MADRID — On Oct. 9, 2019, Spanish tennis pioneer Andres Gimeno died from cancer at the age of 82, remembered as the oldest player to win Roland-Garros at 34 years and 10 months old. Gimeno achieved that historic feat in Paris in 1972 when he defeated Frenchman Patrick Proisy in the final, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1, at Roland-Garros.
Born in 1937, Gimeno was one of the first Spanish players to compete at the international level alongside Manolo Santana. He won the junior event at Roland-Garros in 1955 and reached the quarterfinals of the men's event in 1960, losing to Nicola Pietrangeli 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2. That same year he signed with Jack Kramer to become a touring pro and could not enter Grand Slam events for the following eight years. Tennis expert Bud Collins described him as "a smooth groundstroker, fine server and cool under fire," while Robert Lipsyte of The New York Times wrote, "a retriever with classic stroking, Gimeno [was] the ultimate wall that returns everything."
Throughout the 1960s Gimeno faced the best players of his era and was considered the third-best player in the world behind Australians Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall, both of whom he defeated several times. He reached three major professional finals, losing the French Pro in 1962 to Rosewall 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-2, the London Pro in 1965 to Laver 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, and the US Pro in 1967 to Laver 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5. After the Open Era began in 1968, the 30-year-old reached the semifinals at Roland-Garros, losing to Rosewall 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, finished runner-up at the 1969 Australian Open to Laver 6-3, 6-4, 7-5, and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 1970, losing to John Newcombe 6-3, 8-6, 6-0.
Gimeno's greatest triumph came in 1972 at age 34. He eliminated world No. 1 Stan Smith in the quarterfinals 6-1, 7-9, 6-0, 7-5 before beating Proisy for the title. It was his last great achievement before retiring in 1973. He later opened a tennis club in Spain and helped develop a new generation of clay-court talent, including Alex Corretja, the two-time Roland-Garros runner-up who attended Gimeno's camps as a young player.
Inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009, Gimeno announced two years later that he had lost nearly all his money in the Spanish economic crisis, prompting Spanish players including Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer to raise money for him through an exhibition tournament. His Roland-Garros age record stood until 2022 when Nadal won the title for a 14th time at 36 years and two days, and Novak Djokovic then set a new mark in 2023 when he won the title for a third time at 36 years, 20 days.