TENNIS PLAYERS from Ecuador

Top 4

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Ecuadorean Tennis Players of all time. This list of famous Ecuadorean Tennis Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Andrés Gómez (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 49.81, Andrés Gómez is the most famous Ecuadorean Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages on wikipedia.

Andrés Gómez Santos (Latin American Spanish: [anˈdɾes ˈɣomes ˈsantos]; born 27 February 1960) is an Ecuadorian former professional tennis player. He won the men's doubles title at the US Open in 1986 and the men's doubles and singles at the French Open in 1990. His son, Emilio Gómez, is a professional tennis player. His nephew Nicolás Lapentti was also a professional tennis player who reached a world ranking of No. 6, and another nephew, Roberto Quiroz, is currently pursuing a career in professional tennis.

2. Pancho Segura (1921 - 2017)

With an HPI of 45.47, Pancho Segura is the 2nd most famous Ecuadorean Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Francisco Olegario Segura Cano (June 20, 1921 – November 18, 2017), better known as Pancho "Segoo" Segura, was a leading tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, both as an amateur and as a professional. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, but moved to the United States in 1940. Throughout his amateur career he was listed by the USTA as a "foreign" player resident in the U.S. As a professional player, he was referred to as the "Ecuadorian champ who now lives in New York City". After acquiring U.S. citizenship in 1991 at the age of seventy, Segura was a citizen of both countries. Segura is the only player to have won the Cleveland/Forest Hills US Pro and International Pro titles on three different surfaces (which he did consecutively from 1950 to 1952). He won the inaugural professional Tournament of Champions at Sydney in 1957. He won the L. A. Masters tournament in 1958. In 1950, 1951, and 1952, as a professional, he was the U.S. No. 1 professional player in the USPLTA rankings and was also ranked U.S. number one professional for 1950 and 1952 in the PTPA rankings. Segura's most potent shot was considered to be his double-handed forehand. His less-potent backhand was single-handed. He played collegiate tennis for the Miami Hurricanes at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.

3. Nicolás Lapentti (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 39.46, Nicolás Lapentti is the 3rd most famous Ecuadorean Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Nicolás Alexander Lapentti Gómez (Spanish pronunciation: [nikoˈlas laˈpenti]; born 13 August 1976) is a former professional tennis player from Ecuador. His brothers, Giovanni and Leonardo, uncle Andrés, and cousins Roberto and Emilio also are or were on the pro circuit. His father, also named Nicolás Lapentti, was a star basketball player at the College (now University) of St. Thomas in Minnesota from 1963 to 1967, and played on the Ecuador Olympic team.

4. Irina Falconi (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 22.86, Irina Falconi is the 4th most famous Ecuadorean Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Irina Falconi Hartman (Spanish: Falconí; born Irina Alejandra Falconi; May 4, 1990) is an Ecuadorian-born American former professional tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 63, which she reached in May 2016. Her career-high in doubles is world No. 70, set in June 2013. Born Irina Alejandra Falconi in Portoviejo, Ecuador, she moved to Manhattan, New York, as a toddler. At the age of 14, she and her family moved to Florida. In 2021, Falconi married Travis Hartman and their daughter Isabella was born.