Stan Smith

Stan Smith

The 1972 Wimbledon final still gets named among the great ones: five sets against Ilie Nastase, improvised genius against a 6ft 4in serve-volleyer, and Smith took it 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. It confirmed what the 1971 US Open, won over Jan Kodes a year after losing the Wimbledon final to John Newcombe, had suggested: the tall Californian was the best player in the world, and most rankings of 1972 said so. His 2 majors sit inside 52 career titles.

He was at his best with a flag on his shirt. Smith featured on seven winning US Davis Cup teams, and the 1972 final in Bucharest was the hardest earned: slow clay, a hostile crowd, officiating he called the worst he ever had. He beat Nastase in straight sets, then Ion Tiriac in five to clinch it. Adidas renamed a plain white tennis shoe after him in 1978; tens of millions of pairs later, a generation knows Stan Smith as a sneaker first and a champion second.