 Guillermo Vilas during the Munich Open in May 1975 | |
| Country (sports) |  Argentina |
|---|---|
| Residence | Montecarlo |
| Born | (1952-08-17)17 August 1952 (age 73) Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Turned pro | 1968[1] |
| Retired | 1992 |
| Plays | Left-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $4,923,882 |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 1991(member page) |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 951–297 (76.2%) |
| Career titles | 62[2] (10th in the Open Era) |
| Highest ranking | No. 2 (30 April 1975) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | W (1978,1979) |
| French Open | W (1977)[3] |
| Wimbledon | QF (1975,1976) |
| US Open | W (1977)[3] |
| Other tournaments | |
| Tour Finals | W (1974) |
| WCT Finals | F (1976) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 217–150 (59.1%) |
| Career titles | 15 |
| Highest ranking | No. 13 (21 May 1979) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (1977Jan)[3] |
| French Open | SF (1975) |
| Wimbledon | 3R (1976) |
| US Open | QF (1975) |
Guillermo Vilas (Latin American Spanish pronunciation:[ɡiˈʝeɾmoˈβilas]; born 17 August 1952) is an Argentine former professionaltennis player. He was the world No. 1 of theGrand Prix seasons in 1974, 1975 and 1977.[4] He won 62 singles titles and 16 doubles titles during his career, including four singlesmajor titles and the1974 Tour Finals.World Tennis, among other rankings and publications, rated him asworld No. 1 in 1977.[5][6][7] In the computerizedATP rankings, he peaked at No. 2 in April 1975, a position he held for a total of 83 weeks, although some have argued that Vilas should have been ranked No. 1[8] for at least 10 weeks, particularly in 1977 when he won two majors. He was inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame in 1991, two years after his first retirement.[9]
Vilas is known for his prowess on clay courts. He won over 650 matches onclay, an all-time record. His peak was the 1977 season during which he won 16 ATP singles titles,[10] including two majors (both on clay) and had a 53-match winning streak on clay, thelongest in the Open Era at his time. In 2016,The Daily Telegraph ranked him as the third best male clay-court player of all time, behindRafael Nadal andBjörn Borg.[11] In 2018, Steve Tignor forTennis Magazine ranked him as the16th greatest tennis player of theOpen Era.[12]
Historical and statistical studies presented in 2015 by Argentinian journalist Eduardo Puppo and Romanian mathematician Marian Ciulpan concluded that Vilas should have been No. 1 in the old ATP ranking system for seven weeks between 1975 and 1976. The ATP and its chief executive at that time,Chris Kermode, although not refuting the data, decided not to officially recognize Vilas as No. 1. In October 2020, Netflix released a documentary film about Vilas's case titledGuillermo Vilas: Settling the Score.[13] In May 2024, ATP's vice-president confirmed that Vilas will never be number one.[14]
Raised in the seaside resort ofMar del Plata, Vilas was aleft-hander and played his first tour event in 1968. He was in the year-ending top ten from 1974 through 1982. He was aclay-court specialist and played well onhard-court,grass, andcarpet surfaces.
In 1974, Vilas won the year-endMasters Grand Prix title, beatingIlie Nastase (who was trying to win his fourth Masters title in a row) in five sets in the final on the grass of Kooyong. "Somebody asked me before what I think of grass and I say 'the grass is for cows'. Now I think some for cows and some for tennis" said Vilas afterwards. Nastase could not understand how Vilas hit so many topspin winners.[15] In 1975 Vilas andBjorn Borg hit with heavy top spin in many long baseline rallies in the French Open final. Borg won in straight sets.[16]
A left-handedbaseliner, Vilas's best year on tour was 1977 when he won 16 singles titles,[17] including two of the four major Grand Slam singles tournaments and 16 of the 31Association of Tennis Professionals tournaments he entered.[18] His playing record for 1977 was 130 wins against 15 losses (89.65%). Not including the Masters year-end championship, he won 72 of his last 73 ATP matches in 1977. He lost the January Australian Open final to big servingRoscoe Tanner in straight sets.[19] Vilas beatBrian Gottfried in the French Open final, losing just three games. "I was powerless. Everything I tried he did something better", said Gottfried afterwards.[20] The highest point during this run was winning the lastUS Open played atForest Hills againstJimmy Connors in four sets in a match where Vilas surprised his American rival by attacking the net.[21][22]
In 1977 he won seven consecutive titles afterWimbledon—Kitzbühel (clay), Washington (clay), Louisville (clay), South Orange (clay), Columbus (clay),US Open (clay) and Paris (clay)—and set up a 46-match all-surface winning streak. He also had a record 53-match winning streak on clay courts, which stood until surpassed byRafael Nadal in 2006. Both his winning streaks were terminated in October 1977 byIlie Năstase in the final of theRaquette d'Or tournament. In that 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 aspaghetti racquet. (TheITF had voted to ban the racquet, but the ban did not take effect until the day after the match).[23] After that he won a further 28 matches in a row with titles at Tehran, Bogotá, Santiago, Buenos Aires (all on clay), and Johannesburg (hard). That run was ended in theMasters semi-finals by Björn Borg.
Even though he won 21 singles titles including 16 ATP titles that season, including the French Open and the US Open and was the runner-up at the January edition of the Australian Open in 1977, Vilas was never ranked by the ATP asworld No. 1 during 1977 which was due to the fact that the rankings at the time were based on the average of a player's results.[24] He was instead ranked year-end world No. 2, behind Jimmy Connors who won 8 singles titles only (including theMasters Grand Prix and did not win any of the 4 Grand Slam titles, but was the runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1977).[25] Nevertheless, Vilas was rated number one byWorld Tennis,[26]France Presse,[27]Le Livre d'or du Tennis,[28] Gene Scott,[29] Peter Bodo,[30] Christian Quidet,[31] and Michael Sutter.[32] The International Tennis Hall of Fame inscription for Vilas stated "it was generally considered Vilas was the real No. 1 for 1977".[33] Vilas was also rated number one byBud Collins andJohn Barrett by the 2010s.[34][35][36]
Argentine journalist Eduardo Puppo and Romanian mathematician Marian Ciulpan investigated the 1973–78 period records, and delivered a detailed report with more than 1,200 pages in which they came to the conclusion that Vilas should have been ranked No. 1 for five weeks in 1975 as well as during the first two weeks of 1976[37] and handed over their research to the ATP at the end of 2014. Although the study was not refuted, in May 2015 the ATP announced it had decided not to make official the No. 1 position for Vilas because it happened in the interval between the publications of the official rankings.[24][38]
In October 2020, Netflix released a documentary about the controversy titledGuillermo Vilas: Settling the Score.[39] It also covered (briefly)Evonne Goolagong's recognition as world no. 1 (for two weeks in 1976) retroactively by theWTA in 2007.[40] In May 2024, ATP's vice-president confirmed that Vilas will never be number one.[14]
Borg beat Vilas for the loss of just five games in the 1978 French Open final (Borg didn't lose a set in the tournament). "We had some long games, but I won all the important points" said Borg afterwards. "He's quicker than me, but I am stronger. But it was not a long match where I could take advantage of my strength" said Vilas afterwards.[41] Vilas arrived in Australia in November 1978 and trained with his coachIon Țiriac for seven hours a day in preparation for the Australian Open in late December, in order to adapt his game to the grass courts. He beat John Marks in four sets in the final. "Vilas displayed magnificent court coverage and his adept use of the top spin lob worried Marks."[42] The following year Vilas beatJohn Sadri in the Australian Open final in straight sets to retain his title. He remarked on the tough playing conditions saying "one day it is windy and the next day it is not. The wind was harder this morning during practice, and it slowed down during the match."[43] Vilas' last Grand Slam final was at the French Open in 1982 where he lost toMats Wilander in four sets. It was notable for its long rallies, the longest point taking 90 strokes.[44]
By now in his thirties, on June 7, 1983, the Men's International Professional Tennis Council suspended Vilas for one year and fined him $20,000, having found that his manager and coach, Ion Tiriac, on the player's behalf, had accepted about $60,000 in appearance money from tournament promoters. Such payments were barred by the rules of the Grand Prix circuit.[45] Vilas finished 1983 outside the top 10 at number 11.[46] He finished 1984 ranked 28.[46] Vilas' last significant run in a major was a quarter final appearance at the 1986 French Open, where he had three set points for a 2 sets to 0 lead againstJohan Kriek before losing in four sets.[47] Vilas retired from the ATP Tour in 1989 but still played on theATP Challenger Series until 1992.[48] He was inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame in 1991.[21] Vilas was in the stands atFlushing Meadows to support his compatriot,Juan Martín del Potro, who defeatedRoger Federer in an upset in the 2009 US Open final.[49]
In 2005, after living the life of an international playboy for most of his adult life, Vilas settled down and married. He was 47 when he met Phiangphathu Khumueang, a 17-year-old from Thailand, and they married five years later.[50] They have three daughters and one son. They reside in Monaco. It was reported in 2020 that he was suffering from a form of dementia.[50]
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | SR | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open[a] | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | F | A | W | W | SF | 3R | A | A | A | A | NH | A | A | A | 2 / 5 | 23–3 |
| French Open | A | A | 3R[b] | 3R | 3R | F | QF | W | F | QF | QF | 4R | F | QF | 1R | 2R | QF | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1 / 18 | 56–17 | |
| Wimbledon | 1R | A | 1R | A | 3R | QF | QF | 3R | 3R | 2R | A | 1R | A | 1R | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 11 | 15–11 | |
| US Open | A | A | 2R | 1R | 4R | SF | SF | W | 4R | 4R | 4R | 4R | SF | 3R | 3R | 2R | 1R | A | A | A | 1 / 15 | 43–14 | |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 7–3 | 15–3 | 13–3 | 21–2 | 17–3 | 14–3 | 10–3 | 8–4 | 11–2 | 6–3 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4 / 49 | 137–45 | |
| Year-end ranking | – | – | – | 31 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 28 | 39 | 22 | 71 | 126 | 408 | |||
| Year-end championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Masters | A | A | A | A | W | SF | SF | SF[c] | A | RR[c] | RR[c] | RR[c] | SF[c] | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1 / 8 | 16–11 | |
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1975 | French Open | Clay |  Björn Borg | 2–6, 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1977 | Australian Open (Jan.) | Grass |  Roscoe Tanner | 3–6, 3–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 1977 | French Open | Clay | Brian Gottfried | 6–0, 6–3, 6–0 |
| Win | 1977 | US Open | Clay | Jimmy Connors | 2–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–0 |
| Loss | 1978 | French Open(2) | Clay | Björn Borg | 1–6, 1–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 1978 | Australian Open | Grass |  John Marks | 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 |
| Win | 1979 | Australian Open(2) | Grass | John Sadri | 7–6(7–4), 6–3, 6–2 |
| Loss | 1982 | French Open(3) | Clay | Mats Wilander | 6–1, 6–7(6–8), 0–6, 4–6 |
| Event | Years | Record accomplished | Player tied |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Open | 1977 | 72.1% (106–41) games winning % in 1 tournament | Stands alone |
| Grand Prix Tour | 1977 | 16 titles in 1 season | Stands alone |
| Grand Prix Tour | 22 finals reached in 1 season | Stands alone | |
| Grand Prix Tour | 14 clay-court titles in 1 season | Stands alone | |
| Grand Prix Tour | 120 outdoor match-wins in 1 season | Stands alone | |
| Grand Prix Tour | 15 outdoor titles in 1 season | Stands alone | |
| Grand Prix Tour | 145 match-wins in 1 season | Stands alone | |
| Grand Prix Tour | 1973–88 | 632 clay-court match-wins | Stands alone |
| ATP Buenos Aires | 1973–82 | 8 singles titles | Stands alone |
| 1973–77 | 6 consecutive titles[d] | Stands alone |
Guillermo Vilas is a real man of the Renaissance. In addition to being the best player in the world in 1977, ...
Guillermo clearly deserved to be number one when he won Roland Garros and the US Open in 1977.
Although the world's best in 1977, Willie is a touch annoyed at the No. 2 ranking behind Connors, whom he beat in the US Open title bout.
Guillermo Vilas (Achievement predecessor & successor) | |||||||||||||
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