Pancho Segura

[14] In the spring of 1940 he was visited by American player Elwood Cooke, finalist at the 1939 Wimbledon Championships, on behalf of Wilson Sporting Goods.

[15] Directly following his arrival in the United States Segura entered a grass court tournament at the Meadow Club in Southampton, Long Island.

[18][19] In October he won his first grass court match against the Irish Davis Cup player George Lyttleton Rogers at the Hispanic Tennis Club.

He was a strong crowd favorite but Grant drew a ringing round of applause for his comeback in the final set after Segura seemingly had him beaten down.

[29] At the New Jersey state tournament the following week, Segura beat Vic Seixas and Budge Patty before a win in three straight sets over Hecht in the final without losing a single game.

[41] Pancho won the Western states tournament in July over Talbert in five gruelling sets in which both player had suffered leg injuries and had to take time out for treatment.

"The South American parlayed superb passing shot and an uncanny defensive game into the triumph that took the title out of the United States for the first time since Jean Borotra carted it to France in 1931".

"In the most spectacular match of the tournament to date Roland Garros stadium echoed with Segura's cry of 'Oh Pancho' with which he berated his own mistakes.

He didn't speak English well, he had a freak shot, and on the grass while scooting around in his long white pants with his bowlegs, he looked like a little butterball.

[58] Long before Open Tennis, Segura turned professional in 1947 and was an immediate crowd-pleaser with his winning smile, infectiously humorous manner, and unorthodox but deadly game.

Pro Championship held in Cleveland on clay, Segura won a come-from-behind five set match over Kramer, and went on to beat Kovacs in the final.

Segura won the Canadian Professional Championships title in June beating Kovacs in the final,[66] although he lost the Cleveland International Pro or U.S.

Pro Championship, played on soggy grass courts at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, over Pancho Gonzales in the concluding round robin match.

[67] It was their first encounter on grass and Allison Danzig of the New Yourk Times commented: "Segura extracted the sting from Gonzales's potent service and net attack with virulence and accuracy of his calculated counter-measures until the big Californian was all but helpless under the relentless pressure on the wet turf in the final set.

[71] Segura won a four-man tournament at the Bygdøhus Arena in Oslo in October beating Carl Earn in the semi-finals[72] and Gonzales in the final.

[82] Segura won a three-day Roland Garros round-robin event in Paris in late June after victories against Budge, Gonzales and Kramer.

[93] On August 1, 1953, Segura won the Slazenger Professional Championship at Scarborough, England on grass (an event dubbed by the media "the pro Wimbledon").

[99] At the inaugural Australian Pro, held at the Subiaco Oval in Perth in November, Segura beat Gonzales before losing in the final to Sedgman.

[108] At the Wembley Pro in September, part of the Ampol world series of tournaments, Segura beat Hoad and Trabert before losing to Mal Anderson in a two and a half hour five-set final.

[116] On October 25, 1959, Segura won the Ramat Gan tournament at Tel Aviv in Israel, beating Anderson, Ashley Cooper and Mervyn Rose.

He missed chances that might have given him an earlier victory, yet he still was able to make the final effort that gave him a break in the ninth game of the fifth set and the match".

Segura won four-man tournaments in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in May while touring South America with Cooper, Olmedo and Butch Buchholz.

[125] On August 5, 1962, Segura won the Dutch Pro Championships at The Hague, Holland, on red clay, beating Ayala, Hoad, and Olmedo.

[132] His final Grand Slam singles appearance was at 1970 US Open aged 49, where he beat Atet Wijono[133] (a man 30 years younger than him), before losing to Tito Vazquez in round two.

[55] Ellsworth Vines gives an analysis of Segura's unusual playing style in his book Tennis: Myth and Method (1978): Two-handed forehand is most outstanding stroke in game's history; unbeatable unless opponent could avoid it.

[6] In 1962, on the recommendation of good friend Mike Franks, Segura became the teaching professional at the Beverly Hills Tennis Club, replacing Carl Earn.

[5] Most of Segura's students were movie stars such as Dinah Shore, Doris Day, Julie Andrews, Richard Conte, Shelley Winters, Charlton Heston, Barbra Streisand, Dina Merrill, Kirk Douglas, Robert Evans, Lauren Bacall, Gene Hackman, Carl Reiner, Barbara Marx, George C. Scott, Janet Leigh, and Ava Gardner, as well as Dean Paul Martin.

[138] In 1971, he left Beverly Hills to become the head teaching professional at the La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California, where he eventually retired.

[13] He is widely credited with having mentored and structured the playing game of Jimmy Connors, starting at age 16, in 1968, when his mother, Gloria, brought him to Pancho in California for lessons.

Spencer Segura was master of ceremonies, with 10 featured speakers including Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Connors, Mike Franks, Cliff Richey, Charlie Pasarell, Tracy Austin, and David Kramer.

Segura, c. 1945
Segura, c. 1951
Billie Jean King , Pancho Segura, and Stan Smith at a tennis clinic in Los Angeles (1966).