The Open Era
Argentina · born Buenos Aires, 1952 · left-handed · clay court great who won the Masters and two Australian Opens on the grass of Kooyong
All playersBack to the rankings
3
Big titles on grass, all at Kooyong: the 1974 Masters and the 1978 and 1979 Australian Opens
4
Major singles titles, two of them on grass
62
ATP singles titles
15-11
Match record at Wimbledon, with quarter-finals in 1975 and 1976
46
Matches unbeaten on all surfaces in 1977
Guillermo Vilas was born in 1952 and grew up in the resort city of Mar del Plata. A left-hander with heavy, looping topspin, he arrived on the circuit around 1970 and was in the world's top ten for nine years running from 1974. In December 1974 he won the Masters on the grass at Kooyong, beating Ilie Năstase in a five-set final. He won the Grand Prix points race in 1974, 1975 and 1977.
1977 was his great year. With Ion Țiriac as coach he won the French Open and the US Open, the second on clay at Forest Hills against Jimmy Connors, took 16 tour titles and put together winning streaks of 46 matches on all surfaces and 53 on clay. The computer still ranked him second behind Connors, a decision argued over ever since; the ATP declined in 2015 to recognise him retrospectively as No. 1.
He won the Australian Open on the Kooyong grass in December 1978 and again in 1979, having lost the January 1977 final there to Roscoe Tanner. He reached his last major final at the French Open in 1982. In 1983 the Men's International Professional Tennis Council suspended him for a year and fined him $20,000 after finding that Țiriac had accepted appearance money on his behalf. He led Argentina to its first Davis Cup final in 1981, retired from the main tour in 1989, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991.
| Masters 1974, Kooyong | Beat Ilie Năstase in the final 7-6, 6-2, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, stopping Năstase's bid for a fourth Masters title in a row; earlier in the round robin he beat John Newcombe and Björn Borg |
|---|---|
| Australian Open finals, Kooyong | January 1977: lost to Roscoe Tanner 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. 1978: beat John Marks 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. 1979: beat John Sadri 7-6, 6-3, 6-2. 1980: semi-finalist |
| Wimbledon | Quarter-finalist in 1975 and 1976; career match record 15-11 |
| Preparing for grass | Before the 1978 Australian Open he arrived in Melbourne in November and trained with Ion Țiriac for seven hours a day to adapt his game to grass |
| Australian Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Men's singles Australian Open | |
| 1979 | Men's singles Australian Open | |
| Masters (Kooyong, 1974) | ||
| 1974 | Men's singles | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. † single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"I am the No.1 sports man in Argentina. Of course, in Argentina we don't have too many sportsmen."
The person behind the player.
Kooyong, December 1974
After winning the Masters on grass he recalled what he had said before the event: "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."
Source: WikipediaOff court
Vilas published poetry and also wrote screenplays and songs. The Hall of Fame describes him as a heavy reader and a serious, philosophical thinker; the ATP calls him a man with the sensitivity of a poet, which he was. His long hair and headband were his trademarks, and he was known as the Young Bull of the Pampas.
Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame; ATP TourWimbledon, 1978
Just before the 1978 ladies' singles final, the Centre Court was used to film part of the Paramount picture The Players, starring Dean Paul Martin and Ali McGraw. Vilas was in the cast, and Dan Maskell provided the commentary.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025 (AELTC)Aix-en-Provence, 1977
His 46-match winning streak ended in October 1977 in the final at Aix-en-Provence, when Ilie Năstase played with a double-strung spaghetti racquet. Two sets down, Vilas quit in protest; the racquet was banned soon afterwards.
Source: ATP TourForest Hills, 1977
After he beat Jimmy Connors in the final of the last US Open at Forest Hills, the crowd hoisted him on their shoulders, as though he were a triumphant bullfighter, in the ATP's words.
Source: ATP Tour; International Tennis Hall of FameFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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