Andrés Hammersley Núñez (17 October 1919 — 10 January 2002) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

tennis player 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 ...

. He is considered one of the main referents of the tennis of his country in the 1940s and 1950s. Hammersley was nicknamed «the

Huaso A ''huaso'' () is a Chilean countryman and skilled horseman, similar to the United States, American cowboy, the Mexico, Mexican ''charro'' (and its northern equivalent, the ''vaquero''), the ''gaucho'' of Argentina, Uruguay and Rio Grande Do S ...

».

Biography

He was son of the athlete Rodolfo Hammersley and Lucía Núñez, and brother of the skier Arturo Hammersley. Simultaneously to his tennis career, he studied contactology in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, being one of the first Chilean specialists in this area. He had three marriages, one of them with Carla Timmerman. He spoke

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, English,

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Sport career

In 1941, he won his first Tennis Chilean championship, which repeated consecutively until 1946. Also he was runner-up in the Argentinian championship in 1945, and won the South American championship in 1943 and 1946. He was the first Chilean to participate in the international tournament of Forest Hills —current US Open— in 1945, and the following year he was invited to the

Wimbledon Championship The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

, where after being defeated by

Dinny Pails Dennis "Dinny" Pails (4 March 1921 – 22 November 1986) was an Australian tennis champion. Pails was born in England, but moved to Australia in 1922 at age 1. Pails won the men's singles championship at the Australian Championships in 1947. ...

, he suffered a

mental confusion In psychology, confusion is the quality or emotional state of being bewildered or unclear. The term "acute mental confusion"

that dropped him out of tracks until 1948. He returned to Wimbledon in 1954, participating in all the versions of the tournament until 1958. He was part of the Chilean team of

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

between 1954 and 1957, being nominated in eight opportunities, and he played in the semifinal of the

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

European zone against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. He won 10 Davis Cup matches and lost 13.

Grand Slam performance timeline

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammersley, Andres 1919 births 2002 deaths Chilean male tennis players Tennis players at the 1955 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for Chile Chilean people of English descent 20th-century Chilean sportsmen 21st-century Chilean people