Pancho Segura

Pancho Segura
Pancho Segura in 1961
Full nameFrancisco Olegario Segura Cano
Country (sports) Ecuador
 United States
Born(1921-06-20)June 20, 1921
Guayaquil, Ecuador
DiedNovember 18, 2017(2017-11-18) (aged 96)
Carlsbad, California, United States
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Turned pro1947 (amateur from 1939)
Retired1970
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed forehand, one-handed backhand)
CollegeUniversity of Miami
Int. Tennis HoF1984 (member page)
Singles
Career record1292–825 (61.0%) [1]
Career titles66 [1]
Highest rankingU.S. No. 1 professional (1950, USPLTA)
Grand Slam singles results
French Open3R (1946)
Wimbledon3R (1946)
US OpenSF (1942, 1943, 1944, 1945)
Other tournaments
Professional majors
US ProW (1950, 1951, 1952)
Wembley ProF (1951, 1957, 1959, 1960)
French ProW (1950)
Other pro events
TOCW (1957AU)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
French OpenF (1946)
WimbledonSF (1946)
US OpenF (1944)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
US OpenF (1943, 1947)

Francisco Olegario Segura Cano (June 20, 1921 – November 18, 2017), better known as Pancho "Segoo" Segura, was a leading tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, both as an amateur and as a professional. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, but moved to the United States in 1940. Throughout his amateur career he was listed by the USTA as a "foreign" player resident in the U.S.[2] As a professional player, he was referred to as the "Ecuadorian champ who now lives in New York City".[3] After acquiring U.S. citizenship in 1991 at the age of seventy, Segura was a citizen of both countries.

Segura is the only player to have won the Cleveland/Forest Hills US Pro and International Pro titles on three different surfaces (which he did consecutively from 1950 to 1952). He won the inaugural professional Tournament of Champions at Sydney in 1957. He won the L. A. Masters tournament in 1958. In 1950, 1951, and 1952, as a professional, he was the U.S. No. 1 professional player in the USPLTA rankings and was also ranked U.S. number one professional for 1950 and 1952 in the PTPA rankings.

Segura's most potent shot was considered to be his double-handed forehand. His less-potent backhand was single-handed. He played collegiate tennis for the Miami Hurricanes at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.

  1. ^ a b "Pancho Segura: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. Tennis Base. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  2. ^ "U.S. Top 10s – Men". usta.com.
  3. ^ The Times of Shreveport, Louisiana, 19 July 1951