Pancho Gonzalez:
The Best Player Ever?

Doreen Gonzales

Pancho with his trophy from the second U.S. championship.

Richard Gonzalez stood ready - ready to fight for the most important thing in his life. It was September 5, 1949, and Gonzalez was at Forest Hills, New York, seconds away from starting the United States National Tennis Championships final.

Thirteen thousand spectators filled the stadium expecting to see one of the best tennis matches of the year. Gonzalez was not thinking about them though. His mind was focused on the man on the other side of the net, current Wimbledon champion and longtime rival, Ted Schroeder.

Both men fought fiercely for each point. The two seemed evenly matched as the lead kept changing hands. It took Schroeder one hour and thirteen minutes to beat Gonzalez in the first set, 18 - 16. Between sets Schroeder put on spiked shoes for better traction on the grass court that had become slippery due to dampness. Gonzalez did not own spikes. Schroeder quickly won the second set 6 - 2.

Then Gonzalez's friend Frank Shields pulled him aside. He told Gonzalez to move closer to the net when Schroeder was serving. Shields thougth that he was playing too far back on his returns. Gonzalez took the advice and promptly won the third and fourth sets.

Now the match score was tied at two sets apiece. The winner of the next set would win the U.S. National Championship. Gonzalez broke serve in the first game. Gradually Schroeder weakened as Gonzalez continued attacking relentlessly. At 5 - 4 he served for the match.

Pancho's reign at the top of tennis lasted 10 years.

Gonzalez opened the tenth game with a searing serve that flew past Schroeder untouched. The next several points seesawed back and forth. Then Gonzalez smashed an overhead past Schroeder to reach match point.

Gonzalez served. Schroeder returned. Gonzalez hit a shot deep into Schroeder's court. Schroeder responded by driving the ball down Gonzalez's sideline, and Gonzalez let it go. He believed the ball would fall out of bounds. Everyone looked to the linesman for the deciding call. When he signaled out-of-bounds, Richard Gonzalez became the 1949 tennis champion of the United States.

The crowd erupted in cheers. Gonzalez was jubilant. He ran to meet Schroeder and shake his hand. Cameras flashed as Gonzalez savored the moment. This was Gonzalez's second U.S. championship title. But this one held a special meaning. Some people thought his first title win had been due to luck. Gonzalez knew better. He hoped this second national championship would prove to everyone that he was a true champion. Gonzalez himself knew he belonged in championship tennis. He had an abundance of confidence that he backed up with hard work and superb talent. These traits would take Gonzalez to the top of the tennis world. Perseverance and determination would keep him there.

10 Years the Best

For ten years, Gonzalez was the best tennis player in the world. This reign at the top lasted longer than any other player in history. Gonzalez won every professional tennis tour from 1954 to 1961 and a record eight U.S. Professional tournament titles. He was ranked among the World Top Ten players for more than twenty years. Even today, some consider Richard Gonzalez the greatest tennis player who ever lived.

Manuel and Carmen Gonzales, Richard's parents.

Gonzalez was different from other champions of his time. Many top players came from families who were financially comfortable. Most had received tennis lessons by at least as early as their teenage years. The lessons were usually taught in private clubs. And the clubs were all white.

Family Origins

Richard Gonzalez was none of these. He was a dark - skinned young man from a working class family. He was born in a small Los Angeles apartment to Mexican immigrants. Both his parents worked to support their family, and there was little money for extras like tennis lessons. Gonzalez had no lessons or coaches to help him along. He learned the sport mostly by watching others.

Even if Gonzalez's family had been rich, though, he probably would not have been allowed to join any private tennis clubs. His skin was too dark. Discrimination against people of color was common when Gonzalez was growing up in the 1940s. In his home town of Los Angeles, Mexican - Americans were often the target of prejudice.

Gonzalez, however, rarely talked about prejudice. Instead, he channeled his energy and emotions into tennis. With talent and resolve, Gonzalez rose to become one of the first Latino superstar athletes in the world.

Gonzalez's father, Manuel Antonio Gonzales, was born in Mexico. Manuel's mother died when he was only eight years old. Soon after her death, Manuel and his father left Mexico. They walked 700 miles across the desert to an aunt's house in Globe, Arizona.

Manuel Gonzales walked 700 miles to reach the United States.

One morning Manuel woke up and his father was gone. Manuel stayed with his aunt helping tend her farm. In the winter months he carried firewood for miles. He had a very hard childhood. He stayed with his aunt until he was in his teens. He then moved to Los Angeles, California.

Manuel Gonzales was one of a half million Mexicans who immigrated into the United States from Mexico between 1900 and 1920. Most came to escape poverty or the revolutionary war that was then raging in their country. The majority of these immigrants settled in the Southwest and worked in factories and mines or on railroads, farms, and ranches.

Many of the immigrants could not read or write English, so U.S. officials wrote for them. This included spelling an immigrant's name. Officials frequently Americanized the Spanish spellings. This happened to Manuel Gonzales. In Mexico, his name was spelled with a "z" at the end - Gonzalez. In the U.S., though, the spelling became Gonzales.

Manuel Gonzales used the new spelling for the rest of his life. He passed it down to all of his children, including Richard. During the 1960s, though, Richard returned to the Spanish spelling of his last name. This was an expression of pride in his heritage. As a result, Gonzalez's name is spelled differently in various books and articles, depending upon when they were written.

Carmen, Richard's mom, came from Mexican wealth.

Richard Gonzalez's mother, Carmen, was also a Mexican immigrant. Her family had been wealthy and had owned a lot of land in Mexico. Carmen's family left the country when she was fourteen years old to escape the Mexican Revolution. They gave their land deeds to a lawyer - cousin for safekeeping and moved to Los Angeles.

They planned to return when the war ended. While they were away, though, the trusted cousin betrayed them. He put their land in his own name and refused to give it back. With no property to go home to in Mexico, Carmen's family stayed in the U.S. Carmen met Manuel Gonzales when she was eighteen years old. She was a beautiful young woman with jet - black hair and dark brown eyes. She stood five - feet seven - inches tall. She and Manuel soon fell in love and were married. Their first child, Richard Alonzo, was born on May 9, 1928. In 1929, Carmen gave birth to twins, Manuel and Margaret. Ophelia (Terry), Bertha, Ralph, and Yolanda would follow.

The Gonzales family was not poor, but poverty was never far away. They lived in a succession of small houses in Central Los Angeles. Each one was on the outskirts of a poor neighborhood. As time passed, their home would become surrounded by poverty. Then Mr. and Mrs. Gonzales would move their family. They were determined to keep their children away from the crime that came with the poverty. Unfortunately, they could never move far. They would settle into another modest house on the edge of another poor neighborhood. Again, the poverty would creep in around them, and again, they would move. This pattern was repeated so many times in Richard's childhood that he later reported, "It was like a game of tag, and often we became tired of running."

Richard, the oldest, with his mom and siblings.

No matter where they lived, though, the Gonzales home was neat and well maintained. There was always food on the table. Often it was a simple meal of beans and tortillas. The children's clothes were simple too, and there were few luxuries in the Gonzales home.

Mr. Gonzales was a furniture finisher who also painted scenery for Hollywood movies. After laboring all day, he came home to garden or make repairs around the house. Richard later remembered his father's commitment to perfection, saying that Mr. Gonzales might tear something apart and put it back together fifteen times before he was satisfied that it was right.

Mrs. Gonzales worked as a seamstress. She often had cuts on her fingers from sewing machine needles. When she was not at work she cooked, cleaned, and cared for her children. Richard's overriding memory of his mother was of her dignity. She dressed with care and moved with a regal bearing. When she walked into a room she was treated with respect.

The Gonzales family spoke Spanish at home. When Richard entered kindergarten he began to learn English. English gradually replaced Spanish in the Gonzales household as the other children entered school. Mr. and Mrs. Gonzales encouraged this, knowing that English would help them succeed in the U.S. But they also felt it was important that their children speak proper Spanish. They wanted them to be proud of their Mexican heritage. So they continued to speak Spanish often.

Richard and younger brother Manuel.

The Beginning

Once, Mrs. Gonzales took Richard to a park to watch tennis. Tennis was a game she remembered seeing wealthy people play in Mexico. The outing reminded her of her own childhood when her family had been well off. These memories filled Mrs. Gonzales with joy. She was especially lighthearted and fun that day.

Six - year - old Richard noticed his mother's mood. He mistakenly believed it was due to her love of tennis. Hoping to make her happiness last forever, he told her, "Mama, someday I will be the best [tennis) player ever and you will be really happy."