Esteban (Paharito) Reyes Gonzalez ( Spanish: Esteban 'Pajarito' Reyes Gonzalez ; July 22, 1913 , Contepec , Michoacan - March 19, 2014 , Mexico City ) - Mexican tennis player and tennis coach, father of Rosa Maria Reyes (Darmon) . Member of the national team of Mexico in the Davis Cup , and later coach of many leading tennis players in Mexico.
| Esteban Reyes | |
|---|---|
| Player gender | |
| Date of Birth | |
| Place of Birth | Contepec , Michoacan , Mexico |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | Mexico city |
| Citizenship | |
| Working hand | right |
Sports career
Esteban Reyes was born in 1913 in Contepec (Michoacan) in the family of Nicholas Reyes Chavez and Catalina Gonzalez. When the family moved to Mexico City, Esteban and his brothers found work as ball netters at a local tennis club. It was there that Esteban became interested in tennis. He and his brothers played homemade racquets on an improvised court near the house, and soon Esteban, nicknamed “Pacharito” (“Bird”), won one after another two tournaments among workers of tennis clubs. His career almost ended at the very beginning because of these victories, since as a “professional” he was suspended for a year from participating in amateur tournaments, but immediately after the disqualification he won the Mexican youth championship in 1932, showing that he did not intend to to leave the sport [2] [3] .
The following year, Reyes won a round robin tournament held by the Mexican Tennis Association in order to determine the composition of the national team for the match against the US team in the Davis Cup . In the Davis Cup match, he lost to American Cliff Sutter , but soon after he rehabilitated by winning the International Monterrey Championship. In the final in Monterrey, he beat the Texas tennis player Martin Bucksby . Two years later, Reyes became the first Mexican to score a point in a match with the US team (defeating Gene Mako ), and won the silver medal of the Central America and Caribbean Games in San Salvador , losing in the final to Cuban Ricardo Morales [2] .
In 1936, Esteban Reyes married Erlinda Delgado. From this marriage three children were born - Esteban Jr., Rosa Maria and Patricia. All three subsequently successfully performed on tennis courts, especially Rosa Maria, who won the French championship in tandem with Yola Ramirez . Pajarito continued to play for the Mexican national team in the Davis Cup until 1937 and won several national doubles titles over his career with Daniel Hernandez (with whom he also won the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1938 [4] ) and Eugenio Tapia . He completed his playing career in 1941 [2] .
After the end of active performances, Esteban Reyes became a tennis coach. From 1942 to 1956, he served as captain of the national team of Mexico in the Davis Cup [5] . He coached not only his own children, but also other leading Mexican tennis players of the 50s and 60s: Joaquin Loyo Mayo , who became his adopted son and was sent to study in the USA, Rafael Osuna , Antonio Palafox , Imelda Ramirez and Carmelita Kristlib [6] . Reyes continued to train until the age of 94, he was engaged in politics, diplomats and artists [7] . He died in March 2014 at the age of one hundred years.
Notes
- ↑ http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2013/07/21/capital/035n1cap
- ↑ 1 2 3 Esteban “Pajarito” Reyes será recordado como el primer mexicano que le ganó un punto a Estados Unidos en Copa Davis (Spanish) . Federación Mexicana de Tenis, AC. Date of treatment July 11, 2015.
- ↑ Mauro Flores Ledesma. "Pajarito" Reyes ... ¡100 años de entrega al tenis de México! (Spanish) . Tennis Life (22 Julio 2013). Date of treatment July 11, 2015.
- ↑ Resultats des IVèmes Jeux de lAmérique Centrale // Bulletin Officiel du Comité International Olympique No. 39 . - 1939. - P. 33-37.
- ↑ Muere el ex tenista mexicano Esteban 'Pajarito' Reyes (Spanish) . Informador ( 03/19/2014 ). Date of treatment July 11, 2015.
- ↑ Esteban "Pajarito" Reyes cumple 100 (Spanish) . Copa Davis (24 julio 2013). Date of treatment July 11, 2015.
- ↑ Carlos Hernández. Murió a los 100 años Pajarito Reyes, máxima leyenda del tenis nacional (Spanish) . La Jornada (20 de marzo de 2014). Date of treatment July 11, 2015.
Links
- Singles Results in Tennis Archives Database
- Profile on the Davis Cup website