Alex Olmedo

Alex Olmedo
	Alex Olmedo in Noordwijk (the Netherlands), 1964
Full name	Alejandro Olmedo Rodríguez
Country (sports)	Peru; United States
Born	March 24, 1936; Arequipa, Peru
Died	December 9, 2020 (aged 84); Los Angeles, California, US
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Turned pro	1960
Retired	1977
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	1987 (member page)
Singles
Career record	477–420 (53.1%)
Career titles	21
Highest ranking	No. 2 (1959, Lance Tingay)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (1959)
French Open	1R (1969, 1972)
Wimbledon	W (1959)
US Open	F (1959)
	Professional majors
US Pro	W (1960)
Wembley Pro	SF (1960, 1963)
French Pro	QF (1962, 1964)
Doubles
Career record	26–35
Grand Slam doubles results
US Open	W (1958)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
US Open	F (1958)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	W (1958)

Alejandro "Alex" Olmedo Rodríguez (March 24, 1936 – December 9, 2020) was a tennis player from Peru with American citizenship. He was listed by the USTA as a "foreign" player for 1958, but as a U.S. player for 1959.^[3] He helped win the Davis Cup for the United States in 1958 and was the No. 2 ranked amateur in 1959. Olmedo won two Majors in 1959 (Australia and Wimbledon) and the U.S. Pro Championships in 1960, and was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.

Biography

Although born and raised in Peru, Olmedo moved to Southern California and was mentored by Perry T. Jones, president of the Southern California Tennis Association^[4] at the Los Angeles Tennis Club (LATC). George Toley recruited him to play for the University of Southern California (USC). Olmedo graduated with a business degree from USC. While there, he won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Singles and Doubles Championships in 1956 and 1958.^[5] (In 1957, USC was excluded from NCAA competition due to a financial contribution violation involving the football program which also suspended the tennis team.)

Olmedo was ranked as the world No. 2 in 1959 by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph.^[2]

Perry T. Jones was Davis Cup captain in 1958 and recruited Olmedo from Modesto Junior College to play on the team. He represented the U.S. in Davis Cup competition in 1958 and 1959, winning in both singles and doubles – achieving all three of the three points required to win the Cup in 1958 (two singles and one doubles). His teammates were Ham Richardson and Barry MacKay, when they won the Cup in 1958.^[6] Although he was not a U.S. citizen, he was technically eligible to represent the U.S. in Davis Cup because he had lived in the country for at least three years (since February 1954) and because Peru, his country of citizenship, did not have a Davis Cup team in those particular years. However, his participation was very controversial. Sports columnist Arthur Dailey at The New York Times wrote "This would seem to be the saddest day in the history of American tennis. A few more such rousing victories and the prestige of this country in tennis will sink to a new low." At the time, Olmedo, who held a student visa, refused to file for U.S. citizenship, said he was content to remain a Peruvian citizen, and denied he was refusing to apply for U.S. citizenship to avoid being drafted into the military. Still, many Americans "took a dim view of the largest nation in the competition stooping to borrow a little player from Peru to win the Cup".^[7] Olmedo eventually became a U.S. citizen many years later.^[8]

Olmedo won the Australian Championships and the Wimbledon singles titles in 1959 and was the runner-up at the 1959 U.S. Championships, losing to Neale Fraser, whom he defeated in the Australian Championships earlier that year. At 1959 Wimbledon, he defeated Rod Laver in 71 minutes 6–4, 6–3, 6–4. Olmedo turned professional in 1960, and that year, won the US Pro title by beating Tony Trabert in the final.

Olmedo was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.^[9] He spent over 40 years teaching tennis at the Beverly Hills Hotel in California. His clients included Katharine Hepburn, Robert Duvall, and Jon Lovitz.^[8]

Olmedo's marriage to Ann Olmedo ended in divorce. He had a son Alejandro Jr., two daughters Amy and Angela, and four grand children.^[8] Olmedo died on December 9, 2020, at the age of 84 from cancer in Los Angeles.^[10]^[11]^[12]

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1959	Australian Championships	Grass	Neale Fraser	6–1, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Winner	1959	Wimbledon	Grass	Rod Laver	6–4, 6–3, 6–4
Loss	1959	U.S. Championships	Grass	Neale Fraser	3–6, 7–5, 2–6, 4–6

Doubles (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1958	U.S. Championships	Grass	Ham Richardson	Sam Giammalva Barry MacKay	3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4
Loss	1959	U.S. Championships	Grass	Butch Buchholz	Roy Emerson Neale Fraser	6–3, 3–6, 7–5, 4–6, 5–7

Mixed doubles (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1958	U.S. Championships	Grass	Maria Bueno	Neale Fraser Margaret Osborne duPont	3–6, 6–3, 7–9

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Key
W	F	SF	QF	#R	RR	Q#	DNQ	A	NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Tournament	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	SR
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	W	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1 / 1
French Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	1R	0 / 2
Wimbledon	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	W	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	3R	1R	A	A	2R	1 / 5
US Open	1R	A	A	A	2R	4R	1R	QF	F	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	3R	A	2R	1R	2R	0 / 10
Strike rate	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 1	2 / 3	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 3	2 / 18

References

^ ^a ^b "Alex Olmedo: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. Tennismem SL.
^ ^a ^b United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 427.
^ "U.S. Top 10s - Men". usta.com.
^ "Hall of Famers – Perry Jones". International Tennis Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
^ "Alex Olmedo, Tennis Champion". Sports illustrated. September 7, 1998. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
^ "Hail to the Chief". Time. January 12, 1959. Archived from the original on February 1, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
^ "While Critics Cry, He Wins", Lakeland Ledger, August 23, 1959, page 19.
^ ^a ^b ^c Goldstein, Richard (December 13, 2020). "Alex Olmedo, 84, Dies; Tennis Star Known for a Remarkable Year". The New York Times. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
^ "Alejandro Olmedo". International Tennis Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
^ Joel Drucker (December 10, 2020). "Remembering Alex Olmedo, 1936–2020: star player, teacher to the stars". Tennis.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
^ James Buddell (December 10, 2020). "Alex Olmedo, 1936-2020". Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
^ Goldstein, Richard (December 13, 2020). "Alex Olmedo, 84, Dies; Tennis Star Known for a Remarkable Year". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 26, 2021.