Francisco Contreras Serrano (16 June 1934 – 12 July 2022), also known as Pancho Contreras, was a Mexican

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. He both played for and captained the

Mexico Davis Cup team The Mexico national tennis team represents Mexico in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Federación Mexicana de Tenis. Mexico finished as runners-up in 1962 losing with Australia 5-0 in Melbourne. They currently compete in the ...

Biography

Born in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

in 1934, Contreras completed his studies in California, attending

Modesto Junior College Modesto Junior College (MJC) is a public community college in Modesto, California. It is part of Yosemite Community College District along with Columbia College. MJC, and Columbia College, belong to the California Community College system al ...

. Along with his Modesto teammate Joaquín Reyes, he went on to play college tennis for the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

and the pair combined to win the 1955 NCAA doubles championships. He won the NCAA doubles championship again in 1956, this time partnering Peruvian player

Alex Olmedo Alejandro "Alex" Olmedo Rodríguez (March 24, 1936December 9, 2020) was a tennis player from Peru with American citizenship. He was listed by the USTA as a "foreign" player for 1958, but as a U.S. player for 1959. He helped win the Davis Cup f ...

. Contreras reached the round of 16 at both the 1956 U.S. National Championships and the 1957 French Championships. At the

1958 Wimbledon Championships The 1958 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was held from Monday 23 June until Saturday 5 July 1958. It was the 72nd ...

, he partnered with

Rosie Reyes Rosa María Reyes Darmon (''née'' Reyes; 23 March 1939 – 4 January 2024) was a Mexican tennis player who was active in the 1950s and 1960s. Career Most of her success came on clay on which she won the women's doubles title at the 1958 Fren ...

to make the semifinals of the mixed doubles. He won a men's doubles gold medal at the

1959 Central American and Caribbean Games The eighth Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Caracas, Venezuela, and it was the first time this nation had held the Games. The Games were held from 6 January to 15 January 1959 and included 1,150 athletes from twelve nations, comp ...

and was a mixed-doubles gold medalist at

1963 Pan American Games The 1963 Pan American Games, officially known as the IV Pan American Games () and commonly known as São Paulo 1963, were held from April 20 to May 5, 1963, in São Paulo, Brazil. Host city selection For the first time, two cities submitted b ...

, partnering

Yola Ramírez Yolanda del Monte Carmelo Ramírez y Partida (1 March 1935 – 9 March 2025), known simply as Yola Ramírez, was a Mexican tennis player active in the 1950s and 1960s who was twice a singles finalist and once a women's doubles champion and mixe ...

Davis Cup

Contreras debuted for Mexico's Davis Cup team in 1953 and played his 12th and final tie during the nation's historic run to the

1962 Davis Cup The 1962 Davis Cup was the 51st edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 28 teams entered the Europe Zone, 8 teams entered the Eastern Zone, and 5 teams entered the America Zone. Iran and the ...

final. He was team captain for Mexico in the 1962 campaign, which included a win over the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In order to rest players, he featured in two dead rubber singles matches, against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, en route to the final. In the final against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in Brisbane, he remained on the sidelines, as the home side were victorious 5–0.

References

External links

Biography

Davis Cup

See also

References

External links