Rafael Osuna

Osuna in 1963
Full name	Rafael Osuna Herrera
Country (sports)	Mexico
Born	(1938-09-15)15 September 1938 Mexico City,Mexico
Died	4 June 1969(1969-06-04) (aged 30) nearMonterrey,Mexico
Turned pro	1958 (amateur tour)
Retired	4 June 1969 (death)
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	1979(member page)
Singles
Career record	293-140 (71.7%)[1]
Career titles	13[2]
Highest ranking	No.1 (1963,Lance Tingay)[3]
Grand Slam singles results
French Open	4R (1964)
Wimbledon	QF (1962,1964,1965)
US Open	W (1963)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	SF (1968, demonstration)
Doubles
Career record	0–1
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open	QF (1965)
Wimbledon	W (1960,1963)
US Open	W (1962)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	W (1968, demonstration)

Rafael Osuna Herrera (15 September 1938 – 4 June 1969), nicknamed "El Pelón" (The Bald), was a former male tennis player. He was born inMexico City, and is best remembered for his singles victory at the United States National Championship in1963, winning the 1960 and 1963 Wimbledon Doubles championships, the 1962 United States National Championship doubles, and for leading Mexico to its only Davis Cup Final round appearance in 1962. He is the only Mexican to date to be inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame, in 1979.

His first successes as an athlete occurred before he was ten years old, when he competed in the open category of the Mexican National Table Tennis Championships. In the course of the tournament, he upset the Mexico City Table Tennis Champion in singles, a feat remarkable both for Osuna's young age and the fact that it was his first tournament. Osuna also won the Doubles Championship, with Alfredo Ramos Uriarte as his partner. From age 10 to 14 he was ranked in the top 10 in Mexico's Open singles in table tennis.

He was awarded a full scholarship to attend theUniversity of Southern California (USC) in the US, by Head CoachGeorge Toley, who quickly identified Osuna as a major talent. Toley had to literally reteach Osuna how to play tennis because of his poor technique but, in Toley's own words ¨he moves on the tennis court like a God¨. Osuna participated in the 1960 Wimbledon championships, competing only in the doubles category withDennis Ralston (soon to be his roommate at school). The two unknown youngsters soon made history, as the first unseeded pair to win the men's doubles at Wimbledon.

This victory marked the beginning of Osuna's career and fame. Described as an "agile and cerebral player"^[4] who "moves on the tennis court with the grace of a panther" (Tony Mottram), his subsequent achievements include:

• He is the only Mexican tennis player ever ranked World No. 1, in 1963, by the International Tennis Federation.^[5]
• He is the only Mexican tennis player ever to win a Grand Slam event singles title, the United States Tennis Association National Championships Singles (1963). He is one of only three Latin Americans to win theUS Championships, along with two ArgentinesGuillermo Vilas andJuan Martín del Potro.
• Osuna and Palafox are the only Mexican tennis players ever to win the United States National Championship doubles title, in 1962.
• In 1962, as the leader of the Mexican Davis Cup Team, Osuna led the team to its only Davis Cup Final to date, which was also the first-ever final reached by a Latin American country.
• His last victory (two weeks before his death in a plane crash) was an almost single-handed defeat of Australia in Davis Cup competition; Osuna won both his singles matches and the doubles. At that time Australia had won the Davis Cup 17 times, and the defeat was considered a major upset.^[6]
• USTA National Hard Courts singles and doubles champion 1962 and doubles champion 1969.
• Osuna was NCAA singles champion in 1962, doubles champion from 1961 to 1963, and team champion in 1962–63.^[5] The 1963 USC tennis team is regarded by some as the best collegiate tennis team of all time.
• Osuna won Mexico's only Olympic gold medals in tennis, in singles and in men's doubles withVicente Zarazua in 1968, though they were both exhibition events. In the simultaneously run demonstration event, Osuna reached the semifinals in the singles and won the doubles tournament (again alongside Zarazua).
• Osuna earned a Bachelor in Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California in 1963. In that same year, the International Tennis Federation would declare him the year-end No. 1 player in the world.

Osuna was known for his footspeed, touch, and tactical awareness. CommentatorBud Collins dubs him "Mexico's greatest player...Ubiquitous on court, confusing to foes, ever seeking the net".^[7] His U.S. Open victory came against big serverFrank Froehling, a dangerous unseeded opponent who had upset top-seededRoy Emerson in the fourth round. Collins describes Osuna's victory as a triumph of tactical play:

...Osuna cleverly neutralized [Froehling's] power with wonderfully conceived and executed tactics, especially lobbed service returns from 10 to 12 feet behind the baseline. Occasionally Osuna would stand in and take Froehling's serve on the rise, chipping the backhand, but more often he lobbed returns to disrupt Froehling's serve-volley rhythm and break down his suspect overhead. In fact, Osuna climbed the wall of the stadium to retrieve smashes and float back perfect lobs, frustrating Froehling with his nimble speed around the court, touch and tactical variations.^[8]

He is also remembered by his bold strategy againstBill Bowrey on the 4th match of the Mexico vs Australia Davis Cup tie in 1969. Coming back after the obligatory break after three sets (Osuna leading 2 sets to one), after holding serve on the first game, Osuna hits out, going for the lineas and keeping the ball away from Bowrey on each of all his service returns. While the knowledgeable public interprets this actions as trying to get loose, as the match progresses the public is baffled by Osuna continuing to do so after holding serve. Then, after holding serve and going up 4–3, Osuna changes his manner of play drastically by chipping in his return low to his opponents feet. At this precise moment Bowrey, in the entire 4th set and coming out of the rest period, has not hit one volley after his service motion due to the ¨hitting out¨strategy that Osuna implemented on this set. Bowrey is startled by the change of strategy on the first point. Osuna plays a superb second point to go up 0-30. Being love – 30 gets Bowrey extremely tight and gets broken. Osuna closes the match on his next service game.

Osuna competed for Mexico intennis at the 1968 Summer Olympics, which was ademonstration sport, with no medals awarded. He finished in first place in three events:^[9]

• Demonstration events – Men's doubles (withVicente Zarazúa)
• Exhibition events – Men's singles
• Exhibition events – Men's doubles (withVicente Zarazúa)

According toESPN Latin America, Osuna's latest achievements such as reaching the world No. 1 andwinning the United States Tennis Association National Championships in 1963 were highly influential factors for the organizers to create a tennis event for the Olympics.^[10]

Demonstration events

Held inGuadalajara.

Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final /BM
	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Singles	Pasarell (USA) W 6–3, 6–2, 6–2	Olvera (ECU) W 6–4, 6–3, 6–4	Gisbert Sr. (ESP) W 6–4, 4–6, 1–6, 8–6, 6–1	Santana (ESP) L 3–6, 4–6, 3–6	Fitzgibbon (USA) L 4–6, 3–6, 5–7	4
Doubles (w/Zarazúa)	—	Kakulia (URS) /  Nerell (SWE) W 5–7, 6–4, 6–3, 5–7, 6–4	Orantes (ESP) /  Pietrangeli (ITA) W 6–2, 6–4, 8–6	Guzmán / Olvera (ECU) W 10–8, 6–4, 7–5	Gisbert Sr. / Santana (ESP) W 6–4, 6–3, 6–4
Mixed Doubles (w/Rosado)	—	Jansone / Korotkov (URS) L Withdrew	Did not advance

Exhibition events

Held inMexico City.

Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final /BM
	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Singles	Bye	Abdul-Aziz (KEN) W Walkover	Volkov (URS) W 6–2, 7–5	Pietrangeli (ITA) W 6–4, 6–2	Buding (FRG) W 6–3, 3–6, 6–3
Doubles (w/Zarazúa)	—		Buding / Fassbender (FRG) W Walkover	Guzmán (ECU) /  Kakulia (URS) W 4–6, 8–6, 6–0	Darmon (FRA) /  Loyo Mayo (MEX) W 6–4, 3–6, 14–12

Osuna was one of 79 people killed in the crash ofMexicana de Aviación Flight 704 on 4 June 1969 nearMonterrey, Nuevo León, "Pico del Fraile", Tres Cerros. He was 30 years old.^[11][12][13] He left behind a wife, Leslie, and a daughter, Claudia.^[14]

Osuna has received numerous posthumous honors, including:

• During the 1969 National Championships, theIntercollegiate Tennis Association NCAA instituted the Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award, the first new award added since 1881. Given to the most outstanding college tennis player, the criteria for the award are competitive excellence, sportsmanship, and contribution to tennis.
• During the 1969 US Open Championships at Forest Hills, two months after his death, the US Open Committee declared 28 August to be Rafael Osuna Day, honoring the memory of the former champion. This was the first time the tournament had honored a tennis player in this manner.^[15]
• In 1969 the Chapultepec Club, the cathedral of Mexican tennis and home to the majority of its history, named its stadium "Rafael Osuna".
• In 1972, with the intent to strengthen ties between the US and Mexico and to honor the memory of the only player ever to win the US Championships and the Mexican Open championships in singles, the "Osuna Cup" event was instituted. It is disputed annually by the official teams from both nations, and is the longest international tennis event played on Mexican territory, and the only one sanctioned by the USTA and the MTF.
• In 1970 Mr.Joseph F. Cullman, Honorary Chairman of the Board of theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame, presented to the Chancellor of theNational Autonomous University of Mexico, Ing. Javier Barrios Sierra, ten scholarships in the name of Rafael Osuna to be awarded to outstanding Mexican students.
• On 14 July 1979, Osuna was inducted as a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, in Newport, Rhode Island. To date, Osuna is the only Mexican to receive this honor, and the second Mexican-born player (afterJohn Doeg).^[16][17]
• In 1979, Mexican PresidentJosé López Portillo y Pacheco unveiled an 8-foot-tall (2.4 m) statue of Rafael Osuna, erected by the Mexican National Athletics Institute at the Olympic plaza at the Mexican Olympic Committee.^[17]
• In 1983, the Intercollegiate Tennis College Association (NCAA) inaugurated their Tennis Hall of Fame, in Athens, Georgia. The inaugural class was the All Time NCAA Champions of Excellence. with 10 Players and 5 Head Coaches. Osuna was one of the ten along with such other great players as:Arthur Ashe,Dennis Ralston,Alex Olmedo,Ted Schroeder,Tony Trabert, and his CoachGeorge Toley.^[18]
• In 1990 Mrs. Elena Osuna de Belmar published the biographyRafael Osuna: Sonata in Set Mayor. The book has been included in the International Tennis Hall of Fame Museum, Wimbledon Museum, USTA library, and Doheney library at USC. It is a collector's item, with only 2000 copies in the first edition.
• On 14 October 2006, theUniversity of Southern California USC Hall of Fame Selection Committee selected Osuna to be inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame on May 5, 2007.^[19]

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1963	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Frank Froehling	7–5, 6–4, 6–2

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1960	Wimbledon	Grass	Dennis Ralston	Mike Davies Bobby Wilson	7–5, 6–3, 10–8
Loss	1961	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Antonio Palafox	Chuck McKinley Dennis Ralston	3–6, 4–6, 6–2, 11–13
Win	1962	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Antonio Palafox	Chuck McKinley Dennis Ralston	6–4, 10–12, 1–6, 9–7, 6–3
Win	1963	Wimbledon	Grass	Antonio Palafox	Jean-Claude Barclay Pierre Darmon	4–6, 6–2, 6–2, 6–2
Loss	1963	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Antonio Palafox	Chuck McKinley Dennis Ralston	7–9, 6–4, 7–5, 3–6, 9–11

• Rafael Osuna at theAssociation of Tennis Professionals
• Rafael Osuna at theInternational Tennis Federation
• Rafael Osuna at theDavis Cup (archived)
• Rafael Osuna at theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame

• 1938 births
• 1969 deaths
• Mexican male tennis players
• Tennis players from Mexico City
• International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees
• United States National champions (tennis)
• Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era)
• Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles
• Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles
• Tennis players at the 1968 Summer Olympics
• Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Mexico
• Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1969
• Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in tennis
• Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Mexico
• World number 1 ranked male tennis players
• USC Trojans men's tennis players
• Mexican expatriate tennis players in the United States
• 20th-century Mexican sportsmen

• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Pages using infobox tennis biography with tennishofid