doubles finals. He took Argentina to its first-ever Davis Cup final in 1981 (lost to the United States), together with José Luis Clerc, who was also a top-ten player. The Argentine press often referred to the tensions between the two of them, which even reverberated to the 2004 French Open awards ceremony, in which Vilas presented Gastón Gaudio with his trophy over Clerc's objections. Vilas's success on the court led to a surge in popularity of tennis in Argentina and throughout Latin America. Guillermo Cañas and Guillermo Coria were named after him. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine put Vilas in 24th place (15th male) in its list of the 40 Greatest Players of the Tennis Open Era, men and women included. Career statistics Singles performance timeline Grand Slam finals Singles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner-ups) Records These records were attained in Open Era of tennis. ^ Denotes consecutive streak. Notes References External links Argentine male tennis players Australian Open (tennis) champions French Open champions International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Tennis players from Buenos Aires Sportspeople from Mar del Plata US Open (tennis) champions 1952 births Living people Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles World number 1 ranked male tennis players