José Luis Clerc

José Luis Clerc

Country (sports)	Argentina
Residence	Miami, United States
Born	(1958-08-16) 16 August 1958 Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro	1977
Retired	1986 (from full-time playing) 1995 (last match)
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record	377–151 (71.40%)
Career titles	25 (listed by ATP)
Highest ranking	No. 4 (3 August 1981)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	2R (1980)
French Open	SF (1981, 1982)
Wimbledon	4R (1979)
US Open	4R (1979, 1981)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	QF (1982)
WCT Finals	QF (1982)
Doubles
Career record	110–99
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 30 (8 October 1979)
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open	SF (1981)
Wimbledon	2R (1977, 1979, 1981)

José Luis Clerc (born 16 August 1958) is a former Argentine professional tennis player, and one of the most important Argentine players in history. He is nicknamed Batata. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 4 singles ranking on 3 August 1981, following a run of 25 consecutive match wins after Wimbledon.

Tennis career

Clerc represented Argentina for the Davis Cup from 1976 to 1989. With fellow top player Guillermo Vilas, they led Argentina to her first Davis Cup final in 1981 to set up a tie against United States in Cincinnati. After Vilas lost the first rubber in straight sets to John McEnroe, Clerc defeated Roscoe Tanner in straight sets in the second rubber to level the tie. During the third rubber, partnering Vilas, the pair lost to Fleming/McEnroe in doubles, 9–11 in the fifth and deciding set. Clerc then played McEnroe in the fourth rubber and eventually lost in 5 sets.

Clerc, along with Vilas and Carlos Gattiker, made the final of 1980 World Team Cup in Düsseldorf. Clerc defeated former French Open champion Adriano Panatta 7–6, 6–3. Argentina eventually beat Italy 3–0 to claim the title.

In 1981, Clerc entered the French Open off an 11-match win streak, and defeated Jimmy Connors in an epic 5-setter in the quarterfinals to extend it to 16. The streak ended when Clerc lost in 5 sets against Ivan Lendl who advanced into his first Grand Slam final, despite being up 2 sets to 1 and had a match point in the fourth set. Later that year, starting after Wimbledon, Clerc won another 28 consecutive matches before losing in the third round of the US Open.

In 1982, Clerc reached the semifinals of the French Open for the second consecutive year, and was looking to create the unprecedented all-Argentine final at the French Open, but was however upset by a 17-year old Swedish teenager Mats Wilander in four sets. Wilander would go on to beat Vilas in the final in 4 sets to become the youngest winner of a Grand Slam at the time.

Injuries began to plague Clerc since 1984 and his consistency dropped. Clerc never recovered and only played sporadically after 1985.

He received the ATP Sportsmanship Award in 1981, and Argentine Konex Awards in 1980 and 1990 for Merit in Tennis.

ATP career finals

Singles: 35 (25 titles, 10 runners-up)

Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) Year-End Championships (0–0) Grand Prix Super Series (1–1) Grand Prix / WCT Tour (24–9)

Titles by Surface Hard (3–1) Clay (21–9) Grass (0–0) Carpet (1–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	21 May 1978	Florence, Italy	Clay	Patrice Dominguez	6–4, 6–2, 6–1
Runner-up	1.	10 July 1978	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	3–6, 6–7, 4–6
Runner-up	2.	31 July 1978	South Orange, New Jersey, U.S.	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	1–6, 3–6
Runner-up	3.	14 August 1978	Toronto, Canada	Clay	Eddie Dibbs	7–5, 4–6, 1–6
Runner-up	4.	25 September 1978	Aix-En-Provence, France	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	3–6, 0–6, 3–6
Winner	2.	26 November 1978	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Víctor Pecci	6–4, 6–4
Winner	3.	4 December 1978	Santiago de Chile, Chile	Clay	Víctor Pecci	3–6, 6–3, 6–3
Winner	4.	16 April 1979	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Deon Joubert	6–2, 6–1
Runner-up	5.	19 November 1979	Buenos Aires, Argentina (2)	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	1–6, 2–6, 2–6
Winner	5.	10 March 1980	San José de Costa Rica, Costa Rica	Hard	Jimmy Connors	4–6, 2–6, retired
Runner-up	6.	21 July 1980	Washington D.C., US	Clay	Brian Gottfried	5–7, 6–4, 4–6
Winner	6.	28 July 1980	South Orange, New Jersey, U.S.	Clay	John McEnroe	6–3, 6–2
Winner	7.	4 August 1980	Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.	Clay	Mel Purcell	7–5, 6–3
Winner	8.	29 September 1980	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	6–3, 1–6, 1–6, 6–4, 6–2
Winner	9.	3 November 1980	Quito, Ecuador	Clay	Víctor Pecci	6–4, 1–6, 10–8
Winner	10.	17 November 1980	Buenos Aires, Argentina (2)	Clay	Rolf Gehring	6–7, 2–6, 7–5, 6–0, 6–3
Winner	11.	11 May 1981	Florence, Italy (2)	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	6–1, 6–2
Winner	12.	18 May 1981	Italian Open, Rome	Clay	Víctor Pecci	6–3, 6–4, 6–0
Winner	13.	13 July 1981	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.	Clay	Hans Gildemeister	0–6, 6–2, 6–2
Winner	14.	20 July 1981	Washington D.C., US	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	7–5, 6–2
Winner	15.	28 July 1981	North Conway, New Hampshire, U.S.	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	6–3, 6–2
Winner	16.	3 August 1981	Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. (2)	Clay	Ivan Lendl	4–6, 6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	7.	12 October 1981	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Ivan Lendl	2–6, 3–6, 0–6
Winner	17.	8 February 1982	Richmond, Virginia, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Fritz Buehning	3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	8.	12 April 1982	Houston, Texas, US	Clay	Ivan Lendl	6–3, 6–7, 0–6, 4–1, retired
Winner	18.	7 June 1982	Venice, Italy	Clay	Peter McNamara	7–6, 6–1
Winner	19.	5 July 1982	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	6–1, 6–3, 6–2
Winner	20.	12 July 1982	Zell am See, Austria	Clay	Heinz Günthardt	6–0, 3–6, 6–2, 6–1
Winner	21.	15 November 1982	Sao Paulo, Brazil	Clay	Marcos Hocevar	6–2, 6–7, 6–3
Winner	22.	24 January 1983	Guarujá, Brazil	Hard	Mats Wilander	3–6, 7–5, 6–1
Winner	23.	11 July 1983	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. (2)	Clay	Jimmy Arias	6–3, 6–1
Winner	24.	18 July 1983	Washington D.C., U.S. (2)	Clay	Jimmy Arias	6–3, 3–6, 6–0
Runner-up	9.	12 September 1983	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Jimmy Arias	2–6, 6–2, 0–6
Winner	25.	25 July 1983	North Conway, New Hampshire, U.S. (2)	Clay	Andrés Gómez	6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	10.	16 July 1984	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. (3)	Clay	Aaron Krickstein	6–7, 6–3, 4–6

Performance timeline

Singles

Tournament	1977		1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	SR	W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open			1R		2R						NH					0 / 2	1–2
French Open			2R	2R	2R	SF	SF	2R	2R	3R				1R		0 / 9	17–9
Wimbledon			1R	4R	3R	3R		1R								0 / 5	7–5
US Open			3R	4R	1R	4R	1R	1R		1R						0 / 7	8–7
Win–Loss	0–0		3–4	7–3	4–4	10–3	5–2	1–3	1–1	2–2	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	0 / 23	33–23
Year-End Championship
Masters	Did Not Qualify				RR	RR	QF	1R	Did Not Qualify							0 / 4	2–6
Career statistics
Finals	0		7	2	7	7	6	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	35
Titles	0		3	1	6	6	5	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	25
Overall Win–Loss	1–3		50–17	56–22	73–23	58–14	65–22	31–15	16–14	24–14	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–4	0–0	375–148
Win %	25%		75%	72%	76%	81%	75%	67%	53%	63%	–	–	–	20%	–	71.70%
Year-End Ranking	278		15	17	8	5	6	8	33	28		–	–	514

Notable rivalries

Clerc vs. Vilas

Regarded as two of the most important Argentine male tennis players, José Luis Clerc and Guillermo Vilas played each other 14 times in their careers, with Vilas leading 10–4. Vilas was 6 years older than Clerc, making it a clash of generations. Vilas being a dominant force on clay for much of the second half of 1970s, Clerc was considered a rising star on clay during that time. All of their 14 meetings came after the quarterfinal stages (with one exception, which was at the Masters Grand Prix) and included 8 finals. Vilas won their first 6 encounters before 1980, including 4 finals and only lost 1 set to Clerc during that time. However, since 1980, they had a tied record of 4–4, with Clerc winning all 4 of the finals.

Despite their insurmountable contribution to Argentine tennis, the pair did not get along, the tension between them even reverberating at the 2004 French Open awards ceremony, in which Vilas presented Gastón Gaudio his trophy over Clerc's objections.

Coincidentally, both players' final Grand Slam appearance was at the 1989 French Open where both received a wild card entry.

Personal life

José Luis Clerc in 1980 married to Annelie Czerner (Who was the beauty queen of the city of Mar del Plata) and has two sons & a daughter: Juan Pablo Clerc (born 23 September 1981), Dominique Clerc (born 12 January 1984), and Nicolás Clerc (born 19 October 1990). In 2009 they divorced, Clerc in 2010 married with Gisela Medrano with whom she had a daughter named Sophie (born 7 April 2011).

Clerc runs a tennis school in Argentina, participates in Senior tournaments, and regularly serves as a tennis analyst for ESPN Latin America and ESPN Deportes. He also coaches Julia Cohen, a top American junior player.

Clerc is currently developing and will serve as director of the "José Luis Clerc Tennis Academy" at Algodon Wine Estates in San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina. He also serves as Ambassador to the "Algodon" brand.

External links

• José Luis Clerc at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• José Luis Clerc at the Davis Cup
• Clerc's Konex Awards (Spanish)
• 1980 Argentina's World Team Cup
• Interview (Spanish)
• Algodon Wine Estates website