Andrés Gómez Santos (; born 27 February 1960) is an Ecuadorian former professional
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 was ranked as high as world No. 4 in singles and
world No. 1 in doubles. Gómez won 21 singles titles and 33 doubles titles during his career, including a singles
major at the
1990 French Open, and two doubles majors at the
1986 US Open and the
1988 French Open.
His son,
Emilio Gómez, is a professional tennis player.
His nephew
Nicolás Lapentti was also a professional tennis player who reached a world ranking of No. 6, and another nephew,
Roberto Quiroz, is currently pursuing a career in professional tennis.
Career
Gómez turned professional in 1979. Early success in his career came mainly in doubles competition. He won five doubles titles in 1980 and seven in 1981.
In 1986, Gómez attained the world No. 1 doubles ranking. He won seven doubles events that year, including the
US Open men's doubles title (partnering
Slobodan Živojinović). Gómez won a second
Grand Slam men's doubles title in 1988 at the French Open (partnering
Emilio Sánchez).
His first top-level singles title came in 1981 in
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
. He then won the
Italian Open in 1982, beating
Eliot Teltscher in the final in three sets, and again in 1984, when he defeated
Aaron Krickstein in four sets.
In 1990, Gómez reached his first and only Grand Slam singles final at the
French Open. He beat
Fernando Luna,
Marcelo Filippini,
Alexander Volkov,
Magnus Gustafsson,
Thierry Champion, and
Thomas Muster
Thomas Muster (born 2 October 1967) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Muster ...
to reach the final. There he faced 20-year-old
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 101 ...
who, like Gómez, was playing in his first Grand Slam singles final. The up-and-coming American star was considered the favourite, but Gómez seized the moment and claimed the title with a four-set win. Gómez reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 later that year.
Throughout his career, Gómez won 21 singles and 33 doubles titles. His last singles title was won in 1991 in Brasília. His final doubles title came in 1992 in Barcelona.
Grand Slam finals
Singles: 1 (1–0)
Doubles: 2 (2–0)
Career finals
Singles: 35 (21 titles, 14 runners-up)
Doubles: 51 (33 titles, 18 runners-up)
Performance timelines
Singles
Doubles
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez, Andres
1960 births
Living people
Ecuadorian male tennis players
French Open champions
Tennis players from Guayaquil
Tennis players at the 1979 Pan American Games
Pan American Games bronze medalists for Ecuador
US Open (tennis) champions
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles
Pan American Games bronze medalists in tennis
South American Games gold medalists for Ecuador
South American Games medalists in tennis
Competitors at the 1978 Southern Cross Games
Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games
ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players