General Felicisimo Hermoso
Ampon
Male
Philippines
1920-10-27
Manila, Philippines
1997-10-07
Highland Park, Ill., United States of America


About

Nickname: Little Maestro, Mighty Mite, Totoy

Felicisimo Ampon was the son of former tennis player Felix Ampon and the brother of Desideria Ampon, who at her time dominate 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 loss to eventual finalist Juanito Gavia (6-3 6-4 6-3) in the quarterfinals. In 1937, he defeated Sam Ang and Alfredo Diy, and made it to the finals of the Philippines Championship but loss to Leonardo Gavia Jr. (6-3 7-5 2-6 6-3).
After a disappointing Philippines Championships campaign, Ampon bounced back by winning the 1937 Davis Cup Singles title, becoming the first and only Filipino player ever to win a title in Davis Cup competition. He went on to lead the country dominated the Davis Cup Eastern Zone for two decades and made a prolific partnerships with other Filipino tennis legends Reymundo Deyro, Johnny Jose and Cesar Carmona.
After the war, Ampon participated in the 1950 Pan American Championship in Mexico City and won the singles gold medal, 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 1952, Ampon made it the quarter-finals of the French Open at Roland Garros but unfortunately, he narrowly loss to world number one Frank Sedgman (AUS). In 1953, he return to Roland Garros and made impact, defeating Budge Patty (USA) in the fourth round (6-4 6-2 6-4) before losing to eventual champion Ken Rosewall (AUS) in the quarter-finals (6-2 6-1 6-1). Both quarter-finals was the highest finished by a Filipino in Grand Slam tennis. In the 1953 Wimbledon Open, Ampon made history by winning the Wimbledon Plate Championship, a trophy for the players who made an early exit in the first and second rounds (according to some sources he won this trophy in 1948[4]). He also becomes the shortest player ever to play in Wimbledon history and won over 30 European trophies throughout his career.[5] The same year, saw a historic all-Filipino finals in Oslo, Norway, where Ampon loss to his compatriot 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 captured the men\'s doubles gold medal and with his sister Desideria Ampon captured the mixed doubles bronze medal.
He went on to play for another ten years, mostly in Davis Cup and represented the 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 double title.[6]
Achievements



Media


Archive statistics 1936 - 1968
26
364
260


Tournament wins 1966 - Philippines Championships (Open)
1963 - Philippines Championships (Open)
1959 - Philippine Championships b (Amateur)
1959 - Philippines Championships (Open)
1955 - Philippines Championships (Open)
1953 - Brumana International (Amateur)
1953 - Philippines Championships (Open)
1952 - Philippines Championships (Open)
1951 - Dortmund International (Amateur)
1951 - Köln International (Amateur)
1951 - Eastern Mediterranean Championships (Amateur)
1951 - Lugano Lido Tournament (Amateur)
1951 - Turkish International Championships (Turkey Open) (Open)
1950 - Indian International Championships (Amateur)
1950 - Northern India (Amateur)
1950 - Pan American Championships (Amateur)
1949 - West of England Championships (Amateur)
1949 - Philippine Indoors (Amateur)
1949 - Antwerpen International (Amateur)
1949 - Championships of Wales (Amateur)
1948 - Wimbledon Plate (Consolation) (Open)
1948 - Midland Counties Championships (Amateur)
1947 - Philippine Closed (Amateur)
1946 - Pennsylvania Clay Courts (Open)
1941 - Philippines Championships (Open)
1940 - Philippine Indoors (Amateur)


Tournaments Philippines Championships - 1968 Philippines Championships - 1967 Philippines Championships - 1966 Philippine Closed - 1966 Philippines Championships - 1965 Philippine Closed - 1965 US Open - 1964 Philippines Championships - 1964 Southampton Invitation (Long Island) - 1964 Fort Worth - 1964 Philippine Open - 1964 Philippines Championships - 1963 Malaysian International Championships - 1961 Inter-Port Competition - 1961 Philippines Championships - 1960 Victorian Championships - 1960 Queensland Championships - 1960 Malaysian Open - 1960 Malaysian International Championships - 1960 Philippines Championships - 1959 Philippine Championships b - 1959 South Australian Championships - 1958 Philippines Championships - 1958 New South Wales Championships - 1958 Asian Games - Individual - 1958 South Australian Championships - 1957 Philippines Championships - 1957 New South Wales Championships - 1957 Asian Championships - 1957 Italy vs. Philippines Team Match - 1957 Philippines Championships - 1956 Philippines Championships - 1955 Asian Championships - 1954 Belgium vs. Philippines Exhibition - 1954 Wimbledon - 1953 Roland Garros - 1953 Philippines Championships - 1953 British Hard Court Championships - 1953 Oslo International - 1953 Gstaad - 1953 Cava Dei Tirreni - 1953 Turkish International Championships (Turkey Open) - 1953 International Cup - 1953 Shirley Park - 1953 Brumana International - 1953 Wimbledon - 1952 Roland Garros - 1952 US Open - 1952 Philippines Championships - 1952 Canadian International Championships - 1952 Scottish Championships - 1952 West of England Championships - 1952 Belgian International Championships - 1952 Velbert Invitational Tournament - 1952 Wimbledon - 1951 Roland Garros - 1951 Philippines Championships - 1951 Paris International Championships - 1951 Italian International Championships - 1951 Venezia (Venice International Tournament) - 1951 Netherlands International Championships - 1951 British Hard Court Championships - 1951 International Championships of Egypt - Cairo - 1951 German International Championships - 1951 International Championships of Egypt-Alexandria - 1951 Argentina International Championships - 1951 Sicilian International Championships - 1951 Düsseldorf International - 1951 Köln International - 1951 Nations' Cup (Egypt) - 1951 Bastad - 1951 Turkish International Championships (Turkey Open) - 1951 Coupe Marcel Poree - 1951 Dortmund International - 1951 Pau Championships - 1951 Eastern Mediterranean Championships - 1951 Lugano Lido Tournament - 1951 Wimbledon - 1950 Roland Garros - 1950 US Open - 1950 Philippines Championships - 1950 Swiss International Championships - 1950 Pacific Coast Championship - 1950 US Clay Courts - 1950 Pacific Southwest Championships - 1950 Madrid - 1950 Northern India - 1950 Pan American Championships - 1950 US Hard Courts - 1950 Bastad - 1950 Indian International Championships - 1950 All India Hard Courts - 1950 Wimbledon - 1949 Roland Garros - 1949 US Open - 1949 Newport Casino - 1949 Eastern Grass Court Championships - 1949 Queens Club Tournament - 1949 Netherlands International Championships - 1949 Pacific Southwest Championships - 1949 West of England Championships - 1949 Championships of Wales - 1949 Philippine Indoors - 1949 Pan American Championships - 1949 Asian Championships - 1949 US Hard Courts - 1949 Antwerpen International - 1949 Wimbledon - 1948 US Open - 1948 Midland Counties Championships - 1948 Wimbledon Plate (Consolation) - 1948 Bastad - 1948 Philippine Closed - 1947 US Open - 1946 Pacific Coast Championship - 1946 Eastern Grass Court Championships - 1946 Cincinnati - 1946 US Clay Courts - 1946 Western States Championships - 1946 Pacific Southwest Championships - 1946 Pennsylvania Clay Courts - 1946 Southampton Invitation (Long Island) - 1946 Philippines Championships - 1941 International Athletic Meet - 1940 Philippine Indoors - 1940 US Open - 1939 Newport Casino - 1939 Pacific Coast Championship - 1939 Pacific Southwest Championships - 1939 Philippines vs. Shanghai Exhibition - 1939 Philippines Championships - 1938 Philippine Closed - 1938 Exhbition - Philippines - 1938 Philippines Championships - 1937 Philippines Championships - 1936

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *