Vicente Zarazúa (born August 27, 1944) is a Mexican former

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 played during the 1960s and 70s, and his best achievement was winning gold medals at the demonstration and exhibition tennis tournaments at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

. Vicente Zarazúa was born at

Tacubaya Tacubaya is a working-class area of west-central Mexico City, in the borough of Miguel Hidalgo, consisting of the '' colonia'' Tacubaya proper and adjacent areas in other colonias, with San Miguel Chapultepec sección II, Observatorio, Daniel Ga ...

(Mexico) in 1944. Both his parents, who moved to Mexico City from

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

, were amateur tennis players and took part in interclub competitions, with his mother, Rosario, also winning the national championships. Both his older brothers, Federico and José María, played amateur tennis at the interclub level. As a junior, Vicente had a winning streak at the national level that stretched from 1959 to 1962, winning during this period Mexican national youth championships four times each in singles, boy doubles and mixed doubles. At the international level, he reached the finals of 1959

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

in singles (lost to

Charlie Pasarell Charles Manuel Pasarell Jr. (born February 12, 1944) is a Puerto Rican former tennis player, tennis administrator and founder of the current Indian Wells tournament. He has also commented for the Tennis Channel and with Arthur Ashe and Sheridan ...

)Orange Bowl International tennis champions
at the

USTA The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

website and, in 1962, won this tournament in doubles with Joaquin Loyo-Mayo. Zarazúa was playing for 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 ...

from 1964, overall during his career having taken part in 16 ties. He won 14 rubbers, mostly in doubles, and lost 9. During these ties he achieved some of his best results, beating, together with the national team, the

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

in 1969 and then

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

in 1975. In both cases, he won the doubles rubbers (with

Rafael Osuna Rafael Osuna Herrera (15 September 1938 – 4 June 1969), nicknamed "El Pelón" (The Bald), was a former world No. 1 tennis player, the most successful player in the history of Mexico and an Olympian. He was born in Mexico City, and is best re ...

in 1969 and with

Raúl Ramírez Raúl Ramírez (born 20 June 1953) is a Mexican retired professional tennis player. He was active during the 1970s and 1980s. Ramírez was the first player to finish first in both singles and doubles Grand Prix point standings, accomplishing th ...

in 1975). Another one of his highest achievements was the double victory (with Osuna) at the demonstration and exhibition Olympic tennis tournaments in Mexico in 1968. In 2008, Vicente Zarazúa was introduced to the Hall of Fame of Immortals by the Mexican Council for Sport and Professional Spectacles (COMEDEP).

References

External sources

Vicente Zarazúa
at the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zarazua, Vicente Living people Mexican male tennis players Olympic tennis players of Mexico Tennis players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Tennis players from Mexico City 1944 births Pan American Games medalists in tennis Pan American Games silver medalists for Mexico Tennis players at the 1963 Pan American Games Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Mexico Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in tennis Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Mexico 20th-century Mexican people