Question 1

True or false: Vilas was posthumously awarded a Grand Slam title decades after his playing career ended.

Accepted Answer

False. Vilas is still alive (as of 2025) and has never been posthumously awarded a title, though he has campaigned for retroactive No. 1 rankings.

Question 2

True or false: Vilas was a left-handed player known for his powerful serve-and-volley game.

Accepted Answer

False. Vilas was right-handed and a baseline player, famous for his heavy topspin forehand and grinding style on clay.

Question 3

True or false: Guillermo Vilas invented the ‘topspin lob’ that became a staple of modern clay-court tennis.

Accepted Answer

False. The topspin lob predates Vilas; it was popularized by players like Bjorn Borg and Ilie Năstase in the early 1970s.

Question 4

True or false: Guillermo Vilas won the 1977 French Open without losing a single set.

Accepted Answer

True. At Roland Garros in 1977, Vilas dominated, dropping no sets en route to the title, defeating Brian Gottfried in the final.

Question 5

True or false: Guillermo Vilas won the US Open in 1977 on the clay courts of the West Side Tennis Club.

Accepted Answer

True. The 1977 US Open was played on clay at Forest Hills, and Vilas defeated Jimmy Connors in the final, capturing his first Grand Slam title.

Question 6

True or false: Guillermo Vilas won 46 consecutive matches in 1977, which was an Open Era record at the time.

Accepted Answer

True. Vilas's 46 straight wins in 1977 set an Open Era record, later broken by Björn Borg's 49 in 1978.

Question 7

True or false: Guillermo Vilas once played a match in Buenos Aires that lasted over six hours.

Accepted Answer

True. In the 1977 Davis Cup semifinal against Australia in Buenos Aires, Vilas defeated Tony Roche in a 6-hour 27-minute marathon, the longest Davis Cup match at the time.

Question 8

True or false: Though never ranked No. 1 by the ATP, Guillermo Vilas was named world No. 1 by multiple tennis publications in 1977.

Accepted Answer

True. After winning the French Open and US Open and a 46-match streak in 1977, Vilas was ranked No. 1 by World Tennis and Tennis Magazine, despite the ATP computer listing Connors first.

Guillermo Vilas Trivia Questions