Hosta

Guillermo Vilas (born August 17, 1952, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a retired professional tennis player from Argentina.

Career

Raised in the sea resort of Mar del Plata, Vilas was a southpaw and played his first tour event in 1969.  He was in the year-ending top ten from 1974 through 1982. He was a clay-court specialist but also played well on hard, grass, and carpet surfaces.

Vilas was the first South American male player to win a Grand Slam singles title.^[1] He won four of them: the 1977 French Open and the 1977 US Open (both played on clay) and the 1978 and 1979 Australian Open (both played on grass). He was also the runner-up at the French Open three times (1975, 1978, and 1982) and at the Australian Open once (January 1977).

Vilas got his first big break in the 1974 Masters tournament (played on grass), where he defeated Ilie Năstase in the final.

Best year

A left-handed baseliner, Vilas's best year on tour was 1977 when he won two of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments and 16 of the 31 Association of Tennis Professionals tournaments he entered.^[2] His playing record for that year was 145 wins against 14 losses (ATP win-loss record was 130-14). The 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.^[1]

Records: Winning streak, most titles in a single year

He had a 46-match all-surface winning streak (still unrivalled) and won seven consecutive titles - Kitzbühel (clay), Washington (clay), Louisville (hard), South Orange (hard), Columbus (hard), US Open (clay) and Paris (clay) after Wimbledon in 1977. He also had a record 53-match winning streak on clay courts (including both Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and unofficial tournaments), which stood until the record was broken by Rafael Nadal in 2006. Both his winning streaks were terminated in October 1977 by Ilie Năstase in the final of the Aix-en-Provence tournament. In the best of five-set final, Vilas dropped the first two sets by 6–1, 7–5 and then retired in protest of Năstase's use of a spaghetti strung racquet (which was banned by the ATP shortly after).^[3]

Even though he won 16 ATP singles titles, including the French Open and the US Open and was the runner-up at the January edition of the Australian Open in 1977, he was never ranked by the ATP as World No. 1 during 1977. He was instead year-end World No. 2 in those rankings, below Jimmy Connors (who won the Masters and six other titles and was the runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1977). However, the magazine World Tennis and Michel Sutter gave Vilas the World No. 1 ranking.

Retirement

Vilas retired from the ATP tour in 1989 but still played ATP Challenger Series until 1992.^[4] He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1991.^[1]

Distinctions

• Won the Grand Prix in 1974, 1975, and 1977.
• Won 62 ATP singles titles (sixth highest during the open era) and was the runner-up in 40 singles tournaments (plus two unfinished finals). Won 15 doubles titles with other 10 doubles finals.
• He took Argentina to its first-ever Davis Cup final in 1981 (lost to the United States), together with José Luis Clerc, who was also a top-ten player. The Argentine press often referred to 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's success on the court led to a surge in popularity of tennis in Argentina and throughout Latin America. Guillermo Cañas and Guillermo Coria were named after him.
• In 2005, TENNIS Magazine put Vilas in 24th place in its list of the 40 Greatest Players of the Tennis Open Era (women included).

1977

• Played 31 ATP tour singles tournaments and reached 22 finals (including the final of three Grand Slam tournaments). Won 16 titles (including 2 Grand Slam titles), which is the most singles titles won by a male player in a year during the open era.
• Had a 46 match winning streak in singles (50 matches if including the tournament in Rye, New York) during July, August, and September. This is the longest all-surface winning streak by a male player during the open era.
• The only player to win ATP Tour singles titles in five different continents in the same year - Europe, South America, North America, Africa, and Asia.

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (4)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1977	French Open	Brian Gottfried	6–0, 6–3, 6–0
1977	US Open	Jimmy Connors	2–6, 6–3, 7–6, 6–0
1978	Australian Open	John Marks	6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3
1979	Australian Open (2)	John Sadri	7–6, 6–3, 6–2

Runner-ups (4)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1975	French Open	Björn Borg	6–2, 6–3, 6–4
1977	Australian Open (Jan.)	Roscoe Tanner	6–3, 6–3, 6–3
1978	French Open (2)	Björn Borg	6–2, 6–1, 6–3
1982	French Open (3)	Mats Wilander	1–6, 7–6, 6–0, 6–4

Singles titles (68)

Singles titles listed by the ATP Website (62)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	December 2, 1973	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Björn Borg	3–6, 6–7, 6–4, 6–6 retired
2.	July 24, 1974	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Manuel Orantes	6–1, 6–2
3.	July 28, 1974	Hilversum, Netherlands	Clay	Barry Phillips-Moore	6–4, 6–2, 1–6, 6–3
4.	August 11, 1974	Louisville, U.S.	Clay	Jaime Fillol	6–4, 7–5
5.	August 18, 1974	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Manuel Orantes	6–4, 6–2, 6–3
6.	November 3, 1974	Tehran, Iran	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	6–0, 6–3, 6–1
7.	December 1, 1974	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Manuel Orantes	6–3, 0–6, 7–5, 6–2
8.	December 15, 1974	Masters, Melbourne, Australia	Grass	Ilie Năstase	7–6, 6–2, 3–6, 6–4
9.	May 11, 1975	Munich, West Germany	Clay	Karl Meiler	2–6, 6–0, 6–2, 6–3
10.	July 20, 1975	Hilversum, Netherlands	Clay	Željko Franulović	6–4, 6–7, 6–2, 6–3
11.	July 27, 1975	Washington D.C.	Clay	Harold Solomon	6–1, 6–3
12.	August 10, 1975	Louisville, U.S.	Clay	Ilie Năstase	6–4, 6–3
13.	November 16, 1975	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Adriano Panatta	6–1, 6–4, 6–4
14.	February 22, 1976	St. Louis WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Vijay Amritraj	4–6, 6–0, 6–4
15.	February 29, 1976	Fort Worth WCT, U.S.	Hard	Phil Dent	6–7(4), 6–1, 6–1
16.	April 18, 1976	Monte Carlo WCT, Monaco	Clay	Wojtek Fibak	6–1, 6–1, 6–4
17.	August 22, 1976	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Wojtek Fibak	6–4, 7–6, 6–2
18.	November 21, 1976	São Paulo, Brazil	Carpet	José Higueras	6–3, 6–0
19.	November 28, 1976	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Jaime Fillol	6–2, 6–2, 6–3
20.	February 13, 1977	Springfield, U.S.	Carpet	Stan Smith	3–6, 6–0, 6–3, 6–2
21.	April 17, 1977	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Wojtek Fibak	6–4, 6–3, 6–0
22.	April 24, 1977	Virginia Beach, U.S.	Hard	Ilie Năstase	6–2, 4–6, 6–2
23.	June 5, 1977	French Open	Clay	Brian Gottfried	6–0, 6–3, 6–0
24.	July 17, 1977	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Jan Kodeš	5–7, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3, 6–2
25.	July 24, 1977	Washington D.C.	Clay	Brian Gottfried	6–4, 7–5
26.	July 31, 1977	Louisville, U.S.	Clay	Eddie Dibbs	1–6, 6–0, 6–1
27.	August 7, 1977	South Orange, U.S.	Clay	Roscoe Tanner	6–4, 6–1
28.	August 14, 1977	Columbus, U.S.	Clay	Brian Gottfried	6–2, 6–1
29.	September 11, 1977	US Open	Clay	Jimmy Connors	2–6, 6–3, 7–6, 6–0
30.	September 25, 1977	Paris, France	Clay	Christophe Roger-Vasselin	6–2, 6–1, 7–6
31.	October 9, 1977	Tehran, Iran	Clay	Eddie Dibbs	6–2, 6–4, 1–6, 6–1
32.	November 13, 1977	Bogotá, Colombia	Clay	José Higueras	6–1, 6–2, 6–3
33.	November 20, 1977	Santiago, Chile	Clay	Jaime Fillol	6–0, 2–6, 6–4
34.	November 27, 1977	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Jaime Fillol	6–2, 7–5, 3–6, 6–3
35.	December 4, 1977	Johannesburg WCT, South Africa	Hard	Buster Mottram	7–6, 6–3, 6–4
36.	May 21, 1978	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Wojtek Fibak	6–2, 6–4, 6–2
37.	May 28, 1978	Munich, West Germany	Clay	Buster Mottram	6–1, 6–3, 6–3
38.	July 16, 1978	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	José Luis Clerc	6–3, 7–6, 6–4
39.	August 6, 1978	South Orange, U.S.	Clay	José Luis Clerc	6–1, 6–3
40.	October 1, 1978	Aix-en-Provence, France	Clay	José Luis Clerc	6–3, 6–0, 6–3
41.	October 29, 1978	Basel, Switzerland	Carpet	John McEnroe	6–3, 5–7, 7–5, 6–4
42.	January 7, 1979	Australian Open 1978	Grass	John Marks	6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3
43.	January 14, 1979	Hobart, Australia	Grass	Mark Edmondson	6–4, 6–4
44.	July 22, 1979	Washington D.C.	Clay	Víctor Pecci	7–6, 7–6
45.	November 25, 1979	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	José Luis Clerc	6–1, 6–2, 6–2
46.	January 6, 1980	Australian Open 1979	Grass	John Sadri	7–6, 6–3, 6–2
47.	May 25, 1980	Rome, Italy	Clay	Yannick Noah	6–0, 6–4, 6–4
48.	July 27, 1980	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Ivan Lendl	6–3, 6–2, 6–2
49.	September 14, 1980	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Paul McNamee	6–4, 6–0, 6–0
50.	February 8, 1981	Mar del Plata, Argentina	Clay	Víctor Pecci	2–6, 6–3, 2–1 retired
51.	March 15, 1981	Cairo, Egypt	Clay	Peter Elter	6–2, 6–3
52.	April 12, 1981	Houston, U.S.	Clay	Sammy Giammalva Jr.	6–2, 6–3
53.	February 7, 1982	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Alejandro Ganzábal	6–2, 6–4
54.	March 21, 1982	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	0–6, 6–2, 6–4
55.	March 28, 1982	Milan, Italy	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	6–3, 6–3
56.	April 11, 1982	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Ivan Lendl	6–1, 7–6, 6–3
57.	May 2, 1982	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Ivan Lendl	6–7, 4–6, 6–0, 6–3, 6–3
58.	July 18, 1982	Boston, U.S.	Clay	Mel Purcell	6–4, 6–0
59.	July 25, 1982	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Marcos Hocevar	7–6, 6–1
60.	February 13, 1983	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Steve Denton	6–3, 7–5, 6–4
61.	February 27, 1983	Delray Beach WCT, U.S.	Clay	Pavel Složil	6–1, 6–4, 6–0
62.	July 27, 1983	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Henri Leconte	7–6, 4–6, 6–4

Other singles titles not listed by the ATP Website (6)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	1972	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Héctor Romani	6–2, 6–4, 6–2
2.	March 10, 1974	River Plate, Argentina	Clay	Julián Ganzabal	7–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–3
3.	April 20, 1975	River Plate, Argentina	Clay	Clark Graebner	6–2, 6–1, 6–4
4.	August 28, 1977	Rye, Westchester Country Club, U.S. (8-man draw)	Clay	Ilie Nastase	6–2, 6–0
5.	October 28-30, 1977	Caracas, The Super Tennis 77 Tournament, Venezuela	Clay	Ilie Nastase	6–2, 6–2
6.	July 25-26, 1979	Aix-en-Provence, France	Hard	Ilie Nastase	6–4, 6–4

Doubles titles (15)

• 1974 (4) - Buenos Aires, Montreal/Toronto, Tehran, Hilversum
• 1975 (3) - Barcelona, Hilversum, Louisville
• 1977 (4) - Baltimore, Buenos Aires, Nice, Tehran
• 1978 (2) - Aix-En-Provence, Munich
• 1979 (2) - North Conway, San Jose

ATP singles runner-ups (42)

• 1972 (2) - Buenos Aires, Cincinnati
• 1974 (1) - Washington
• 1975 (3) - Boston, French Open, San Francisco
• 1976 (3) - Dallas WCT, Rome, São Paulo WCT
• 1977 (6) - Aix en Provence, Australian Open (Jan.), Baltimore, Nice, Palm Springs, Johannesburg (not held)
• 1978 (1) - French Open
• 1979 (5) - Indianapolis, Richmond WCT, Rome, Stuttgart Indoor, Sydney Indoor
• 1980 (4) - Barcelona, Hamburg, Madrid, Monte Carlo
• 1981 (7) - Monte Carlo (not finish, final abandoned because of rain), Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Kitzbühel, North Conway, Pepsi Grand Slam, Washington
• 1982 (5) - Baltimore WCT, Barcelona, Gstaad, Johannesburg, French Open
• 1983 (4) - Barcelona, Detroit WCT, Hilton Head WCT, Rotterdam
• 1986 (1) - Forest Hills

Grand Slam / Masters singles performance

¹The Australian Open was played twice in 1977, in January and December. Vilas played only the January event.
²The year-ending Masters tournament was actually played in January of the following year.
NH = tournament not held.
A = did not participate in the tournament.
WR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

References

External links

• Official ATP profile

Awards
Preceded by Vijay Amritraj	ATP Most Improved Player   1974	Succeeded by Vitas Gerulaitis
Preceded by Horacio Iglesias	Olimpia de Oro 1974 – 1975	Succeeded by Juan Carlos Harriot
Preceded by Juan Carlos Harriot	Olimpia de Oro 1977	Succeeded by Daniel Martinazzo