Ramirez was great watching

kiki · Jan 18, 2014

One of the best all round players of the 70´s, succeded at the big three slam tournaments as well as the Masters and WCT, and was one half of the famous team with Brian Gottfried ( the best clay court doubles team of the 70´s).

I liked watching him because he was nimble, smart, had sound and solid top spin groundies at the same time that he could play more than half of his time at the net, where his sound technique and amazing fast reflexes made him a very appealing player.Only a big serve that he never had stood between his excellent record...and that of the champions of the decade.

Does anybody remember this mexican who tumped Borg at Tehran ( 6-1,6-0¡¡¡) and Connors at the Davis Cup?

raging · Jan 18, 2014

yes Raul toured australia in late 70s so I saw him indoors with Gottfried. He was a great doubles player because of his great reflexes. He also finished well for opportunities that Brian set up with his returns. He never really served big but got in close and was a clever, crisp volleyer.

kiki · Jan 25, 2014

Raul also won a very prestigious title at Rome, straight setting Manuel Orantes in the 1975 final.

He had a big slump in 1979 and recovered partially at the end of 1981, but was never the same player he had previously been.

SanJoseState1975 · Jan 25, 2014

When I played for San Jose State, we played a dual match against USC in 1973 and I played Raul at #1 singles.It was not until 2006 that I had the pleasure to meet up with Raul again , he agreed to participate in the Legends event I ran at the Club I teach at near Chicago. He was the exact same from the 70's except for a few Grey hairs. Same build , not an ounce heavier !!!
One of the most down to earth person you will ever run into.
I could go on and on about Raul.

I most remember Raul in both the 1975 & 1976 Davis Cup ties versus the USA,
singlehandedly destroyed strong USA teams, winning his 2 singles and the doubles match, giving Mexico identical 3-2 wins each time.
Raul almost did it again in 1981, but lost the 5th and deciding rubber against John McEnroe.

I will add a few more thoughts tomorrow

Great thread as usual kiki !!!! I enjoy all your effort.

kiki · Jan 26, 2014

SanJoseState1975 said:
When I played for San Jose State, we played a dual match against USC in 1973 and I played Raul at #1 singles.It was not until 2006 that I had the pleasure to meet up with Raul again , he agreed to participate in the Legends event I ran at the Club I teach at near Chicago. He was the exact same from the 70's except for a few Grey hairs. Same build , not an ounce heavier !!!
One of the most down to earth person you will ever run into.
I could go on and on about Raul.

I most remember Raul in both the 1975 & 1976 Davis Cup ties versus the USA,
singlehandedly destroyed strong USA teams, winning his 2 singles and the doubles match, giving Mexico identical 3-2 wins each time.
Raul almost did it again in 1981, but lost the 5th and deciding rubber against John McEnroe.

I will add a few more thoughts tomorrow

Great thread as usual kiki !!!! I enjoy all your effort.

Your opinions and memories are such a joy to read.Keep sharing them with us.

I always liked this fellow.I think he was born in the mexican side of California, in La Ensenada, isn´t it?.I knew he attended the USC but don´t recall what kind of college career did he have.

SanJoseState1975 · Jan 26, 2014

Raul only played the one year at USC, and then turned Pro.

He lost in the 1973 NCAA Singles final to Sandy Mayer.

Raul played most of his Junior tennis in Southern Cal, going to High School in La Jolla. Was able to get lots of practice with all the players in the San Diego area.

Raul was one of the smoothest players you would ever watch. Andy

SanJoseState1975 · Jan 27, 2014

I consider Ramirez to be one of the great all-around players of the modern era.He was the only player to finish first in both singles and doubles Grand Prix point standings, accomplishing the feat in 1976. A feat not even John McEnroe could match !!!

1976 Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Champion , 1975 and 1977 French Open Men’s Doubles Champion. 1975 & 1980 World Championship Doubles Champions .1979 Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Finalists and 1976 and 1980 French Open Men’s Doubles Finalists , all with Brian Gottfried.

Ramirez and Gottfried are considered one of the best Doubles teams of the Open Era.

Won 19 Singles titles and 59 Doubles titles. Reached career high of # 4 in the world in singles and # 1 in doubles. Has singles wins over Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, Manuel Orantes, Guillermo Vilas, John Newcombe, Brian Gottfried, Adriano Panatta, Ilie Nastase, Yannick Noah, Roscoe Tanner, and Vitas Gerulitas.

BobbyOne · Jan 28, 2014

SanJoseState1975 said:
I consider Ramirez to be one of the great all-around players of the modern era.He was the only player to finish first in both singles and doubles Grand Prix point standings, accomplishing the feat in 1976. A feat not even John McEnroe could match !!!

1976 Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Champion , 1975 and 1977 French Open Men’s Doubles Champion. 1975 & 1980 World Championship Doubles Champions .1979 Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Finalists and 1976 and 1980 French Open Men’s Doubles Finalists , all with Brian Gottfried.

Ramirez and Gottfried are considered one of the best Doubles teams of the Open Era.

Won 19 Singles titles and 59 Doubles titles. Reached career high of # 4 in the world in singles and # 1 in doubles. Has singles wins over Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, Manuel Orantes, Guillermo Vilas, John Newcombe, Brian Gottfried, Adriano Panatta, Ilie Nastase, Yannick Noah, Roscoe Tanner, and Vitas Gerulitas.

SanJoseState1975, Ramirez also won four times against Rosewall (Ken had two wins).

jean pierre · Jan 28, 2014

SF in FO 1977, beated by Vilas. Great player.

kiki · Jan 28, 2014

SanJoseState1975 said:
Raul only played the one year at USC, and then turned Pro.

He lost in the 1973 NCAA Singles final to Sandy Mayer.

Raul played most of his Junior tennis in Southern Cal, going to High School in La Jolla. Was able to get lots of practice with all the players in the San Diego area.

Raul was one of the smoothest players you would ever watch. Andy

You are andy...Pattison?

kiki · Jan 28, 2014

SanJoseState1975 said:
I consider Ramirez to be one of the great all-around players of the modern era.He was the only player to finish first in both singles and doubles Grand Prix point standings, accomplishing the feat in 1976. A feat not even John McEnroe could match !!!

1976 Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Champion , 1975 and 1977 French Open Men’s Doubles Champion. 1975 & 1980 World Championship Doubles Champions .1979 Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Finalists and 1976 and 1980 French Open Men’s Doubles Finalists , all with Brian Gottfried.

Ramirez and Gottfried are considered one of the best Doubles teams of the Open Era.

Won 19 Singles titles and 59 Doubles titles. Reached career high of # 4 in the world in singles and # 1 in doubles. Has singles wins over Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, Manuel Orantes, Guillermo Vilas, John Newcombe, Brian Gottfried, Adriano Panatta, Ilie Nastase, Yannick Noah, Roscoe Tanner, and Vitas Gerulitas.

Yes, only Lendl is missing.He also beat Rosewall and was extremely consistent in the slams, with a Wimbly and 2 French semi but several quarterfinals, all of them in a row.A pitty he couldn´t go further, his best chance IMO was to be the 76 FO.He had a good career record with Adriano Panatta ( incidentally, I watched a GP match between them, a complete joy to watch with those two great all round players on an inspired day)

kiki · Jan 28, 2014

jean pierre said:
SF in FO 1977, beated by Vilas. Great player.

Vilas was in awesome form that fortnight at Roland Garros.He trounced the likes of Stan Smith,Wojtek Fibak,Raul Ramirez and Brian Gottfried.

incidentally, look at Stan´s record at Paris.He did much better than most US players, even if he was not a cc expert.But could play very solid tennis on clay, as his 72 DC final against Romania, at Bucuresti clearly demonstrates.

kiki · Feb 23, 2014

Ramirez, like Smith,Newcombe,Nastase,Gottfried and Mc Enroe was a singles and doubles player with success at both.The Gottfried-Ramirez team was just exciting to watch, so much inteligent play.

Ramirez was great watching

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raging

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