Rafael Osuna

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Rafael Osuna
Born September 15, 1938
Mexico City
Died June 6, 1969 (aged 30)

Rafael Herrera Osuna (September 15, 1938 – June 6, 1969), is the most successful tennis player in the history of Mexico. He was born in Mexico City, Mexico, and is best remembered for his singles victory at the U.S. Open Championships in 1963 and for leading Mexico to its only Davis Cup Final round appearance. He is the only Mexican to date to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, in 1979.

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[edit] Career

His first successes as an athlete occurred before he was ten years old, when he competed in the open category of the Mexican National Table Tennis Championships. In the course of the tournament, he upset the Mexico City Table Tennis Champion in singles, a feat remarkable both for Osuna's young age and the fact that it was his first tournament. Osuna also won the Doubles Championship, with Alfredo Ramos Uriarte as his partner. From age 10 to 14 he was ranked in the top 10 in Mexico’s Open singles in table tennis.

He was awarded a full scholarship to attend the University of Southern California USC in the U.S.A., where he would meet Head Coach George Toley, who quickly identified Osuna as a major talent. Osuna participated in the 1960 Wimbledon championships, competing only in the doubles category with Dennis Ralston (soon to be his roommate at school). The two unknown youngsters soon made history, as the first unseeded pair to win the men's doubles at Wimbledon.

This victory marked the beginning of Osuna's career and fame. Described as an "agile and cerebral player"[1] who "moves on the tennis court with the grace of a panther" (Tony Mottram), his subsequent achievements include:

  • He is the only Mexican tennis player ever ranked No. 1 in the world, in 1963, by the International Tennis Federation.
  • He is the only Mexican tennis player ever to win a Grand Slam event singles title, The United States Tennis Association National Championships US Open Singles (1963). He is one of only two Latin Americans to win the U.S. Open, along with Guillermo Vilas.
  • Osuna and Palafox are the only Mexican tennis players ever to win the US Open doubles title, in 1962.
  • In 1962, as the leader of the Mexican Davis Cup Team, Osuna led the team to its only Davis Cup Final to date, and the first-ever final reached by a Latin American country.
  • His last victory, two weeks before his death in a plane crash, was an almost single-handed defeat of Australia in Davis Cup competition; Osuna won both his singles matches and the doubles. At that time Australia had won the Davis Cup 17 times, and the defeat was considered a major upset.[2]
  • USTA National Hard Courts singles and doubles champion 1962 and doubles champion 1969.
  • Osuna was NCAA singles champion in 1962, doubles champion from 1961-1963, and team champion in 1962-63. The 1963 USC tennis team is regarded by some as the best collegiate tennis team of all time.
  • Osuna won Mexico’s only Olympic gold medal in tennis, in men's doubles with Vincent Zarazúa in 1968.
  • Osuna earned a Bachelor in Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California in 1963. In that same year, the International Tennis Federation would declare him the year-end No. 1 player in the world.

[edit] Death

Osuna was one of 79 people killed in a Mexican Airlines plane crash on June 6, 1969. He was 30 years old.[3][4]

[edit] Posthumous honors

Osuna has received numerous posthumous honors, including:

  • During the 1969 National Championships, the Intercollegiate Tennis College Association NCAA instituted the Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award, the first new award added since 1881. Given to the most outstanding college tennis player, the criteria for the award are competitive excellence, sportsmanship, and contribution to tennis.
  • During the 1969 US Open Championships at Forrest Hills, two months after his death, the US Open Committee declared the 28 of August to be Rafael Osuna Day, honoring the memory of the former champion. This was the first time the tournament had honored a tennis player in this manner.
  • In 1969 the Chapultepec Club, the cathedral of Mexican tennis and home to the majority of its history, named its stadium "Rafael Osuna".
  • In 1972, with the intent to strengthen ties between the USA and Mexico and to honor the memory of the only player ever to win the US OPEN and the Mexican Open championships in singles, the "Osuna Cup" event was instituted. It is disputed annually by the official teams from both nations, and is the longest international tennis event played on Mexican territory, and the only one sanctioned by the USTA and the MTF.
  • In 1970 Mr. Joseph F. Cullman, Honorary Chairman of the Board of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, presented to the Chancellor of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Ing. Javier Barrios Sierra, ten scholarships in the name of Rafael Osuna to be awarded to outstanding Mexican students.
  • On July 14, 1979, Osuna was inducted as a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, in Newport, Rhode Island. To date, Osuna is the only Mexican to receive this honor.
  • In 1979, Mexican President José López Portillo unveiled an 8-foot tall statue of Rafael Osuna, erected by the Mexican National Athletics Institute at the ceremony plaza of the Mexican Olympic Committee.
  • In 1983 the Intercollegiate Tennis College Association NCAA inaugurated the ITCA NCAA Tennis Hall of Fame, in Athens, Georgia. The inaugural class was the All Time NCAA Champions of Excellence. 15 players and 5 Head Coaches. Osuna was one of them, including players such as: Arthur Ashe, Dennis Ralston, Olmedo, Trabert as well as Coach Toley.
  • In 1990 Mrs. Elena Osuna de Belmar published the biography "Rafael Osuna Sonata in Set Mayor". The book has been included in the International Tennis Hall of Fame Museum, Wimbledon Museum, USTA library, and Doheney library at USC. It is a collector’s item, with only 2000 copies in the first edition.
  • On November 28, 2000, Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo presented an homage to the most outstanding Mexican athletes of the 20th Century, awarded by the Secretary of Public Education of Mexico. Osuna was selected "Sportsman of the 20th Century" in the Category of Tennis.
  • On October 14, 2006 the University of Southern California USC Hall of Fame Selection Committee selected Osuna to be inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame on May 5th, 2007.

[edit] Grand Slam Singles Finals

[edit] Wins (1)

Year Championship Opponent in final Score in final
1963 US National Singles Championships Frank Froehling 7-5 6-4 6-2

[edit] Grand Slam Doubles Finals

[edit] Wins (3)

Year Championship Partner Opponents in final Score in final
1960 Wimbledon Dennis Ralston Mike Davies / Bobby Wilson 7-5 6-3 10-8
1962 US National Doubles Championships Antonio Palafox Chuck McKinley / Dennis Ralston 6-4 10-12 1-6 9-7 6-3
1963 Wimbledon Antonio Palafox Jean-Claude Barclay / Pierre Darmon 4-6 6-2 6-2 6-2

[edit] Runners-up (2)

Year Tournament Partner Opponents in final Score in final
1961 US National Doubles Championships Antonio Palafox Chuck McKinley / Dennis Ralston 3-6 4-6 6-2 11-13
1963 US National Doubles Championships Antonio Palafox Chuck McKinley / Dennis Ralston 7-9 6-4 7-5 3-6 9-11

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bingham, Walter (September 16, 1983), “It Was Anybody's Championship—until A Mexican With A Deft Touch Made It His”, Sports Illustrated 
  2. ^ “A Roundup Of The Sports Information Of The Week”, Sports Illustrated, June 16, 1969 
  3. ^ Famous Air Crash Victims.
  4. ^ “A Roundup Of The Sports Information Of The Week”, Sports Illustrated, June 16, 1969 

[edit] External links