Alex Olmedo

Alejandro "Alex" Rodríguez Olmedo (born March 24, 1936 in Arequipa) is a former tennis player from Peru with American citizenship, who was ranked as the top amateur player in the world in 1959. Although born and raised in Peru, he came to Southern California and was mentored by Perry T. Jones, President of the Southern California Tennis Association at the Los Angeles Tennis Club (LATC). George Toley recruited him to play for the University of Southern California (USC), as he wrote in his book "The Golden Age of College Tennis, 2009". Olmedo graduated with a Business Degree from USC. While there, he won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Singles and Doubles Championships in 1956 and 1958.^[1] (In 1957, USC was excluded from NCAA competition.)

Perry T. Jones became Davis Cup Captain in 1958 and recruited Olmedo to play on the team. He represented the U.S. in Davis Cup competition in 1958 and 1959, winning in both singles and doubles – achieving 2 of the 3 points required to win the Cup. His teammates were Ham Richardson and Barry MacKay, when they won the Cup in 1958.^[2] Even though he was not a U.S. citizen, he was technically eligible to represent the U.S. in Davis Cup because he had lived in the country for at least five years and because his country of citizenship, Peru, did not have a Davis Cup team. His participation was very controversial, however. Sports columnist Arthur Dailey at the New York Times wrote, "This would seem to be the saddest day in the history of American tennis. A few more such rousing victories and the prestige of this country in tennis will sink to a new low." Olmedo himself refused to file for U.S. citizenship, said he was content to remain a Peruvian citizen, and denied he was ducking U.S. citizenship to avoid being drafted into the Army. Still, many Americans "took a dim view of the largest nation in the competition stooping to borrow a little player from Peru to win the Cup".^[3]

Olmedo won the Australian Championships and the Wimbledon singles titles in 1959 and was the runner-up at the 1959 U.S. Championships, losing to Neale Fraser, who he defeated in the Australian Championships earlier that year. At 1959 Wimbledon, he defeated Rod Laver in 71 minutes 6–4, 6–3, 6–4. Olmedo turned professional in 1960, and that year won the US Pro title by beating Tony Trabert in the final

Olmedo was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.^[4] Olmedo was the first Latin American to win the Wimbledon men's singles title. He spent over 40 years teaching tennis at the Beverly Hills Hotel in California.

Grand Slam finals (6)

Singles (3)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1959	Australian Championships	Grass	Neale Fraser	6–1, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Winner	1959	Wimbledon	Grass	Rod Laver	6–4, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	1959	U.S. Championships	Grass	Neale Fraser	6–3, 5–7, 6–2, 6–4

Men's doubles (2)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1958	U.S. Championships	Grass	Ham Richardson	Sam Giammalva Barry MacKay	3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	1959	U.S. Championships	Grass	Butch Buchholz	Roy Emerson Neale Fraser	3–6, 6–3, 5–7, 6–4, 7–5

Mixed doubles (1)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1958	U.S. Championships	Grass	Maria Bueno	Neale Fraser Margaret Osborne duPont	6–3, 3–6, 9–7

References

(U.S. Davis Cup Finals Winner 1958)

External links

• International Tennis Hall of Fame