Andres Gomez

Ecuadorian Andres Gomez is best remembered as the 1990 Roland Garros champion, beating Thomas Muster 7-5, 6-1, 7-5 in the semi-finals and 20-year-old Andre Agassi 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the final. He became the oldest man at 30 years, 3 months to win the French title since Andres Gimeno won it at 34 in 1972. He was also the first South American since Guillermo Vilas in 1977 to win at Roland Garros. The popular 6’ 4” Gomez, reached a career-high No. 4 (11 June 1990) in singles and No. 1 (15 September 1986) in doubles, courtesy of a wicked left-handed forehand and exquisite touch that reaped him 21 singles titles (21-14 record) and 33 doubles trophies (33-18 overall). Nicknamed “Go Go” by Jimmy Connors, Gomez also won two Grand Slam doubles titles, at the 1986 US Open (w/ Slobodan Zivojinovic) – a late-minute decision to team up – and the 1988 Roland Garros (w/ Emilio Sanchez). He maintained a year-end Top 20 singles ranking for nearly a decade (1982-1990), with the exception of 1988 when he fell briefly to No. 24. Gomez reached three Grand Slam quarter-finals in 1985 at Roland Garros (l. to Lendl), Wimbledon (l. to Cash) and the US Open (l. to Lendl). In 1990 he compiled an ATP-best 23-6 record on clay (alongside Chesnokov and Ivanisevic), finishing the year at No. 6 with a career-high $872,613 in prize money. He qualified for the circuit-ending Masters in New York (1983-86) and ATP Tour World Championships in Frankfurt (1990), with his best performance a 1985 Masters semi-final exit (l. to Lendl) in January 1986. Gomez made his Davis Cup debut for Ecuador against Peru in September 1978, and played a further 36 ties (1978-79, 1981-88, 1992-93, 1995-96, 1998-2000) amassing a 51-27 overall record (31-12 in singles). Gomez wanted to study marine biology in college, but chose to try professional tennis in 1979 at the last minute. Within a few months he was ranked in the Top 50. As a junior he remembers watching Manuel Santana aged 12 at his local club in Guayaquil and was a former pupil of Harry Hopman. He was coached by Patricio Rodriguez and Colon Nunez. His tennis heroes included Lew Hoad and Rod Laver and his toughest opponents were Ivan Lendl and Connors. He enjoys surfing and golf. Gomez married Anna Maria on 13 June 1986 and the couple has two sons Juan Andres Jr. (born 12 December 1987) and Emilio (born 28 November 1991). Bio: James Buddell