Manuel Alonso de Areizaga (12 November 1895 – 11 October 1984) was a Spanish tennis player. He was the first Spanish tennis player of international stature.

Biography

Alonso was born at San Sebastián on 12 November 1895. He won the Spanish tennis championships in 1915, 1919 and 1920. He frequently played doubles with his elder brother José María (b. 1890) who also was a successful tennis player. In 1920, Alonso took part at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

at Antwerp. In singles, he reached the quarterfinals losing to British

Noel Turnbull Oswald Graham Noel Turnbull (20 December 1890 – 17 December 1970) was an English tennis player. He is best known for his gold medal in the men's doubles event (with Maxwell Woosnam) at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. Before World War I Turnb ...

. In the same year, Alonso reached the semifinals at the

World Hard Court Championships World Hard Court Championships was an annual major tennis tournament sanctioned by the International Lawn Tennis Federation and held from 1912 to 1923. It was principally held in Paris, on clay courts of the Stade Français in the Paris suburb of ...

. At the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

at Paris, Alonso reached the fourth round in singles. In the early 1920s,

Bill Tilden William Tatem Tilden II (February 10, 1893 – June 5, 1953), nicknamed "Big Bill", was an American tennis player. Tilden was the world No. 1 amateur for six consecutive years, from 1920 to 1925, and was ranked as the world No. 1 professional ...

wrote about Alonso: "Seldom have I seen such wonderful natural abilities as are found in this young Spaniard ..Alonzo has a terrific forehand drive that is the closest rival to W.M. Johnston's of any shot I have seen ..His overhead is at once severe, deadly and reliable. He smashes with speed and direction. It is not only in his varied stroke equipment that Alonzo is great but in his marvellous footwork. Such speed of foot and lightning turning I have never before seen on a tennis court ..I look to see Alonzo, who today loses matches through lack of resource, become by virtue of experience and tournament play the greatest player on the continent." In 1921, at his first appearance at the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pl ...

, Alonso made his way through to the all-comers final (beating

Algernon Kingscote Algernon Robert Fitzhardinge "Algy" Kingscote (3 December 1888 – 21 December 1964) was a British tennis player, who won the Men's Singles event at the Australasian Championships in 1919. Kingscote also competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics in ...

and

Zenzo Shimizu , also spelt Zenzo Shimidzu, was a Japanese tennis player. Shimizu graduated from the Tokyo Higher Commerce School (now Hitotsubashi University). In 1912 he started to work for Mitsui & Co. He married the daughter of Sohōka. He resided in ...

before losing to Brian Norton in five sets). He played at Wimbledon in 1922 and 1924 again, but couldn't repeat this success and dropped out of the competition in early rounds. From 1921 to 1925, Alonso was a member of the Spanish Davis Cup team and reached the final in 1922 partnering Manuel de Gomar. Both were called "Los Dos Manolos" ("the two Manuels"), a reference to the American "two Bills", "Big Bill" Tilden and "Little Bill" Johnston. Alonso moved to the United States in 1923 which made him eligible for a U.S. ranking. He regularly played at the U.S. Championships until 1927 and reached the quarterfinals in 1922, 1923, 1925 and 1927. He was three years in the U.S. Top 10 (No. 4 in 1925 and 1927, No. 2 in 1926). In 1927, he was ranked World No. 5 by A. Wallis Myers of ''The Daily Telegraph''. In 1931 and 1936, Alonso made two short appearances for his country in the Davis Cup again. Soon thereafter, he retired from tennis. In 1977, Alonso was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame. He died on 11 October 1984 at Madrid.

References

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* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alonso, Manuel 1895 births 1984 deaths Sportspeople from San Sebastián Spanish male tennis players Tennis players from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Olympic tennis players for Spain Tennis players at the 1920 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 1924 Summer Olympics International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees