Jose Luis Clerc

Argentine Born 1958 185 cm Right handed
Head to heads vs Ivan Lendl (14)vs Guillermo Vilas (14)vs Andres Gomez (13)vs John McEnroe (11)vs Jose Higueras (11)vs Eddie Dibbs (9)

Match log

1995

Punta Del Este2 CH, challengerClay, February
R32LAlex Lopez Moron4-6 3-6

1989

St. VincentClay, August
R32LChrister Allgardh3-6 1-6
Roland GarrosClay, May
R128LAndres Gomez6-7 6-3 1-6 3-6
FlorenceClay, May
R32LOmar Camporese2-6 6-3 3-6
RomeClay, May
R32LMark Koevermans3-6 1-6
R64WJason Stoltenberg6-4 7-5

1985

Bahia CH, challengerHard, November
R16LJuan Avendano3-6 2-6
R32WIvan Kley6-0 6-4
Davis Cup WG PO: ARG vs URSClay, October
RRWAlexander Zverev Sr6-4 2-6 6-3 3-6 7-5
RRLAndrei Chesnokov6-2 6-1 2-6 4-6 2-6
BarcelonaClay, September
R32LDiego PerezW/O
R64WLorenzo Fargas7-5 6-2
BordeauxClay, September
SFLJimmy Brown7-6 3-6 3-6
QFWRonald Agenor6-2 6-4
R16WSteve Shaw6-1 7-5
R32WPeter Lindgren7-6 7-6
Stuttgart OutdoorClay, September
SFLIvan Lendl2-6 2-6
QFWJan Gunnarsson6-3 6-3
R16WBrian Teacher6-2 6-1
R32WIvo Werner6-3 6-1
US OpenHard, August
R128LStefan Edberg4-6 3-6 3-6
CincinnatiHard, August
R32LBill Scanlon6-7 6-7
R64WDiego Perez7-5 6-4
IndianapolisClay, July
R16LHans Schwaier3-6 2-6
R32WJohn Ross5-7 6-2 6-4
WashingtonClay, July
R16LGuillermo Vilas6-7 3-6
R32WSlobodan Zivojinovic7-6 6-2
BostonClay, July
R32LThierry Tulasne3-6 4-6
Roland GarrosClay, May
R32LYannick Noah1-6 7-6 4-6 6-4 6-8
R64WAlejandro Ganzabal6-3 6-3 6-3
R128WJay Lapidus6-4 6-3 6-1
RomeClay, May
QFLYannick Noah1-6 5-7
R16WTomas Smid6-4 6-2
R32WClaudio Panatta6-4 1-6 7-6
R64WSimone Colombo7-6 6-3
HamburgClay, April
SFLHenrik Sundstrom3-6 4-6
QFWJan Gunnarsson6-4 6-2
R16WRoberto Arguello6-2 6-3
R32WPavel Slozil6-2 6-2
R64WWally Masur6-4 6-4
MunichClay, April
SFLJoakim Nystrom2-6 4-6
QFWMiloslav Mecir7-5 6-3
R16WMartin Hipp6-4 6-2
R32WJohn Frawley6-7 6-1 6-2
Monte CarloClay, April
R16LAaron Krickstein7-5 1-6 4-6
R32WBoris Becker6-4 6-3
Davis Cup WG R1: ARG vs ECUClay, March
RRLAndres Gomez6-4 4-6 11-13 3-6

1984

Bahia CH, challengerHard, November
SFLHoracio De La Pena2-5 RET
QFWEduardo Bengoechea6-3 7-6
R16WMartin Wostenholme6-3 6-3
R32WRamiro Benavides6-2 6-3

Jose Luis Clerc

In the summer of 1981, Jose Luis Clerc won four straight titles on North American clay: Boston, Washington, North Conway, then Indianapolis, beating Guillermo Vilas in two finals and Ivan Lendl in the fourth. The run carried him to a career-high world No. 4 that August, reward for a one-handed backhand built for the surface, all wristy topspin and disguise. Roland Garros gave him his best major weeks too, a 1981 semi-final lost to Lendl in five sets and another in 1982 against seventeen-year-old Mats Wilander, but never a final.

That closeness without quite arriving framed his rivalry with Vilas: two Argentines pushing each other as hard as anyone on tour, Clerc winning every final they played from 1980 onward even as Vilas held the head-to-head. Together they carried Argentina to its first Davis Cup final in 1981, Clerc beating Roscoe Tanner in Cincinnati before John McEnroe closed it out in five sets. His 26 career titles came mostly on clay. He stayed close to the game after, as a television analyst watching the backhand he helped modernise.