Andres Gimeno

Andres Gimeno

Andres Gimeno signed with Jack Kramer's professional troupe in 1960 and spent eight years barred from the majors, an elegant Barcelona stylist rated behind only Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall on the pro tour, his two most frequent opponents. Those prime years sit outside these records, which begin only when tennis went open in 1968. At 31 he reached the 1969 Australian Open final, where Laver beat him in straight sets, then the Wimbledon semi-finals in 1970.

At Roland Garros in 1972, aged 34 years and 10 months, he lost the first set to Patrick Proisy, then conceded five games over the last three: 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1. He was the oldest champion in Paris until Rafael Nadal in 2022 and remains the oldest first-time major winner of the Open era. He retired a year later with 12 career titles, opened a club in Barcelona, and spent two decades as the voice of tennis on Spanish television; he died in his home city in 2019, aged 82.