Mario Llamas (30 March 1928 – 17 June 2014) was a

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 from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Career

Llamas was a regular fixture on 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 th ...

, appearing in a total of 21 ties during his career.Davis Cup Profile
/ref> He won 21 of his 44 rubbers, 15 of them in singles. In 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 Davis Cu ...

, Llamas was a member of the team that finished as the runner-up. Although he did not play in the final against Australia, he took part in the America Zone and Inter-Zone finals. He had a win over Rod Laver in a

1959 Davis Cup The 1959 Davis Cup was the 48th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 27 teams entered the Europe Zone, 8 teams entered the Eastern Zone, and 7 teams entered the America Zone. The Europe Zo ...

match. At the 1960 Wimbledon Championships he had wins over

Barry Phillips-Moore Barry Phillips-Moore (born 9 June 1938) is an Australian former tennis player of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. In singles, Phillips-Moore twice reached the semifinals of the Australian Championships, in 1961 and 1968. In doubles, he was a q ...

, Warren Woodcock and

Roger Becker Roger Becker (6 February 1934 – 6 November 2017) was a British tennis player. Besides tennis, Becker competed in cricket, football, and golf; all were well within his grasp. However, in 1949 he chose tennis to the dismay of the players of the ...

, before losing in the round of 16 to

Roy Emerson Roy Stanley Emerson (born 3 November 1936) is an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, for a total of 28 Grand Slam titles. He is the only male player to have completed a caree ...

.Tennis Archive Profile
He also made the fourth round of the 1961 French Championships, where he was seeded 13th. Llamas was a gold medalist in the men's doubles at the 1955 Pan American Games, with

Gustavo Palafox Gustavo Palafox (15 November 1923 – 21 August 2006) was a Mexican tennis player. Life and career Palafox won five Pan American Games gold medals during the 1950s. He competed at the US National Championships four times and made the third rou ...

as his partner. In the

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 ...

he took home a silver medal in the singles, after losing to gold medal playoff to Ronald Barnes. his other career singles highlights include winning the Pan American Championships on clay courts at Centro Deportivo Chapultepec,

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

three times (1958–59, 1963). Llamas died on 17 June 2014 at the age of 86.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Llamas, Mario 1928 births 2014 deaths Mexican male tennis players Tennis players from Mexico City Tennis players at the 1955 Pan American Games Tennis players at the 1963 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Mexico Pan American Games silver medalists for Mexico Pan American Games medalists in tennis Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Mexico Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in tennis Tennis players at the 1951 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games 20th-century Mexican people