Manuel Orantes

Spanish Born 1949 178 cm Left handed
Head to heads vs Ilie Nastase (25)vs Eddie Dibbs (17)vs Bjorn Borg (16)vs Adriano Panatta (16)vs Jaime Fillol (15)vs Harold Solomon (15)

Match log

1984

KitzbuhelClay, July
R64LKim Warwick1-6 4-6
GstaadClay, July
R32LSteve Meister1-6 0-1 RET
NiceClay, April
R32LVan Winitsky1-6 6-1 1-6
MadridCarpet, February
R32LKevin Curren6-2 3-6 2-6
Richmond WCTCarpet, February
R16LSteve Denton3-6 3-6

1983

BaselHard, October
R32LWojtek Fibak6-7 2-6
BarcelonaClay, October
R32LMiloslav Mecir6-1 3-6 3-6
R64WAlejandro Gattiker6-1 6-1
PalermoClay, September
R16LJimmy Arias7-6 6-7 4-6
R32WRicky Brown6-3 6-3
IndianapolisClay, August
R32LChris Lewis6-7 5-7
R64WJuan Avendano6-3 6-1
North ConwayClay, July
R32LEddie Dibbs1-6 6-2 4-6
R64WFrancesco Cancellotti6-3 7-5
WashingtonClay, July
R64LBrad Drewett6-7 4-6
Stuttgart OutdoorClay, July
R32LBrian Teacher4-6 6-2 2-6
GstaadClay, July
R32LSandy Mayer4-6 7-5 2-6
Roland GarrosClay, May
R64LMagnus Tideman3-6 3-6 6-1 3-6
R128WMorris Skip Strode6-3 6-1 6-1
RomeClay, May
R64LBalazs Taroczy2-6 6-7
HamburgClay, May
R32LMats Wilander6-4 2-6 4-6
R64WFernando Luna6-3 6-2
DusseldorfWon the titleClay, May
FWPat Cash6-3 6-2Won the title
SFWBrian Gottfried6-2 6-4
RRWDominique Bedel6-1 7-6
RRWPeter Elter6-3 4-6 7-5
RRLChris Lewis7-6 3-6 4-6
MadridClay, April
R32LCarlos Kirmayr6-2 6-7 4-6
BournemouthClay, April
R32LChris Lewis4-6 6-4 1-6
LisbonClay, April
R32LLibor Pimek6-2 3-6 2-6
Monte CarloClay, March
SFLMel Purcell3-6 1-2 RET
QFWYannick Noah2-6 7-6 6-3
R16WBill Scanlon4-6 6-2 6-1
R32WJose Higueras6-4 6-2
NiceClay, March
FLHenrik Sundstrom5-7 6-4 3-6
SFWFernando Luna6-2 6-2
QFWThierry Tulasne6-2 6-1
R16WJuan Aguilera7-6 6-3
R32WRamesh Krishnan6-3 6-3
Tunis CH, challengerClay, March
QFLMagnus Tideman5-7 4-6
R16WBroderick Dyke7-6 6-3
R32WGilles Moretton6-4 6-7 6-1
Cairo CH, challengerClay, February
R16LSergio Casal5-7 3-6
R32WJose Lopez Maeso6-3 6-1

1982

Messina CH, challengerClay, September
R16LPatrice Kuchna1-6 7-6 6-7
R32WTrevor Allan3-6 6-4 7-6
DusseldorfClay, May
SFWMark Edmondson6-3 6-4
RRLUlrich Pinner6-4 4-6 4-6
RRWAnders Jarryd1-6 7-5 6-2
MadridClay, April
SFLIvan Lendl4-6 4-6
QFWHenri Leconte6-4 6-3
R16WPavel Slozil7-6 6-2
R32WBalazs Taroczy6-2 6-0

Manuel Orantes

The 1975 US Open semi-final left Manuel Orantes two sets down and 0-5 in the fourth against Guillermo Vilas. He saved five match points, won seven straight games, and closed out the fifth set 6-4 late that night; a broken pipe in his hotel bathroom then stole most of his sleep. The next afternoon he dismantled defending champion and heavy favourite Jimmy Connors 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, beating power with touch, angles and spin, and the gentle left-hander from Spain had his major.

The final was the player in full. Born in Granada in 1949 and raised in Barcelona's El Carmel, a ball boy at the La Salut club from age eight, Orantes reached No. 2 in the world and gathered 39 career titles with a game of drop shots and disguise, and a temperament that made him one of the sport's true gentlemen. Roland Garros escaped him: in the 1974 final he led an eighteen-year-old Bjorn Borg by two sets, then won just two more games.