Guillermo Vilas

Career

1968–1976

Raised in the seaside resort of Mar del Plata, Vilas was a left-hander and played his first tour event in 1968. He was in the year-ending top ten from 1974 through 1982. He was a clay-court specialist and played well on hard-court, grass, and carpet surfaces.

In 1974, Vilas won the year-end Masters Grand Prix title, beating Ilie 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. In 1975 Vilas and Bjorn Borg hit with heavy top spin in many long baseline rallies in the French Open final. Borg won in straight sets.

1977: Best year and record win streak

A left-handed baseliner, Vilas's best year on tour was 1977 when he won 16 singles titles, including two of the four major Grand Slam singles tournaments and 16 of the 31 Association of Tennis Professionals tournaments he entered. 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 serving Roscoe Tanner in straight sets. Vilas beat Brian Gottfried in the French Open final, losing just three games. "I was powerless. Everything I tried he did something better", said Gottfried afterwards. The highest point during this run was winning the last US Open played at Forest Hills against Jimmy Connors in four sets in a match where Vilas surprised his American rival by attacking the net.

In 1977 he won seven consecutive titles after Wimbledon—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 by Rafael Nadal in 2006. Both his winning streaks were terminated in October 1977 by Ilie Năstase in the final of the Raquette 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 a spaghetti racquet. (The ITF had voted to ban the racquet, but the ban did not take effect until the day after the match). 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 the Masters semi-finals by Björn Borg.

ATP ranking No. 1 controversy

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 as world 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. He was instead ranked year-end world No. 2, behind Jimmy Connors who won 8 singles titles only (including the Masters 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). Nevertheless, Vilas was rated number one by World Tennis, France Presse, Le Livre d'or du Tennis, Gene Scott, Peter Bodo, Christian Quidet, and Michael Sutter. The International Tennis Hall of Fame inscription for Vilas stated "it was generally considered Vilas was the real No. 1 for 1977". Vilas was also rated number one by Bud Collins and John Barrett by the 2010s.

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 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.

In October 2020, Netflix released a documentary about the controversy titled Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score. The documentary drew parallels with Evonne Goolagong's recognition as world no. 1 (for two weeks in 1976) retroactively by the WTA in 2007. In May 2024, ATP's vice-president confirmed that Vilas will never be number one.

1978–1982

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. Vilas arrived in Australia in November 1978 and trained with his coach Ion 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." The following year Vilas beat John 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." Vilas' last Grand Slam final was at the French Open in 1982 where he lost to Mats Wilander in four sets. It was notable for its long rallies, the longest point taking 90 strokes.

1983–1992

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 Țiriac, 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. Vilas finished 1983 outside the top 10 at number 11. He finished 1984 ranked 28. 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 against Johan Kriek before losing in four sets. Vilas retired from the ATP Tour in 1989 but still played on the ATP Challenger Series until 1992. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1991. Vilas was in the stands at Flushing Meadows to support his compatriot, Juan Martín del Potro, who defeated Roger Federer in an upset in the 2009 US Open final.

Personal life

Vilas was nicknamed "Willy" throughout his tennis career (and especially in his native Argentina). His pioneering use of the tweener shot was reflected in its original name, the "Gran Willy"; by which it is still known in Spanish.

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. 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.

Distinctions

• Won the Grand Prix circuit in 1974, 1975, and 1977.
• World Tennis Magazine, France Presse, Michel Sutter and Christian Quidet, among other unofficial sources, ranked him as No. 1 Tennis Player of the Year in 1977.
• Held the Open Era male record for the longest winning streak on clay courts at 53 matches, set in 1977, until it was bettered by Rafael Nadal in 2006. Nadal later extended this to 81 matches.
• Won 62 ATP singles titles (eighth highest during the Open Era) and was the runner-up in 40 singles tournaments (plus two unfinished finals). Won 16 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 of them, 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 (15th male) on its list of the 40 Greatest Players of the Tennis Open Era, men and women included.

Career statistics

Main article: Guillermo Vilas career statistics

Singles performance timeline

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Records

• These records were attained in Open Era of tennis.
• ^ Denotes consecutive streak.

Notes

References

References

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33. Peter Bodo: " ... He maxed out on the computer at No. 2, although back in those days some of the more subjective year-end rankings still carried significant weight. ''I voted for Vilas as the No. 1 player for 1977'', and I believe that's where he ended up in our Tennis magazine rankings (at the time, those were highly regarded honors)..." http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2011/12/the-original-bull/41383/
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53. https://vilastennisacademy.com/
54. https://wearetennis.bnpparibas/en/news-tennis/news-results/4542-the-great-tweener-story
55. https://www.atptour.com/es/video/hot-shot-is-runes-ridiculous-tweener-shot-of-the-tournament-indian-wells-2025
56. [[:es:Gran Willy. Gran Willy]]
57. (23 April 2020). "Report: Tennis icon Vilas battling cognitive decline".
58. "1972 French Open draw".