Ricardo Alonso González (May 9, 1928 – July 3, 1995), also known as Richard Gonzales, and usually as Pancho Gonzales, was an American tennis player. He was the World No. 1 professional tennis player for an unequalled eight years in the 1950s and early 1960s. He won two Major titles and fifteen Pro Slam titles.
Largely self-taught, Gonzales was a successful amateur player in the late-1940s, twice winning the United States Championships. He is still widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. A 1999 Sports Illustrated article about the magazine's 20 "favorite athletes" of the 20th century said about Gonzales (their number 15 pick): "If earth was on the line in a tennis match, the man you want serving to save humankind would be Ricardo Alonso Gonzalez." The American tennis commentator Bud Collins echoed this in an August 2006 article for MSNBC.com: "If I had to choose someone to play for my life, it would be Pancho Gonzales."
Read more about Pancho Gonzales: Personal and Family Life, Place Among The All-time Great Tennis Players, Performance Timeline For Major Tournaments