Peru to Hollywood for tennis champion

Peruvian tennis player Alex Olmedo, who died in December aged 84, lit up the game in the 1950s and early 1960s with his grace and aggressive serve-and-volley game.

The first South American to win the men's Wimbledon singles, he controversially spearheaded the U.S.'s famous 1958 Davis Cup victory over Australia. Rated one of the world's top two amateurs at his peak, he later coached Hollywood royalty.

Luis Alejandro Olmedo y Rodriguez was born on March 24, 1936, at Arequipa, Peru. His father worked as a tennis groundsman and young Alex enjoyed helping him sweep courts and string rackets. Aged five, he began playing fanatically with a homemade racket, and was soon winning tournaments.

American coach Stanley Singer advised him to train in California, the heartland of college tennis. Near-penniless and with no English, his hometown raised the last $700 he needed for his trip to Los Angeles. There, he did odd jobs and racket re-strings and took English classes.

He trained at the famous Los Angeles Tennis Club. Future U.S. Davis Cup captain Perry T. Jones spotted his electrifying speed and organized a scholarship for him at the University of Southern California. There, Olmedo — nicknamed The Chief (El Cacique) because of his Inca heritage — flourished, and with his USC partner Ham Richardson won the U.S. men's doubles title.

His inclusion to the U.S. Davis Cup squad outraged those who considered the event a showcase for national pride. He was selected as he had lived in the U.S. for over three years.

The U.S. beat reigning champions Australia on fast Brisbane grass courts. The American fans erupted and Kirk Douglas sent a telegram of congratulations: “Now you are more than a chief. You are a superchief!”

Weeks later he took the 1959 Australian Championships, then dropped just two sets on his way to the Wimbledon title, en route beating Roy Emerson and 20-year-old Rod Laver.

As an amateur Olmedo could not earn prize money so he joined Jack Kramer's troupe of professionals on a US$35,000 contract. He won the 1960 U.S. Pro Championship and criss-crossed the globe battling stars such as Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall.

In 1965 he retired. For the next four decades he coached at the Beverly Hills Hotel, his protegés including Katharine Hepburn and Charlton Heston. “They come to see me to make themselves feel better about themselves,” he would say, “and to hit some tennis balls.”

Alex Olmedo