Spain has been providing excitement when it comes to tennis for several years, and this Sunday we will look at the pioneers of all the great Spanish tennis players: Manuel Alonso de Areizaga.

Born in San Sebastian on November 12, 1895, Manuel Alonso de Areizaga came from a wealthy family from the city of San Sebastian, who loved sports. Alonso’s father introduced the sport of tennis to the area, and both Manuel and his older brother José María (known as Pepe) would dedicate themselves to tennis.

As a youth, Manuel practiced sports such as hockey, rowing and skiing. He studied Civil Sciences in Madrid and during this stage he played hockey with the team Atlético Madrid, with it he won the Copa del Rey three times.

His brother Pepe won the Spanish Championship in 1912, and three years later, Manuel equaled the feat, a feat he repeated in 1919 and 1920. The following year, He graduated as a Civil Engineer.

However, he had felt the excitement of international competitions since 1920 when he took part in the competition Antwerp Olympic Games. In the individual tournament he reached the quarterfinals, where he was eliminated by British Turnbull. In doubles he was paired with his brother Pepe, but they fell in the first round.

Fame came to him in 1921, when he played at the Wimbledon tournament. At that time the format was a bit odd: a ‘challengers tournament’ was held and the winner had the right to face the previous year’s champion, and from there emerged the winner of Wimbledon. Alonso fell in the final of the ‘challengers tournament’ against South Africa’s Brian Norton, despite leading two sets to zero and 5-3 in the third set. The San Sebastian native wasted two match points and ultimately lost due to a cut on his hand.

In the same 1921 he became part of it, together Manuel Pérez Seoane, Prince Gomar, of the first Spanish team to participate in the Davis Cup. Spain lost in the first round to England, but Manuel Alonso had the honor of gaining the first point in the history of Spanish tennis in this tournament, after defeating England’s Gordon Lowe. The draw was 4-1.

In 1922, he repeated it in the Davis Cup and this time Spain beat India in the first round, thus being able to advance to final phase in Philadelphia. However in the United States, where the Spanish team was christened ‘the two Manolos’ (repeated by Alonso and Prince Gomar), they lost to Australia 4-1 in the candidates’ final. More than 40 years would pass until Spain again reached this far in the Davis Cup.

José María ‘Pepe’ Alonso (WIKIPEDIA).

Surprisingly, after Davis’ match, an American businessman saw Alonso and after learning that he and his brother Pepe were engineers, he made them a job offer.. They settled in the United States and began working for Fuller’s company, dedicated to manufacturing conveyor belts. A year later, Manolo Alonso worked at the American Locomotive Company (Alco), a company he would not leave until he retired and would eventually become vice president.

As an American citizen, he can participate in the US Open, but his best participation was in the New York tournament. is to reach the quarterfinalson four occasions.

At the 1924 Paris Olympics, Alonso participated again, reaching the round of 16 in the individual tournament and the quarterfinals with his brother Pepe in the doubles. Davis did not play that year, but he did play in 1925 and 1926. He did not play again until the 1931 and 1936 editions. After this last edition, at over 40 years old, decided to retire from tennis. By the way, to this day he remains the oldest Spanish player to appear in one match in this competition.

In the United States he became a famous performer, which allowed him to mix with film celebrities such as Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks or Mary Pickford. In 1927 he was voted the fifth best player in the world and won several tournaments across the country.

Already in 1977 he became the first Spaniard to enter the Tennis Hall of Fame. Five years later he suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed and died October 11, 1984, 39 years old three days ago, at the La Concepción clinic in Madrid. He is 88 years old.

I hope you like the article. See you next week.

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