Gonzales, Richard Alonzo

▪ 1996

      ("PANCHO"), U.S. tennis player (b. May 9, 1928, Los Angeles, Calif.—d. July 3, 1995, Las Vegas, Nev.), was a fiery-tempered tennis ace whose deadly right-handed power serves crushed opponents and made him one of the world's toughest competitors. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he won the U.S. professional championship in men's singles eight times, seven consecutively (1953-59, 1961), and captured the U.S. men's doubles championship five times (1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, and 1969, with various partners). At the age of 12 Gonzales taught himself to play with a 50-cent racket and became so obsessed with the sport that he was frequently charged with truancy. Following military service, he was sponsored by the Southern California Tennis Association and began playing in big tournaments. After winning the U.S. singles title at Forest Hills, N.Y., in 1948 and 1949, Gonzales turned professional in 1949 and relinquished his chance to compete in amateur events. By the time professionals were allowed to play in those competitions (1968), Gonzales was 40 years old. Nonetheless, in 1969 he won the longest match in Wimbledon history—a 112-game marathon, lasting five hours over two days. The following year he beat Rod Laver, who had won the Grand Slam of tennis in 1969, in a $10,000 winner-take-all match. Gonzales then served (1969-89) as the tennis director at a hotel in Las Vegas.

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