Luis Ayala (tennis)
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Luis Alberto Ayala Salinas (18 September 1932 – 4 September 2024) was a Chilean tennis player who competed during the 1950s and 1960s.


Amateur career

Ayala was a two-time singles runner-up at the French Championships. In 1958, as the fifth seed, he reached the final after defeating the top-seeded and world No. 1 player, Ashley Cooper, in the semifinals. However, he was defeated in straight sets by Mervyn Rose in the final. In 1960, Ayala again reached the final, losing in five sets to Nicola Pietrangeli. He won the mixed doubles title at the 1956 French Championships with Thelma Coyne Long. Ayala secured the gold medal in singles at the
1959 Pan American Games The 1959 Pan American Games, officially known as the III Pan American Games and commonly known as Chicago 1959, were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959. Host city selection One city initially su ...
in Chicago, defeating Canadian player Robert Bédard in the final. He claimed the prestigious singles title at the Italian Open in 1959, overcoming Nicola Pietrangeli in the semifinals and Neale Fraser in the final, both in four sets. The following year, he reached the final again but was defeated in five sets by Barry MacKay (tennis). Ayala won the 1960 Argentina International Tennis Championships in Buenos Aires, defeating Ron Holmberg in the semifinals and Manuel Santana in the final. This was his third Argentina title, having previously won in 1955 (defeating Art Larsen) and 1957 (defeating
Enrique Morea Enrique Jorge Morea (11 April 1924 – 15 March 2017) was an Argentine tennis player. Morea reached the singles semifinals of the French Championships in 1953, beating Mervyn Rose and Gardnar Mulloy and then losing to Ken Rosewall. At th ...
). In 1960, Ayala also won the Madrid Championships, defeating Andrés Gimeno in the final. In 1961, he won the Hanover Championships, overcoming Ramanathan Krishnan in the final.


Professional career

In 1961, Ayala turned professional and joined Jack Kramer's tour. In 1964, he won the La Baule Professional Championships on clay, defeating
Rod Laver Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former professional tennis player. Laver was ranked as the World number 1 ranked male tennis players, world number 1 professional player indisputably for five years from 1965 to 1969, ...
in the semifinals and Lew Hoad in the final. After retiring from professional play, Ayala became a tennis professional at the River Oaks Country Club in
Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
. He later served as the director of tennis at the Forest Club in Houston.


Davis Cup

Ayala represented Chile in the Davis Cup from 1952 to 1960, participating in 18 ties and compiling a record of 37 wins and 14 losses. His most notable performance came in 1955 when Chile reached the semifinals of the Europe Zone, where they were defeated by Sweden despite Ayala winning both of his singles matches against Lennart Bergelin and
Sven Davidson Sven Viktor Davidson (13 July 1928 – 28 May 2008) was a Sweden, Swedish tennis player who became the first Swede to win a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam title when he won the French Championships in 1957 French Championships – Men's singles ...
.


Death

Ayala died on 4 September 2024, at the age of 91.


Ranking

Ayala was consistently ranked among the world's top ten tennis players by both Ned Potter and Lance Tingay between 1956 and 1961. Tingay of ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' ranked him as world No. 5 in 1958, and he was ranked No. 6 in 1959, No. 7 in 1960, and No. 7 again in 1961.


Grand Slam finals


Singles (2 runners-up)


Mixed doubles: (1 title, 1 runner-up)


References


External links

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Forest Club bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayala, Luis 1932 births 2024 deaths 20th-century Chilean sportsmen Chilean expatriates in the United States Chilean male tennis players French Championships (tennis) champions Tennis players from Houston Tennis players from Santiago, Chile Chilean people of Basque descent Tennis players at the 1955 Pan American Games Tennis players at the 1959 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Chile Pan American Games bronze medalists for Chile Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Professional tennis players before the Open Era Pan American Games gold medalists in tennis Pan American Games bronze medalists in tennis