Pancho Gonzalez: The Latino Legend of Tennis (2005)

Narrated by Benjamin Bratt, Pancho Gonzalez: The Latino Legend of Tennis tells the compelling story of Richard Alonzo "Pancho" Gonzalez, largely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Due to his Mexican-American background, Gonzalez was never accepted in the supposedly upper circles of the tennis establishment, especially in the beginning of his career. Although known throughout the tennis world, Gonzalez played in relative obscurity during his ten-year reign as the World's Professional Champion because until 1968 only amateurs were permitted to play the established Grand Slam tournaments. A year later, and already a grandfather, he played one of Wimbledon's longest matches against Charlie Pasarell; the match lasted for 112 games, more than 5 hours, consuming 2 days. Gonzalez was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1968 while still an active player. He never had a formal tennis lesson, yet ruled his sport during the fifties and early sixties and continued to compete past the age of forty defeating players half his age, including Jimmy Connors, Rod Laver, and Arthur Ashe. Pancho was voted Sports Illustrated Top 20 Favorite Athletes of the 20th Century. Featuring interviews with Robert Redford, Serena and Venus Williams, Edward James Olmos, and Jimmy Connors as well as exclusive footage never before broadcast, the film tells the story of one the great unrecognized American athletes.