Luis Ayala (tennis)
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Full name | Luis Alberto Ayala |
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Country (sports) | ![]() |
Residence | United States |
Born | Santiago, Chile | 18 September 1932
Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
Turned pro | 1961 (amateur from 1950) |
Retired | 1970 |
Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
Singles | |
Career record | 626–353 (63.9%) [1] |
Career titles | 43 |
Highest ranking | No. 5 (1958, Lance Tingay)[2] |
Grand Slam singles results | |
French Open | F (1958, 1960) |
Wimbledon | QF (1959, 1960, 1961) |
US Open | QF (1957, 1959) |
Professional majors | |
US Pro | QF (1965, 1966, 1967) |
Wembley Pro | 1R (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965) |
French Pro | QF (1961, 1965) |
Doubles | |
Grand Slam doubles results | |
French Open | 1R (1969) |
Wimbledon | 1R (1968, 1969) |
US Open | 2R (1968, 1969, 1970) |
Mixed doubles | |
Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
French Open | W (1956) |
Wimbledon | SF (1957) |
Luis Alberto Ayala Salinas (born 18 September 1932) is a former Chilean tennis player who competed in the 1950s and 1960s.[3]
Amateur
[edit]He was twice a singles runner-up at the French Championships. In 1958 he was seeded fifth and reached the final after a victory against first-seeded and world No. 1 Ashley Cooper in the semifinal. In the final, however, he was defeated in straight sets by Mervyn Rose while in 1960 he lost the final in five sets to Nicola Pietrangeli.[4] Together with Thelma Coyne Long, he won the mixed doubles title at the 1956 French Championships.
Ayala won the gold medal at the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago, beating Canadian Robert Bédard in the final.
Ayala won the prestigious singles title at the Italian Open in 1959, defeating Pietrangeli in the semifinal and Neale Fraser in the final, both matches in four sets. The following year, 1960, he again reached the Italian final but lost in five sets to Barry MacKay.
Ayala won the 1960 Argentina International Tennis Championships at Buenos Aires on clay, defeating Ron Holmberg in the semifinal in three straight sets, and Manuel Santana in the final in five close sets. This was his third Argentina title, the others were in 1955 defeating Art Larsen in the final and in 1957 defeating Enrique Morea in the final.
He won the 1960 Madrid Championships on clay, defeating Andrés Gimeno in the final in four sets.
Ayala won the 1961 Hanover Championships on clay, defeating Ramanathan Krishnan in the final in five sets.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Tennis_in_Noordwijk%2C_Luis_Ayala_in_actie_in_een_partije_tegen_Ken_Rosewall_%28niet_op_de_foto%29%2C_Bestanddeelnr_916-7928.jpg/200px-Tennis_in_Noordwijk%2C_Luis_Ayala_in_actie_in_een_partije_tegen_Ken_Rosewall_%28niet_op_de_foto%29%2C_Bestanddeelnr_916-7928.jpg)
Ranking
[edit]Ayala was ranked in the world top ten tennis players by both Ned Potter and Lance Tingay between 1956 and 1961. He was world No. 5 for 1958 by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph (and No. 6 for 1959, No. 7 for 1960 and 1961).[2]
Professional
[edit]In 1961 Ayala turned professional and joined Jack Kramer's tour.[5]
In 1964, he won the La Baule Professional Championships on clay, defeating Rod Laver in the semifinal and Lew Hoad in the four-set final.
When he retired, he became a tennis professional at River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas. Currently, he is the director of tennis at the Forest Club in Houston, Texas.
Davis Cup
[edit]Between 1952 and 1960 Ayala played in 18 ties for the Chilean Davis Cup team and compiled a record of 37 wins and 14 losses. During this period the best performance was reaching the semifinal of the Europe zone in 1955 which they lost to Sweden, despite Ayala winning both his singles matches against Lennart Bergelin and Sven Davidson.[6]
Grand Slam finals
[edit]Singles (2 runners-up)
[edit]Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1958 | French Championships | Clay | ![]() |
3–6, 4–6, 4–6 |
Loss | 1960 | French Championships | Clay | ![]() |
6–3, 3–6, 4–6, 6–4, 3–6 |
Mixed doubles: (1 title, 2 runner-up)
[edit]Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1955 | French Championships | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
7–5, 1–6, 2–6 |
Win | 1956 | French Championships | Clay | ![]() |
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4–6, 6–4, 6–1 |
References
[edit]- ^ "Luis Ayala: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
- ^ a b United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 427.
- ^ "Mackay, Ayala Tennis Winners". The Telegraph. Associated Press. 15 July 1965. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ "Luis Ayala: El chileno que descolló en Roland Garros" (in Spanish). Guioteca. 31 May 2012.
- ^ "Ayala Looking To Future". The Miami News. Associated Press. 24 September 1961. p. 4C.
- ^ "Davis Cup players – Luis Ayala". International Tennis Federation.
External links
[edit]- Luis Ayala at the Association of Tennis Professionals
- Luis Ayala at the International Tennis Federation
- Luis Ayala at the Davis Cup
- Forest Club bio
- Chilean expatriates in the United States
- Chilean male tennis players
- French Championships (tennis) champions
- Tennis players from Houston
- Tennis players from Santiago
- Chilean people of Basque descent
- Tennis players at the 1955 Pan American Games
- Tennis players at the 1959 Pan American Games
- Pan American Games gold medalists for Chile
- Pan American Games bronze medalists for Chile
- 1932 births
- Living people
- Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles
- Professional tennis players before the Open Era
- Pan American Games medalists in tennis
- 20th-century Chilean people
- South American tennis biography stubs
- Chilean sportspeople stubs