Felicisimo Ampon
Full name: Felicisimo Hermoso Ampon
Nickname: Little Maestro, Mighty Mite, Totoy
Nickname: Little Maestro, Mighty Mite, Totoy
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| Bio | He is considered to be the greatest Filipino tennis player in history, and at only 4 foot 11 inches tall, was once considered the best tennis player in the world, pound for pound. He brought tennis to its highest point in Philippines history! Felicisimo Ampon was the son of former tennis player Felix Ampon and the brother of Desideria Ampon, who at her time dominated women's tennis in Asia. Ampon made a good start of his career in the Far Eastern Games, winning the tennis singles gold medal in the 1934 edition. He twice played in the Philippines Amateur Tennis Championships and was beaten in the play-offs on both occasion. In 1936, he lost to eventual finalist Juanito Gavia in the quarterfinals. In 1937, he defeated Sam Ang and Alfredo Diy, and made it to the finals of the Philippines Championship but lost to Leonardo Gavia Jr. After a disappointing Philippines Championships campaign, Ampon bounced back. As a freshman at Far Eastern University, he won the Philippine national collegiate singles crown in 1938. After the war, Ampon made history by winning the Wimbledon Plate Championship in 1948, a trophy for the 96 players who made an early exit in the first and second rounds of the Wimbledon Championships. With this win, he became the first Asian to win the tournament's consolation round trophy. In 1948, he won an International tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1949 he won Welsh Championships singles title and in 1951 he became the singles champions at the Swedish Hard Court Championships on clay after defeating Deyro on the final. Ampon participated in the 1950 Pan American Tennis Championships in Mexico City and won the singles event, his finest career title. Defeating Davis Cup legend Bill Talbert (USA) in the semi-finals and two-time Grand Slam finalist Tom Brown (USA) in the finals. That victory, earned Ampon the first ever Philippines Sportswriters Association (PSA) Athlete of the Year award in 2000. He also won the Italian mixed doubles championship in 1951. In 1952, Ampon made it to the quarter-finals of the French Open at Roland Garros but narrowly lost to world number one Frank Sedgman. He reached the final of the Scottish Championships losing to Ian Ayre. In 1953, he returned to Roland Garros and made impact, defeating the 1950 champion Budge Patty in the fourth round before losing to eventual champion Ken Rosewall in the quarter-finals. Both quarter-finals was the highest finished by a Filipino in Grand Slam tennis. He also becomes the shortest player ever to play in Wimbledon history and won over 30 European trophies throughout his career. The same year Ampon lost an all-Filipino final in Oslo, Norway, to Reymundo Deyro, arguably his greatest rival and partner in Philippine tennis history. In 1958 Asian Games, he was defeated again by Deyro in the finals of men's singles tennis and finished with a silver medal. He then partnered with Deyro to capture the men's doubles gold medal and with his sister Desideria Ampon captured the mixed doubles bronze medal. In the Davis Cup, he went on to lead the country in the Eastern Zone for more than a decade and made a prolific partnerships with other Filipino tennis legends Reymundo Deyro, Johnny Jose and Cesar Carmona. Ampon represented his country for the last time in 1968. He ended his Davis Cup career holding the Philippine record for the most singles (34-26) and total wins (40-35) in history. He also won his last title, teaming up with Hong Kong's Kenneth Tsui to capture the Chinese Recreational Club (CRC) Open men's doubles title. Ampon astonished tennis spectators with a combination of quick-footedness and precise ball placement. Over the years he posted victories against such notables as Tony Trabert, Vic Seixas, Jaroslav Drobny, Bill Talbert and Ramanathan Krishnan. He represented the country in several Davis Cup competitions for almost 30 years, and holds the Philippine all-time record for the most singles (34-26) and total wins (40-35) in Davis Cup history. Besides this, he was known for winning the 1934 Far Eastern Games tennis gold medal, the 1950 Pan American Games tennis singles gold medal, the 1958 Asian Games tennis doubles gold medal, and 1968 Chinese Recreational Club Open Tennis doubles title. Ampon was a world-class tennis player whose short stature earned him the nickname "Mighty Mite," was an ambassador for Philippine sports for nearly 30 years until his retirement in 1968. On September 14, 2013, along with Johnny Arcilla, Felicisimo Ampon and Raymundo Deyro, he received his Davis Cup trophy as one of the commitment awardees at the Plantation Bay Resort and Spa in Lapu-Lapu City. They were chosen as the awardees for representing the Philippines in the Davis Cup for so many years. He was represented by his grandsons Dominic and David Ampon Mallare. The awardees received a Davis Cup trophy from London. It was handed out by International Tennis Federation (ITF) representative Puneet Gupta. Winning 30 tournaments and beating a Wimbledon champion in the 1950’s is really hard to achieve because traveling is not that fast at that time and being based in the Pacific island of the Philippines is a long travel to get to European countries. Some stories suggest that Bill Talbert, Emerson and top ten internationals would not win on him if they play in the tropical heat of the Philippine islands. |
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