Гильермо Вилас: Кір рекорды мен даулы рейтингтер

Argentine tennis player

Vilas is known for his prowess on clay courts. He won over 650 matches on clay, which is an all time record. His peak was the 1977 season during which he won 21 ATP and ILTF singles titles, including two majors (both on clay) and had a 53 winning streak on clay, which was the longest in the Open Era at his time. In 2016, The Daily Telegraph ranked him as the 3rd best male clay court player of all time, behind Rafael Nadal and Björn Borg. In 2018, Steve Tignor for Tennis Magazine ranked him as the 16th greatest tennis player of the Open Era. 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. The controversy is still in the legal stage. In October 2020, Netflix released a documentary film about Vilas's case titled Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score.

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. He won four Grand Slam titles: the 1977 French Open 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. The highest point during this run was winning the last US Open played at Forest Hills against Jimmy Connors 2–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–0 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.

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, Tennis de France, 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. It also covered (briefly) Evonne Goolagong's recognition as world no. 1 (for two weeks in 1976) retroactively by the WTA in 2007.

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 married Phiangphathu Khumueang from Thailand in 2005. They have three daughters and one son. They reside in Monaco. He is reportedly suffering from a form of dementia.

Won the Grand Prix circuit in 1974, 1975, and 1977. World Tennis Magazine, France Presse, Michel Sutter and Christian Quidet, among others, 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.

ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1975French OpenClay Björn Borg2–6, 3–6, 4–6Loss 1977Australian Open (Jan.)Grass Roscoe Tanner3–6, 3–6, 3–6Win 1977French OpenClay Brian Gottfried6–0, 6–3, 6–0Win 1977US OpenClay Jimmy Connors2–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–0Loss 1978French Open (2)Clay Björn Borg1–6, 1–6, 3–6Win 1978Australian OpenGrass John Marks6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3Win 1979Australian Open (2)Grass John Sadri7–6(7–4), 6–3, 6–2Loss 1982French Open (3)Clay Mats Wilander6–1, 6–7(6–8), 0–6, 4–6

These records were attained in Open Era of tennis. ^ Denotes consecutive streak. EventYearsRecord accomplishedPlayer tiedUS Open197772.1% (106–41) games winning % in 1 tournamentStands aloneGrand Prix Tour197716 titles in 1 seasonStands aloneGrand Prix Tour22 finals reached in 1 seasonStands aloneGrand Prix Tour14 clay court titles in 1 seasonStands aloneGrand Prix Tour120 outdoor match wins in 1 seasonStands aloneGrand Prix Tour15 outdoor titles in 1 seasonStands aloneGrand Prix Tour145 match wins in 1 seasonStands aloneGrand Prix Tour1973–88632 clay court match winsStands aloneATP Buenos Aires1973–828 singles titlesStands alone1973–776 consecutive titlesStands alone