was a common derogatory term used against Mexican Americans at the time.
99.
Pancho Gonzales became a television commentator for ABC, a rare presence at tournaments.
100.
For decades Pancho Gonzales had made US$75,000 a year from an endorsement contract with Spalding for racquets and balls but was unable to get along with the company personnel.
101.
Pancho Gonzales had been the Tennis Director and Tournament Director at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip for 16 years, another lucrative job.
102.
Pancho Gonzales married and divorced six times and had nine children: he wed his childhood sweetheart, Henrietta Pedrin, on March 23,1948; they had three children.
103.
Pancho Gonzales married actress Madelyn Darrow twice; they had three children including twin girls.
104.
Pancho Gonzales married his dental hygienist, Betty, in Beverly Hills, and had one daughter.
105.
Pancho Gonzales had coached the young Rita until she had rebelled against her father's 5,000-balls-a-day-regimen and first moved in with, then married, on March 31,1984, the much-older Pancho Gonzales.
106.
Pancho Gonzales had upbraided Agassi so severely for perceived miscalls that Agassi walked away and sat in the stands.
107.
Pancho Gonzales played tennis with the actor Robert Redford while Redford was growing up.
108.
Under the new rules, the returned serve had to bounce before the server could make his own first shot, thereby keeping Pancho Gonzales from playing his usual serve-and-volley game.
109.
Pancho Gonzales won even so, and the rules were changed back.
110.
Kramer tried moving the service line to a yard behind the baseline; , Pancho Gonzales won in spite of the change.
111.
Jack Kramer, for instance, has speculated in an article about the theoretical champions of Forest Hills and Wimbledon that Pancho Gonzales would have won an additional 12 titles in those two tournaments alone.
112.
From 1952 through 1961 Pancho Gonzales was considered the best of this time period, with some saying he had taken the crown from Bill Tilden as the best of all time.
113.
Pancho Gonzales has been rated one of the greatest in the history of the sport.
114.
Pancho Gonzales was ranked the world No 1 tennis player in some rankings from 1952 to 1961.
115.
Pancho Gonzales was the No 1 money winner on the American portion of the 1965 season.
116.
Pancho Gonzales can be moving in one direction and in the split second it takes him to see that the ball is hit to his weak side, he's able to throw his physical mechanism in reverse and get to the ball in time to reach it with his racket.
117.
Pancho Gonzales had a great longevity that made possible this rivalry.
118.
Pancho Gonzales was ranked the sixth-best player, with only Allen Fox casting a vote for him as the greatest of all time.
119.
In head-to-head world championship tours, Pancho Gonzales led Hoad 64 to 51, and led Rosewall 70 to 31.
120.
Pancho Gonzales was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport in 1968.