MADRID – Not the elegance of Roger Federer, nor the records of Novak Djokovic, nor the resilience of Rafael Nadal: for Ion Tiriac, the greatest tennis player of all time is someone who rose from nothing, a player with no natural talent for the racket, a player who reached the very top solely through relentless, almost Stakhanovite work. That man, for Tiriac, is the Argentine Guillermo Vilas.
“For me, Vilas is the greatest player of all time because he had no talent—zero talent,” said Tiriac, who managed and coached Vilas for many years, in an interview with Feliciano López on his podcast Feli’s Room. Tiriac’s argument, which at first glance might seem like a slight against Vilas, is in fact the greatest praise the Romanian magnate has ever given one of his protégés.
For Tiriac, who will turn 87 on May 9, Vilas represents the triumph of will over genetics. The Argentine was not born with talent in his blood or the natural ease of some of his contemporaries, but built his legend through sheer effort.
“Vilas used to train eight hours a day. Every single day he trained eight hours. I take my hat off to him. He’s a sensational guy, a terrific person in every respect,” Tiriac added during his conversation with Feliciano López, current co-director of the Madrid Masters 1000.
Surprised by Tiriac’s claim about Vilas’ lack of talent, López asked how it was possible that the Argentine became one of the greatest players of all time. “He must have had something,” the former Spanish player insisted.
“He had work ethic, willpower, heart, and also his mind. You can compare him to Thomas Muster, another great worker,” replied the Romanian, also noting that none of the players he coached or managed sacrificed themselves like Vilas. “In my entire life—and I’ve been a coach or manager with Ilie Năstase, Vilas, Boris Becker, Goran Ivanišević, Henri Leconte, Marat Safin…”
Vilas, now 73, is the greatest Latin American tennis player of all time. According to ATP statistics, he won 62 titles, including four Grand Slams: Roland Garros and the US Open in 1977, and the Australian Open twice, in 1978 and 1979. His highest ranking was world No. 2, although the Argentine has spent years fighting to be recognized as world No. 1 for several weeks in 1975 and 1976, during the reign of Jimmy Connors. “Every day that passes without correcting this is a greater injustice, especially considering his health. Tennis owes a great deal to Vilas,” the legendary Mats Wilander recently told CLAY.
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“Becker moved like my grandmother, but I put him with Vilas and he devoured him”
Tiriac also spoke in his conversation with Feliciano López about how he discovered Boris Becker. The Romanian recalled that it was the early 1980s when a friend told him about a very young German tennis player.
“I wasn’t interested. I had already spent 11 years with Vilas and I was tired. It wasn’t easy with Vilas, having to find several players every day to train with him. I didn’t want any more. But then I saw Becker,” he explained.
“He was 13 or 14 years old and moved like my grandmother. He was heavy in the legs, couldn’t run, but he had blood on his knees, blood on his elbow… he would throw himself everywhere. Is this kid normal?” Tiriac wondered at the time. “So I watched him another day, and another day, and he struck the ball incredibly. Building legs is easy because that’s something you can train, so I put him with Vilas for a month—and Becker devoured him. Hours and hours and hours until he almost broke his shoulder, his elbow… He wasn’t crying, but almost. He devoured him.”
