Guillermo Vilas
Nicknamed ‘The young bull of the Pampas’, Guillermo Vilas is one of the most iconic sportsmen ever to emerge from South America. His success brought him unprecedented fame and status on the continent, and some say he is almost single-handedly responsible for the popularity of tennis in Argentina today. A left-handed baseliner, Vilas was the first South American male player to win a Grand Slam singles title. In all, he won four of them, the French and US Opens in 1977, (both played on clay) and the 1978 and 1979 Australian Open (both played on grass).
Vilas's best year on tour was 1977 when he won two of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments and 16 of the 31 ATP tournaments he entered. His playing record for that year was 130 wins to just 14 losses. He also had a record 53-match winning streak on clay courts in 1977, which stood until the record was broken by Rafael Nadal in 2006. That year Vilas also became the only man to have won titles in five different continents in the same year .
Despite his four Grand Slam titles, and record-breaking winning streaks, Guillermo was always kept from the World Number One position by Jimmy Connors. Even in 1977, when he won two of the four Grand Slam titles, Guillermo finished the year as the world number two in the ATP Rankings system. He did, however, grace the world’s top ten for nine consecutive years.
