It could be Pancho Segura, a very good amateur player in the 1940s (4-time US Championships semi finalist) and one of the top professional players of the 1950s, winning 3 US Pro titles in a row on 3 different surfaces. He was a crowd favourite, certainly, had rickets when he was a kid, and almost died after being born prematurely. He's still alive, and 91 years old.
His wiki page is below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Segura