The Open Era

Raúl Ramírez

Mexico · born Ensenada, 1953 · Wimbledon doubles champion 1976 with Brian Gottfried and Queen's singles champion 1977

A painted still life of a grass court in the open era, not a portrait of the player
A period scene. No freely licensed photograph of this player has been found yet.

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1976

Wimbledon doubles title with Brian Gottfried, as top seeds

165

Minutes of the 1976 final, won 7-5 in the fifth set

Semi-final

Wimbledon singles 1976, as eighth seed

61

Weeks at No. 1 in doubles, from 12 April 1976

1977

Queen's Club singles title, beating Mark Cox

Playing career

Raúl Carlos Ramírez was born in Ensenada, Baja California, on 20 June 1953. He was an All-American at the University of Southern California and runner-up at the 1973 NCAA championships.

He won 19 singles titles, including Rome in 1975 and Monte Carlo in 1978, and reached No. 4 in the world in singles in 1976. That year he became the first player to finish first in both the singles and doubles Grand Prix standings, and from 12 April 1976 he spent 61 weeks as world No. 1 in doubles. With Brian Gottfried he won Wimbledon in 1976, Roland Garros in 1975 and 1977 and the Italian Open four times, and reached the Wimbledon final again in 1979; in all he won 60 doubles titles.

He retired from the circuit in 1984, captained Mexico's Davis Cup team from 1984 to 1995, became director of tennis at the Loreto Tennis Center in Baja California and worked as a commentator on Mexican television and Fox Sports Latin America. In 1981 he married Maritza Sayalero, Miss Universe 1979.

On grass

Wimbledon 1976 doubles finalTop seeds with Brian Gottfried, beat Ross Case and Geoff Masters 3-6, 6-3, 8-6, 2-6, 7-5 in 165 minutes on Centre Court
Wimbledon 1976 singlesSeeded eighth, beat Vitas Gerulaitis 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in the quarter-finals and lost the semi-final to Ilie Năstase 6-2, 9-7, 6-3
Wimbledon finals lostMixed 1973 with Janet Newberry, unseeded, to Owen Davidson and Billie Jean King 6-3, 6-2; doubles 1979 with Gottfried, seeded seventh, to Peter Fleming and John McEnroe 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
Queen's ClubSingles champion 1977, beating Mark Cox 9-7, 7-5; doubles final 1978 with Fred McNair, lost 6-2, 7-5

Every grass title: 3

Show every title, tournament by tournament
Wimbledon
1976 Men's doubles with Brian Gottfried
Eastern Grass Court Championships (South Orange)
1974 Men's doubles with Brian Gottfried
Queen's Club
1977 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

Anecdotes

The person behind the player.

Los Angeles

A Trojan

He went to university at USC in Los Angeles, where he was an All-American and reached the 1973 NCAA singles final.

Source: ATP Tour player biography

1976

Top of both tables

In 1976 he became the first player to finish first in both the singles and the doubles points standings of the Grand Prix, the season-long circuit of the time.

Source: ATP Tour player biography

Wimbledon, 1976

The only Mexican semi-finalist

In his semi-final he met Ilie Năstase, the third seed, and lost; Claro Sports notes that the two played each other 14 times and won seven each.

Source: Claro Sports, 2025

1981

Married to Miss Universe

In 1981 he married Maritza Sayalero, the Venezuelan who had been Miss Universe in 1979. They have three children, Rebeca, Raúl and Daniel.

Source: ATP Tour player biography

Baja California

Back home

After retiring he captained Mexico's Davis Cup team from 1984 to 1995, ran the tennis at the Loreto Tennis Center and commentated for Mexican television and Fox Sports Latin America, while promoting the game in Mexico with corporate sponsors.

Source: ATP Tour player biography

Explore

Where they won on grass

Elsewhere online

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Sources

Page updated 4 November 2026. Spotted an error? Send a correction.

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