In 1971 something remarkable happened after Pancho Gonzales, then age 41, announced that he was retiring from professional tennis. The Howard Hughes Open in Las Vegas--then considered a kind of unofficial world pro championship in the days before Open tennis would be his last tournament.
A young film maker named Gino Tanasescu seized the opportunity to create what he assumed would be a final portrait of this supreme athlete and competitor. But even Gino was not prepared for what actually happened in Las Vegas.
His film "Pancho" is a cult classic among those who truly love the game, and especially it's shadowy history. Despite the fact that he disappeared from the world of amateur Grand Slams to play most of his career on the smaller and more obscure professional tour, there are those who consider Pancho Gonzales to have been the greatest player of all time.
And now here is an incredible piece of documentary evidence that gives every tennis fan the chance evaluate the merits of that claim. What happened when Pancho traveled to Vegas with his wife and 3 daughters to face off against legendary players including John Newcombe, Ken Rosewall, and Arthur Ashe--all a decade or more younger?
If you are looking for a detailed technical study of Pancho's strokes, you will be disappointed. But if you are interested a candid study of this fascinating champion, whose place in the history of the game has been blurred by historical circumstance, you'll love "Pancho." His intelligence, passion, wit, rage, elegance, and love for the game and his family are all there. We are delighted to present this film in a slightly abridged and annotated fashion on Tennisplayer.net in 4 parts, starting with Part 1 this month.
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