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

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

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 ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

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 C ...

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 Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple ...

. Contreras reached the round of 16 at both the 1956 US 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 "Rosie" Reyes Darmon (''née'' Reyes; born 23 March 1939) is a retired tennis player from Mexico who was active in the 1950s and 1960s. Most of her success came on clay on which she won the women's doubles title at the 1958 French Ch ...

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

1959 Central American and Caribbean Games The 8th 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, competin ...

and was a mixed doubles gold medalist at

1963 Pan American Games The 1963 Pan American Games were held from April 20 to May 5, 1963, in São Paulo, Brazil. Host city selection For the first time, two cities submitted bids to host the 1963 Pan American Games that were recognized by the Pan American Sports O ...

, partnering

Yola Ramírez Yolanda Ramírez Ochoa (born 1 March 1935) is a Mexican tennis player active in the 1950s and 1960s. She was twice a singles finalist and once a women's doubles champion and mixed doubles champion at the French Open. Career Ramírez was a singl ...

Davis Cup

Contreras debuted for Mexico's Davis Cup team in 1953 and played his 12th and final tie during Mexico'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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, en route to the final. In the final against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Contreras, Francisco 1934 births 2022 deaths Mexican male tennis players USC Trojans men's tennis players Pan American Games medalists in tennis Pan American Games gold medalists for Mexico Pan American Games silver medalists for Mexico Pan American Games bronze medalists for Mexico Tennis players at the 1959 Pan American Games Tennis players at the 1963 Pan American Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in tennis Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Mexico Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Mexico Competitors at the 1959 Central American and Caribbean Games Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Tennis players from Mexico City 20th-century Mexican people

Biography

Davis Cup

See also

References

External links