Francisco Olegario Segura Cano (June 20, 1921 – November 18, 2017), better known as Pancho "Segoo" Segura, was a leading tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, both as an amateur and as a professional. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, but moved to the United States in 1940. Throughout his amateur career he was listed by the USTA as a "foreign" player resident in the U.S. As a professional player, he was referred to as the "Ecuadorian champ who now lives in New York City".The Times of Shreveport, Louisiana, 19 July 1951 After acquiring U.S. citizenship in 1991 at the age of seventy, Segura was a citizen of both countries.
Segura is the only player to have won the Cleveland/Forest Hills US Pro and International Pro titles on three different surfaces (which he did consecutively from 1950 to 1952). He won the inaugural professional Tournament of Champions at Sydney in 1957. He won the L. A. Masters tournament in 1958. In 1950, 1951, and 1952, as a professional, he was the U.S. No. 1 professional player in the USPLTA rankings and was also ranked U.S. number one professional for 1950 and 1952 in the PTPA rankings.
Segura's most potent shot was considered to be his double-handed forehand. His less-potent backhand was single-handed. He played collegiate tennis for the Miami Hurricanes at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
Early life Segura was born on a bus traveling from Quevedo to Guayaquil, Ecuador, the first of seven children of Domingo Segura Paredes, Spanish in origin, and Fransisca Cano, an Indian from Quevedo. He almost died at his premature birth, then suffered from hernias and malaria. No more than 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) tall, he had badly bowed legs from the rickets that he also had as a child. He learned playing tennis by hitting against a backboard at the Guayaquil Tennis Club where his father was the caretaker and he himself worked as a ball boy and servant. He decided to play with a double-handed forehand because it allowed him to hit with more power. Segura left school when he was 12 years old to earn money for his family who lived in poverty. As he developed his game in his early teens he began to get asked as a hitting partner by the club players.
In 1938 he represented Guayaquil in their annual tennis match against Quito and after winning his three matches was invited by Galo Plaza Lasso to participate in the Bolivarian Games. Segura won the gold medal in the singles event after a win in the final against Jorge Combariza. On return to Guayaquil he was welcomed with a ticker-tape parade.
By the time he was 17, Segura had won a number of titles in Latin America. In 1939 he planned to go to France to further develop his game but the outbreak of World War II prevented this. In the spring of 1940 he was visited by American player Elwood Cooke, finalist at the 1939 Wimbledon Championships, on behalf of Wilson Sporting Goods. With their support Segura travelled to the United States in June 1940 and arrived in New York on July 29.
Amateur career
1940 Directly following his arrival in the United States Segura entered a grass court tournament at the Meadow Club in Southampton, Long Island. It was the first time he played on grass and he lost in both the singles and doubles events. At the Eastern Clay Court Championships in East Orange, New Jersey he took the first set against Jack Kramer but lost the match. In early September he entered the U.S. National Championships for the first time and was drawn against fourth-seeded Frank Parker. Segura lost in three straight sets despite leading 5–1 in the third set. In October he won his first grass court match against the Irish Davis Cup player George Lyttleton Rogers at the Hispanic Tennis Club.
1941 Segura won the Brooklyn clay court championships in May beating Ladislav Hecht in the final. Hecht commented: "He'll be a great player in another year, just as soon as he makes circuit with older and smarter players. His baffling shots and unorthodox style will puzzle many a foe." He won the Hispano invitation event in August beating Frank Bowden in the final. Segura lost in the second round of the U.S. Championships to Bryan Grant in five sets. "Segura had the usually sedate Forest Hills fans in the aisles with his attack, similar to that of Jack Bromwich, the double-fisted Australian. He was a strong crowd favorite but Grant drew a ringing round of applause for his comeback in the final set after Segura seemingly had him beaten down." Segura won the Dade County championships in December beating Gardnar Mulloy in the final. He "captured a four-set battle which had several hundred wild-eyed spectators almost standing on their heads." Segura then lost in the final of the Sugar Bowl to Ted Schroeder. "Segura, who amazed the crowd with his ability to retrieve seemingly impossible shots, won the first two sets before Schroeder, seeded No. 1, overcame wildness and began passing the Ecuadorean consistently".
1942 Segura won the Florida west coast title in February beating George Lyttleton Rogers in the final. Segura beat Bill Talbert to win the Cincinnati event in June. Segura successfully defended his title at Brooklyn in July, beating Hecht in the final in four sets. At the New Jersey state tournament the following week, Segura beat Vic Seixas and Budge Patty before a win in three straight sets over Hecht in the final without losing a single game. The following week Segura beat Schroeder to win the final of the Eastern Clay Court Championships. "Segura's two-handed drives down the sidelines kept Schroeder on the defensive throughout and afforded the Californian few opportunities to move in close. While Segura's emphasis was on speed, he threw in an occasional dropshot to add to Schroeder's discomfiture". Segura beat Mulloy to win the Longwood Bowl in August 1942. At the U.S. Championships, Segura beat Talbert before losing to Parker in the semi-finals. "And, regardless as to any plan Segura may have had in mind before the match started, he was at Parker's mercy at every stage of the duel". Segura beat Earl Bartlett to win the Sugar Bowl in December. Segura was offered a tennis scholarship by Gardnar Mulloy, tennis coach at the University of Miami and he entered in the fall of 1942. He won the National Collegiate Singles Championship for three straight years: in 1943, 1944, and 1945.
1943
Segura won the Pan American championships in Mexico City in January beating Talbert in the final in five sets. He won the Miami tournament over Campbell Gillespie in February. Segura won New Jersey event in July over Robert Odman. Segura beat Joe Hunt in the final of the Eastern Grass Court Championships in August. "Segura, now a student In Florida, was on the top of his game while Hunt weakened rapidly following the first set. After being trounced soundly in the second, the sailor changed to spiked shoes in hopes of turning the tide but gained little benefit". The following week Segura beat Sidney Wood to win Southampton invitation. Despite having won several tournaments in the weeks before the U.S. Championships, Segura lost in the semi-finals of the event to Jack Kramer. Segura won the Pan American championships in Mexico City over Talbert in October (a familiar opponent in the final of this tournament).
1944
In June, Segura won US clay court event and the following week won at Cincinnati (both over Talbert). Pancho won the Western states tournament in July over Talbert in five gruelling sets in which both player had suffered leg injuries and had to take time out for treatment. Segura won Southampton invitation with a four set victory over McNeill in August. Segura lost to Talbert in five sets in the semi-finals of the U.S. Championships. "What made Talbert's victory so surprising was the fact that it was achieved in five strength-sapping sets. The Indianapolis lad was rated as a 'sprinter' by most experts, and figured to lack the vitality to win over the route. But Bill more than balanced in strategy what he spotted the energetic Ecuadorian in stamina." Segura won the Pan American championships at Mexico City in October (again beating Talbert in the final).
1945
Segura won the Roney Plaza event at Miami in May over Charles Harris. At the U.S. Clay Court Championships in July Talbert beat Segura in a five-set final. At the U.S. Championships, Segura beat Bob Falkenburg before losing again to Talbert in the semi-finals. "Charging the net with effectiveness as he and Talbert squared off in the famed center court, Pancho forged into a 4-to-l lead as Talbert netted shot after shot. But then Talbert rammed back through Segura's service three straight times, lost his own once and put the set away by ruining Segura's delivery with cross court drop shots in the twelfth game. From there on it was no contest. Pancho tried but he just didn't have it".
1946
Segura won the US Indoors event over defending champion McNeill in March. "The South American parlayed superb passing shot and an uncanny defensive game into the triumph that took the title out of the United States for the first time since Jean Borotra carted it to France in 1931". In April he won the Miami tournament over Talbert. Segura won the title at Queens over Dinny Pails in June. "Segura walked off the court a very tired man. But, although near exhaustion, he summoned just sufficient reserve strength in the final set to retrieve enough shots to win". Segura lost in the third round of Wimbledon to Tom Brown. Segura lost in the last 16 of the French championships in July (held after Wimbledon this year) to eventual winner Marcel Bernard. "In the most spectacular match of the tournament to date Roland Garros stadium echoed with Segura's cry of 'Oh Pancho' with which he berated his own mistakes." Segura lost to Mulloy in the quarter-finals of the U.S. Championships in four sets.
1947
Segura won La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club tournament over Tom Falkenburg in February. Segura lost to Drobny in the first round of Wimbledon. Kramer wrote that Segura lost "without distinction (to Tom Brown and Jaroslav Drobný) the two times he played Wimbledon, and really, nobody took Segoo seriously. He didn't speak English well, he had a freak shot, and on the grass while scooting around in his long white pants with his bowlegs, he looked like a little butterball. A dirty butterball: his pants were always grass-stained". Segura won Southampton invitation over Seymour Greenberg in August. Segura lost to Parker in the quarter-finals of the U.S. Championships. Segura won the title at São Paulo in November beating Parker in the final and beat Parker again later that month in the Rio de Janeiro final.
Professional career
1948
Long before Open Tennis, Segura turned professional in 1947 and was an immediate crowd-pleaser with his winning smile, infectiously humorous manner, and unorthodox but deadly game. According to Bobby Riggs, Jack Harris (the promoter of the forthcoming Riggs-Kramer tour for 1948) attempted to sign Ted Schroeder to play the preliminary matches of the tour. Ultimately he failed and instead signed Segura to play the latest Australian amateur champion, Dinny Pails. Instead of a percentage of the gross receipts, as Riggs and Kramer were contracted for, Segura and Pails were each paid $300 a week.Bobby Riggs (1949) Tennis Is My Racket, New York, p. 16. Segura lost the tour 44–26. At the US Pro championships at Forest Hills in June 1948, Segura lost in the quarter-finals against Frank Kovacs."Segura held command over Kovacs through the first two sets when the Californian was never able to break his opponent's service. But in the third game of the third set, Kovacs cracked through to assume a 2-1 lead and he grew progressively stronger from that point."
1949