Raúl Ramírez (born 20 June 1953) is a Mexican former professional tennis player.
He attended and played tennis at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.USC Men's Tennis – On The Pro Tour , USCTrojans.com, Accessed 8 July 2008.
Personal life Ramírez was born in Ensenada, Baja California. In 1981, he married the Venezuelan-born former Miss Universe Maritza Sayalero. The couple lives in Ensenada and have three children: Rebecca (born 1982), Raúl (born 1984), and Daniel Francisco (1989).
Career Ramírez was active during the 1970s and 1980s.
He was in 40 singles finals where he won 19 titles and 21 runner-up titles, and participated in 101 doubles finals where he won 60 titles and 41 runner-up titles.
Ramírez was the first player to finish No. 1 in both singles and doubles Grand Prix point standings, accomplishing the feat in 1976.
He was ranked as high as World No. 4 in singles (achieved on November 7 1976) by the ATP ranking and he is one of the all-time leading doubles winners, having spent 62 weeks ranked World No. 1 in doubles, beginning 12 April 1976.
He participated in a total of 5 editions of the season-ending tournaments known in his time as the Masters Grand Prix or ATP Finals, in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978
Ramírez won 19 singles titles, including titles at the ATP Masters Series events in Rome (1975) and Monte Carlo (1978).
He won 60 doubles titles, including Wimbledon (1976), the French Open (1975 & '77), and at ATP Masters Series events in Cincinnati (1978), Canada (1976, ’77 & ’81), Monte Carlo (1979), Paris (1977), and Rome (1974, ’75, ’76 & ’77). He won the WCT World Doubles twice in 1975 and 1980. He won the men's singles in the Ojai Tennis Tournament in 1971.
He played tournaments of the two world tennis circuits played at the time, the Grand Prix tennis circuit and the World Championship Tennis (WCT). These circuits were predecessors of the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour (ATP Tour). In 1975 he won the Grand Prix, the present day equivalent of the Race.
Grand Slam tournament finals
Doubles finals, 7 (3 titles, 4 runners-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1975 French Open Clay Brian Gottfried John Alexander Phil Dent 6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 6–4Loss 1976 French Open Clay Brian Gottfried Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart 6–7, 3–6, 1–6Win 1976 Wimbledon Grass Brian Gottfried Ross Case Geoff Masters 3–6, 6–3, 8–6, 2–6, 7–5Win 1977 French Open (2) Clay Brian Gottfried Wojciech Fibak Jan Kodeš 7–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4Loss 1977 US Open Clay Brian Gottfried Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan 4–6, 0–6Loss 1979 Wimbledon Grass Brian Gottfried Peter Fleming John McEnroe 6–4, 4–6, 2–6, 2–6Loss 1980 French Open (2) Clay Brian Gottfried Victor Amaya Hank Pfister 6–1, 4–6, 4–6, 3–6
Mixed doubles final, 1 (runner-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1973 Wimbledon Grass Janet Newberry Billie Jean King Owen Davidson 3–6, 2–6
ATP career finals Singles: 40 (19 titles / 21 runner-ups) ResultW–L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Jul 1973 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Manuel Orantes ABNWin 1–1 Oct 1973 Tehran, Iran Clay John Newcombe 6–7, 6–1, 7–5, 6–3Win 2–2 Feb 1974 Dayton, U.S. Carpet Brian Gottfried 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(7–1)Win 3–1 Aug 1974 Columbus, U.S. Hard Roscoe Tanner 3–6, 7–6, 6–4Loss 3–2 Oct 1974 Tehran, Iran Clay Guillermo Vilas 0–6, 3–6, 1–6Win 4–2 Feb 1975 St. Petersburg WCT, U.S. Hard Roscoe Tanner 6–0, 1–6, 6–2Loss 4–3 Mar 1975 Caracas WCT, Venezuela Hard Rod Laver 6–7, 2–6Win 5–3 Apr 1975 Charlotte, U.S. Clay Roscoe Tanner 3–6, 6–4, 6–3Win 6–3 Jun 1975 Rome, Italy Clay Manuel Orantes 7–6, 7–5, 7–5Win 7–3 Nov 1975 Tokyo, Japan Clay Manuel Orantes 6–4, 7–5, 6–3Win 8–3 Mar 1976 Mexico City WCT, Mexico Clay Eddie Dibbs 7–6, 6–2Loss 8–4 Mar 1976 Jackson WCT, U.S. Carpet Ken Rosewall 3–6, 3–6Win 9–4 Apr 1976 Caracas WCT, Venezuela Clay Ilie Năstase 6–3, 6–4Win 10–4 Jul 1976 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Adriano Panatta 7–5, 6–7, 6–1, 6–3Loss 10–5 Jul 1976 Washington, D.C., U.S. Clay Jimmy Connors 2–6, 4–6Loss 10–6 Aug 1976 North Conway, U.S. Clay Jimmy Connors 6–7, 6–4, 3–6Loss 10–7 Oct 1976 Tehran, Iran Clay Manuel Orantes 6–7, 0–6, 6–2, 4–6Loss 10–8 Oct 1976 Vienna, Austria Hard (i) Wojciech Fibak 7–6, 3–6, 4–6, 6–2, 1–6Win 11–8 Nov 1976 London, England Carpet Manuel Orantes 6–3, 6–4Loss 11–9 Feb 1977 Miami WCT, U.S. Clay Eddie Dibbs 0–6, 3–6Loss 11–10 May 1977 Las Vegas, U.S. Hard Jimmy Connors 4–6, 7–5, 2–6Win 12–10 Jun 1977 London/Queen's Club, England Grass Mark Cox 9–7, 7–5Win 13–10 Sep 1977 Los Angeles, II, U.S. Hard Brian Gottfried 7–5, 3–6, 6–4Loss 13–11 Nov 1977 Oviedo, Spain Hard Eddie Dibbs 4–6, 1–6Win 14–11 Feb 1978 Mexico City WCT, Mexico Hard Pat DuPré 6–4, 6–1Loss 14–12 Feb 1978 Rancho Mirage, U.S. Hard Roscoe Tanner 1–6, 6–7Loss 14–13 Mar 1978 Washington Indoor, U.S. Carpet Brian Gottfried 5–7, 6–7Loss 14–14 Apr 1978 Rotterdam WCT, Netherlands Carpet Jimmy Connors 5–7, 5–7Win 15–14 Apr 1978 Monte Carlo WCT, Monaco Clay Tomáš Šmíd 6–3, 6–3, 6–4Loss 15–15 Jun 1978 Birmingham, England Grass Jimmy Connors 3–6, 1–6, 2–6Loss 15–16 Jul 1978 Cincinnati, U.S. Hard Eddie Dibbs 2–6, 3–6Loss 15–17 Oct 1978 Mexico City, Mexico Clay Vijay Amritraj 4–6, 4–6Win 16–17 May 1979 Florence, Italy Clay Karl Meiler 6–4, 1–6, 3–6, 7–5, 6–0Win 17–17 Feb 1980 San Juan, Puerto Rico Hard Phil Dent 6–3, 6–2Loss 17–18 May 1980 Florence, Italy Clay Adriano Panatta 2–6, 6–2, 4–6Loss 17–19 May 1981 Florence, Italy Clay José Luis Clerc 1–6, 2–6Loss 17–20 Jan 1982 Viña del Mar, Chile Clay Pedro Rebolledo 4–6, 6–3, 6–7Win 18–20 Feb 1982 Caracas, Venezuela Hard Zoltan Kuharszky 4–6, 7–6, 6–3Loss 18–21 Aug 1982 South Orange, U.S. Clay Yannick Noah 3–6, 6–7Win 19–21 Feb 1983 Caracas, Venezuela Hard Morris Skip Strode 6–4, 6–2
Doubles: 101 (60 titles / 41 runners-up)