Antonio (Toni) Palafox ( Spanish: Antonio 'Tony' Palafox ; born April 28, 1936 , Guadalajara ) - Mexican tennis player and tennis coach.
- Two-time Grand Slam winner in men's doubles (with Rafael Osuna )
- Champion of the 1959 Pan American Games in men's doubles (with Gustavo Palafox ).
| Antonio Palafox | |
|---|---|
| Player gender | |
| Date of Birth | April 28, 1936 (83 years old) |
| Place of Birth | Guadalajara , Mexico |
| Citizenship |  Mexico |
| Place of residence | Sands Point , New York , USA |
| Singles | |
| Grand Slam Tournaments | |
| France | 3rd circle (1958, 1964) |
| Wimbledon | 1/8 finals (1961, 1963) |
| USA | 1/4 finals (1965) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam Tournaments | |
| Wimbledon | victory (1963) |
| USA | victory (1962) |
| Sports Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pan American Games | ||
| Gold | Chicago 1959 | Men's Doubles |
Content
Sports career
Antonio Palafox was first invited to the Mexican national team in 1956 for the Davis Cup match with the Brazilian national team and won in his first game for the national team. In 1959, with Gustavo Palafox , who had long successfully defended the honor of Mexico in tennis tournaments, Antonio won the Pan American tennis tournament in Chicago . He achieved his next major success in 1960 , when with the Brazilian star Maria Bueno reached the final of the US Championship .
In 1961, Palafox, who paired up with Rafael Osuna , reached with him to the finals of the US Championship already in the men's doubles. In the final, they were stopped by the owners of the court Chuck Mackinley and Dennis Ralston . The following year, a Mexican couple took revenge from the Americans, and did it twice a month: first in the semifinal game of the American zone of Cuba Davis, and then in the final of the US Championship. By the end of the year, the Mexicans also defeated the national teams of Yugoslavia , Sweden and India and for the first time in history received the right to play in the round of challenge against the current winners of the cup - the Australians , led by the holder of the Grand Slam clan Laver , but this barrier was too high for them.
The successful performances of Osuna and Palafox continued the following year. They won the Wimbledon tournament together, and at the US Championship for the third time in a row they met with Mackinley and Ralston, this time losing in five sets. Two years later, Palafox showed his best result in singles Grand Slam tournaments when he reached the quarter-finals of the US Championship after defeating McKinley. There he lost to the future champion - Manuel Santana from Spain. He finished speaking at the beginning of the Open Era .
After the end of his playing career, Antonio Palafox engaged in coaching. He was one of the first John McEnroe trainers who began tennis at the Port Washington Academy in New York, where Palafox worked with Harry Hopman [1] (later, approaching the end of his career, McEnroe invited him again as a coach and his help reached the semifinals of the 1990 US Open [2] ). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he served as captain of the Mexican national team in the Davis Cup [3] .
Grand Slam Tournament Finals (5)
Men's Doubles (4)
Victories (2)
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponents in the finals | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | US Championship | Rafael Osuna | Chuck McKinley Dennis Ralston | 6-4, 10-12, 1-6, 9-7, 6-3 |
| 1963 | Wimbledon Tournament | Rafael Osuna | Jean-Claude Barclay Pierre Darmon | 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 |
Lost (2)
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponents in the finals | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | US Championship | Rafael Osuna | Chuck McKinley Dennis Ralston | 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 11-13 |
| 1963 | U.S. Championship (2) | Rafael Osuna | Chuck McKinley Dennis Ralston | 7-9, 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 9-11 |
Mixed Doubles (1)
- Defeat (1)
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponents in the finals | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | US Championship | Maria Bueno | Margaret Osbourne-Dupont Neil Fraser | 3-6, 2-6 |
Davis Cup Finals (1)
- Defeat (1)
| Year | A place | Team | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1962 | Brisbane | Mexico R. Osuna , A. Palafox | Australia R. Laver , N. Fraser , R. Emerson | 0-5 |
Notes
- β Biography of John McEnroe in the World Biographical Encyclopedia
- β John Feinstein. Hard Courts: Real Life on the Professional Tennis Tours . - New York: Villard Books, 1992. - P. 321. - ISBN 978-0-307-80096-1 .
- β Chales Carder. US squad, Mexico meet in Davis Cup / Pairings draw maximizes competition . Houston Chronicle (February 2, 1990). - "" So anything is possible, "said Tony Palafox, in his third year as captain of the Mexican team." Date of treatment January 13, 2012. Archived on September 9, 2012.