Pancho Gonzalez:
The Way Up

Doreen Gonzales

U.S. Champion again in 1949 with a last laugh over Ted Schroeder.

It took a record - breaking thirty - four games for Ted Schroeder to beat Richard Gonzalez in the first set of the 1949 U.S. Championships. Yet Gonzalez was not about to give up.

As the match wore on, he battled for every point. The crowd sensed his determination. Many found their admiration for him growing with every grueling point he won.

By the fifth and final set, spectators were cheering for Gonzalez. They were impressed with his lightning serve and powerful shots. More than anything, though, they were awed by his resolve to win.

It had been three hours since the contest began, and every point had been hard - won. Finally, Gonzalez had broken Schroeder's serve, and Schroeder seemed to be weakening as Gonzalez continued his attack.

Gonzalez reached match point, and the crowd sat riveted by the action. Schroeder hit a drive down the sideline that Gonzalez did not return. Time stood still while everyone awaited the linesman's call. When he signaled out - of - bounds, the crowd went wild! Richard Gonzalez was the 1949 United States tennis champion.

Allison Danzig reported in the next day's New York Times that Gonzalez had shown outstanding perseverance, moral fiber, and good sportsmanship.

Richard's first pro tour versus Jack Kramer didn't work out the way he imagined.

As for Gonzalez, he was just happy to shed the nickname "cheese champion." He later reported that the best part of winning was appearing on the cover of a magazine called American Lawn Tennis.

Appropriately, the caption read "The Last Laugh." Gonzalez had overcome Schroeder's psychological edge.

On September 20, 1949, Gonzalez turned professional. He signed a contract to become part of Bobby Riggs's 1950 tennis tour. Gonzalez would play a series of matches against Jack Kramer for a guaranteed salary of $60,000. The winner of the most matches at the end of the tour would be considered the world professional champion.

Most experts felt that Gonzalez was too inexperienced to turn professional. But financial realities made the move logical to Gonzalez. Henrietta was about to have their second son, Michael. Soon Gonzalez would have two children and a wife to support. Besides, Gonzalez was full of optimism and confidence. So he packed his bags and bade his family good - bye.

Now several nights each week Gonzalez laced up his shoes to face Jack Kramer. Although his opponent never changed, the city where they played always did. From Boston to Chicago to Memphis, Tennessee, Gonzalez and Kramer traversed the U.S. by car. At each destination they played a three - set match, often on a canvas court that traveled with them.

The pro tour in 1950 where, injured or not, the players always played.

Life on the professional tennis tour was demanding. No matter how Gonzalez felt, the match always went on. One night he told his opponent that he had sprained an ankle and could not play. "What do you mean - you can't play?" Kramer asked him. "We always play." So Gonzalez received a shot of Novocain for his pain and hit the court.

Gonzalez learned quickly that Kramer was a merciless opponent. He never let up even when he was several points ahead. Gonzalez later said that Kramer was one of the toughest competitors he had ever faced.

Yet this did not discourage Gonzalez. In fact, the high level of competition inspired him. Most notably, he saw the value of Kramer's killer instinct and further developed his own. Gonzalez once observed, "Most top players would crush their poor old mother, 6 - 0, if she stood in the path of a championship."

Kramer dominated Richard, with 96 wins.

In addition to his serve and volley style Kramer had certain tactics he used off the court. For example, knowing that Gonzalez loved soft drinks, he arranged to have ice cold sodas placed on the side of the court at all of their matches. Kramer was not being kind. He believed that soft drinks were unhealthy and would weaken an athlete. By providing Gonzalez with them, he hoped to gain a slight edge.

Kramer, however, did not seem to need any extra advantages. He trounced Gonzalez night after night. Each loss was painful to Gonzalez because it represented a threat to his livelihood. The winning player on this tour would be asked back the next year. The loser had no such guarantee.

By the tour's end, Kramer had beaten Gonzalez ninety-six matches to twenty-seven. This confirmed the belief of many that he turned professional too soon. Even so, Gonzalez had made more than $70,000, a tremendous amount of money in 1950.

Money, however, could not mend Gonzalez's broken ego. Nor could it guarantee Gonzalez a future in professional tennis. A grim Gonzalez headed back to Los Angeles, hoping that Riggs would find a place for him on the 1951 tour.

After Richard's first tour with Kramer, promoter Bobby Riggs (left) called him "past tense."

But Riggs did not. Richard Gonzalez was only twenty-one years old when Bobby Riggs told him he was "past tense." As Riggs so bluntly put it, "You came, you saw - and Jack Kramer conquered."

Then Riggs offered Gonzalez the faintest glimmer of hope. He advised Gonzalez to stay in shape and play in all the professional tournaments he could. If he proved he was still a top competitor, he might get another chance on a future tour.

Soon the next year's touring players were announced. The invincible Jack Kramer would meet Francisco Segura, a player from Ecuador. Segura was called Pancho, too. However, "Pancho" is a common nickname for Francisco. So in Segura's case, the nickname "Pancho" did not carry the same negative connotation it did with Gonzalez.

Segura, like Gonzalez, had an unusual background for a tennis player of the time. He had grown up in a cane shack on the grounds of a tennis club where his father was the groundskeeper.

Pancho Segura, the Ecuadorian with the two handed forehand replaced Gonzalez on tour with Kramer.

He had been struck by rickets when he was a child. Rickets is a disease that makes the bones soft and weak. But Segura was strong-willed and driven to play tennis.

He learned to swing the racket with both hands for more strength. His two-handed forehand is considered to be one of the greatest strokes in tennis history. This, plus his fast nimble footwork, made him a top competitor. Gonzalez and Segura became close friends on tour and remained so throughout their lives.

Now, as Kramer and Segura headed off to play tennis, Gonzalez stayed home playing at Exposition Park. Gonzalez missed the intensity of constant competition. To stay active, he took up golf. It bored him.

Next he tried gambling. Night after night Gonzalez drove to poker parlors outside of Los Angeles where he matched wits excitement Gonzalez craved. Unfortunately, he often lost. Before long finances forced him to find a different hobby.

Gonzalez turned to car racing. Henrietta objected to her husband's latest pastime because of its danger. She urged him to think of his family. With the birth of another child, Danny, Gonzalez now had three sons.

Richard with his first wife Henrietta and their 3 sons.

But Gonzalez told his wife that the excitement was just what he needed to take his mind off of professional tennis. Car racing would become a life long love for Gonzalez.

Racing was not the only thing that Gonzalez and Henrietta argued about. As his tennis career collapsed, Gonzalez's marriage was also deteriorating. Gonzalez moved out of his house in March 1952. For the next three years he would live in a series of apartments saying that home was wherever he kept his tennis rackets.

When the Olympic Tennis Shop was put up for sale, it seemed natural for Gonzalez to buy it. For several months he operated the little store. He also trained hard during this time, working to improve his game. Much of his training was done at Exposition Park. He often played with Oscar Johnson who gave Gonzalez a good workout.

Occasionally Gonzalez also played at the Los Angeles Tennis Club. Remembering Riggs's advice, Gonzalez entered whatever professional tournaments he could. The most important of these was the U.S. World Professional Championships.

Gonzalez and Segura: friends for life.

In 1952, Gonzalez made it to the final round of this tournament where he faced Kramer's latest vanquished opponent, Francisco Segura. Segura beat Gonzalez in a close match.

But Gonzalez did win four tournaments that year. In these he beat all the top players consistently, including now Jack Kramer. Many people believed he had become the best player in the world.

Gonzalez was back at the World Professional Tennis Championships in 1953. This time he won the tournament by beating Don Budge, the former Grand Slam champion.

In 1954, Kramer retired from competition on the tour. He replaced Bobby Riggs as promoter of the professional tennis tour. The way was open for a new professional tennis champion.