   guillermo vilas (; born 17 august 1952, in buenos aires, argentina) is a retired professional tennis player from argentina. although he peaked at world no. 2 on the atp rankings in 1977, several sources and publications ranked vilas as the world no. 1 that year (often ranked equally with bjÃ¶rn borg). vilas was the second latin-american to win a grand slam tournament and is considered one of the greatest south american tennis players ever. he was the second male player to win more than 900 matches in the open era, reaching the mark in july 1987, behind only jimmy connors who reached 900 in 1985. ivan lendl and roger federer have also surpassed 900 wins. ==career== raised in the seaside resort of mar del plata, vilas was a southpaw and played his first tour event in 1969. he was in the year-ending top ten from 1974 through 1982. he was a clay-court specialist but also played well on hard, grass, and carpet surfaces. he won four grand slam titles: the 1977 french open and the 1977 us open (both played on clay) and the 1978 and 1979 australian open (both played on grass). he was also the runner-up at the french open three times (1975, 1978, and 1982) and at the australian open once ([[1977 australian open (january)|
1952_births Argentine_male_tennis_players Australian_Open_(tennis)_champions French_Open_champions Grand_Slam_(tennis)_champions_in_men\'s_singles International_Tennis_Hall_of_Fame_inductees Living_people People_from_Mar_del_Plata Sportspeople_from_Buenos_Aires US_Open_(tennis)_champions