WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:05.630 --> 00:00:09.426 A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY 3 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:13.000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:13.013 --> 00:00:16.641 DURING HIS TRIPS BETWEEN MAY 1973 AND LATE 1979, 5 00:00:16.725 --> 00:00:21.563 GUILLERMO VILAS RECORDED 46 CASSETTE TAPES THAT WERE NEVER HEARD 6 00:00:21.646 --> 00:00:24.941 UNTIL NOW 7 00:00:28.236 --> 00:00:29.529 VILAS - VOICE - EARLY DAYS 8 00:00:29.612 --> 00:00:33.575 My life has been a great discovery. I've always tried to figure it all out. 9 00:00:33.658 --> 00:00:36.161 The first time I saw fire, I got burned. 10 00:00:36.244 --> 00:00:39.748 I thought it was wonderful, it was warm. It felt good. 11 00:00:39.831 --> 00:00:43.668 I thought, "What if I touch it? I'm sure I'll feel warm inside." 12 00:00:44.252 --> 00:00:47.505 That's how I discovered the world, and how I got where I am today. 13 00:00:52.510 --> 00:00:54.054 Who is Guillermo Vilas, 14 00:00:54.137 --> 00:00:56.931 the man who changed the tennis world this afternoon? 15 00:01:09.569 --> 00:01:11.946 NUMBER ONE FOR 12 WEEKS 16 00:01:32.717 --> 00:01:34.219 I always enjoyed it afterward. 17 00:01:35.386 --> 00:01:39.599 You can't be truly happy, but you can do something 18 00:01:40.391 --> 00:01:45.021 that makes you happy every time you remember it. 19 00:01:55.240 --> 00:01:58.618 NUMBER ONE FOR 310 WEEKS (ACTIVE) 20 00:02:12.132 --> 00:02:14.968 He's one of the greatest in the history of our sport, 21 00:02:15.051 --> 00:02:17.971 and being Argentinian, he had a huge impact 22 00:02:18.054 --> 00:02:21.099 in the Latin American tennis circuit. 23 00:02:21.182 --> 00:02:23.309 In fact, I think that every Latin sportsman 24 00:02:23.393 --> 00:02:24.727 should thank him for that. 25 00:02:24.811 --> 00:02:26.396 NUMBER ONE FOR 209 WEEKS (ACTIVE) 26 00:02:27.981 --> 00:02:33.319 I think that his style and his mindset had a great influence on me, 27 00:02:33.403 --> 00:02:35.655 as well as on many other Argentine tennis players. 28 00:02:43.872 --> 00:02:48.877 NUMBER ONE FOR 20 WEEKS 29 00:02:59.971 --> 00:03:01.347 Winning is the consequence 30 00:03:01.431 --> 00:03:04.100 of every good thing you did that year, 31 00:03:04.184 --> 00:03:08.104 of your work, of taking things seriously. 32 00:03:08.188 --> 00:03:11.065 Personally, self-improvement is what means the most to me. 33 00:03:15.403 --> 00:03:18.323 Vilas was obsessed 34 00:03:18.406 --> 00:03:21.159 with being the number one in every category he reached. 35 00:03:21.242 --> 00:03:22.285 JOURNALIST AND RESEARCHER 36 00:03:22.368 --> 00:03:24.829 First, he was number one in Club Náutico Mar del Plata. 37 00:03:24.913 --> 00:03:26.956 Then he was number one in the city of Mar del Plata, 38 00:03:27.040 --> 00:03:28.625 and then number one in his country. 39 00:03:28.708 --> 00:03:33.087 And he wanted to go for more and become number one in the world. 40 00:03:39.969 --> 00:03:41.221 MY HEART AND MY CHAMPION 41 00:03:42.972 --> 00:03:46.559 NUMBER ONE FOR 109 WEEKS 42 00:03:48.937 --> 00:03:51.564 He has filed complaints throughout his whole life. 43 00:03:51.648 --> 00:03:56.653 He did it in 1975, 1977, and 1982, 44 00:03:56.736 --> 00:03:59.197 the three years when he had his best performance 45 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:03.284 and was closer to rank number one. 46 00:04:03.368 --> 00:04:07.163 But he never had a positive answer from the ATP authorities. 47 00:04:16.714 --> 00:04:20.760 I asked many times to see the records, 48 00:04:20.843 --> 00:04:22.470 but my request was always denied. 49 00:04:41.239 --> 00:04:48.121 MATHEMATICIAN AND PROGRAMMER 50 00:04:49.580 --> 00:04:50.832 PART TWO 51 00:04:50.915 --> 00:04:54.419 Besides the whole computer mess, this is very simple: 52 00:04:54.502 --> 00:04:57.046 take all the players ranked number one by the computer, 53 00:04:57.130 --> 00:04:58.965 and check how many titles they won each year. 54 00:04:59.048 --> 00:05:01.676 They wouldn't add up to half the amount of titles I won that year. 55 00:05:09.767 --> 00:05:11.519 I knew that wasn't right, 56 00:05:11.602 --> 00:05:16.357 that someone with the worst of intentions used all in their power 57 00:05:16.441 --> 00:05:19.652 to try to make me believe 58 00:05:19.736 --> 00:05:23.531 I wasn't number one. 59 00:05:28.077 --> 00:05:31.372 It is said that it is irrational to try and change the past. 60 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:34.834 But can someone beat their own history? 61 00:05:39.630 --> 00:05:43.843 People think history is written by its protagonists. 62 00:05:43.926 --> 00:05:46.763 No, history is written by time. Time gives you everything. 63 00:06:08.159 --> 00:06:10.828 I'm sure that, eventually, 64 00:06:10.912 --> 00:06:14.415 someone will take charge, tell it like it is 65 00:06:14.499 --> 00:06:15.833 and support my claim. 66 00:06:15.917 --> 00:06:18.836 The number one player has always been the one who wins the most tournaments. 67 00:06:25.551 --> 00:06:28.888 YOU'LL BE WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO BE OR YOU'LL BE NOTHING 68 00:06:29.847 --> 00:06:32.392 My name is Eduardo Puppo and I'm a journalist. 69 00:06:33.684 --> 00:06:36.270 I published my first tennis magazine in 1980, 70 00:06:36.354 --> 00:06:38.439 and I haven't done anything else since then. 71 00:06:39.273 --> 00:06:42.693 I covered about 300 tournaments in 20 countries, 72 00:06:42.777 --> 00:06:45.321 and more than 50 or 60 Grand Slam tournaments. 73 00:06:45.405 --> 00:06:47.698 I was the press officer for all things tennis-related 74 00:06:47.782 --> 00:06:48.908 in Argentina. 75 00:06:49.742 --> 00:06:52.537 I'm the author of the tennis encyclopedia Historia del tenis argentino. 76 00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:55.498 I worked for several radio stations, and, since 2004, 77 00:06:55.581 --> 00:06:58.960 I have worked as an analyst on the CNN en Español news show. 78 00:07:00.670 --> 00:07:06.467 In June 2007, I heard Vilas had filed a new complaint before the ATP. 79 00:07:06.551 --> 00:07:12.723 I understood it was a 30-year-long, unprecedented injustice. 80 00:07:12.807 --> 00:07:15.351 That idea kept running through my mind. 81 00:07:15.435 --> 00:07:20.356 Six months later, some news changed the course of history, 82 00:07:20.440 --> 00:07:25.278 and made me turn my attention to Vilas's complaint again. 83 00:07:29.740 --> 00:07:30.992 The Goolagong issue 84 00:07:31.075 --> 00:07:34.620 was a wake-up call in the history of world tennis. 85 00:07:34.704 --> 00:07:37.457 They were admitting to old flaws in the system 86 00:07:37.540 --> 00:07:41.043 and awarded the number one spot to the Australian tennis player, 87 00:07:41.127 --> 00:07:45.381 thirty-one years after her achievement in the women's tennis circuit. 88 00:07:47.884 --> 00:07:50.720 The news caused sort of a stir in me, 89 00:07:50.803 --> 00:07:53.931 it moved me to take on a mission. 90 00:07:54.015 --> 00:07:59.061 It encouraged me to walk down a retrospective path into statistics, 91 00:07:59.145 --> 00:08:03.816 without foreseeing neither the great impact the study would have 92 00:08:03.900 --> 00:08:08.988 nor the fact that it would consume 12 years of both my life and my family's. 93 00:08:09.655 --> 00:08:16.370 MUSEUM PHOTOS - ALBUMS 94 00:08:16.454 --> 00:08:22.335 These are some of the diaries and journals Guillermo wrote. 95 00:08:23.461 --> 00:08:25.046 During his career, 96 00:08:25.713 --> 00:08:27.715 he truly registered everything 97 00:08:27.798 --> 00:08:31.969 with a tremendous… 98 00:08:32.887 --> 00:08:34.263 level of detail. 99 00:08:35.431 --> 00:08:37.850 Eduardo started 100 00:08:38.601 --> 00:08:41.771 to take on this responsibility… 101 00:08:43.940 --> 00:08:46.400 as if he were… 102 00:08:46.484 --> 00:08:47.568 EDUARDO PUPPO'S WIFE 103 00:08:47.652 --> 00:08:51.030 …the one who had to show the tennis world 104 00:08:51.739 --> 00:08:55.159 what they owed to Guillermo Vilas. 105 00:09:01.165 --> 00:09:05.211 I saw Vilas for the first time in 1974, in a match he played 106 00:09:05.294 --> 00:09:06.587 against Julián Ganzábal. 107 00:09:06.671 --> 00:09:09.674 It was the final of the Copa Ciudad de Buenos Aires tournament. 108 00:09:10.299 --> 00:09:12.093 He was so different from the rest, 109 00:09:12.176 --> 00:09:14.470 he was this guy with long hair and a headband. 110 00:09:14.554 --> 00:09:16.722 I don't know what shocked me the most, 111 00:09:16.806 --> 00:09:19.767 watching him play tennis or seeing such a character. 112 00:09:21.310 --> 00:09:25.439 For tennis fans, Guillermo Vilas needs no introduction. 113 00:09:25.523 --> 00:09:29.235 He's number one, two, three, I don't even know anymore, 114 00:09:29.318 --> 00:09:32.488 but he is one of the big champions of the tennis world. 115 00:09:32.572 --> 00:09:34.949 I started playing when I was six years old, 116 00:09:35.032 --> 00:09:37.994 but I played against a wall at home for the first three years. 117 00:09:38.077 --> 00:09:42.915 -Alone against a wall? -Yes, I'd play against a wall in my house. 118 00:09:42.999 --> 00:09:44.542 And then I started playing. 119 00:09:45.167 --> 00:09:46.836 And you became a champion right away. 120 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:49.297 -The champion of the wall. -The best one in the class. 121 00:09:49.380 --> 00:09:50.756 The champion of the wall. 122 00:09:57.513 --> 00:09:58.681 My father always told me, 123 00:09:58.764 --> 00:10:01.142 "Passion will take you far in life, 124 00:10:01.225 --> 00:10:04.395 doing things half-heartedly will hurt you." 125 00:10:05.313 --> 00:10:09.442 I embraced that passion and I have always kept that attitude. 126 00:10:11.819 --> 00:10:14.572 Dad realized that my path 127 00:10:14.655 --> 00:10:18.534 as an athlete, playing in the streets, 128 00:10:18.618 --> 00:10:21.996 which was where you practiced sports at the time, was very complicated. 129 00:10:22.705 --> 00:10:25.833 So he encouraged me to take up tennis. 130 00:10:26.876 --> 00:10:29.170 He took me to see a tennis tournament in Villa Gesell. 131 00:10:31.255 --> 00:10:34.592 He told me such a tall tale. "These guys play here, learn English, 132 00:10:34.675 --> 00:10:36.761 go to play in Europe and then come back." 133 00:10:36.844 --> 00:10:38.971 What a lie! They were kids from Mar del Plata. 134 00:10:39.680 --> 00:10:40.765 But I loved it. 135 00:10:44.810 --> 00:10:47.480 The next day, Dad took me to buy a racket… 136 00:10:48.397 --> 00:10:49.440 and I started playing. 137 00:10:56.822 --> 00:10:58.991 "I started playing when I was six years old, 138 00:10:59.075 --> 00:11:01.035 I used to play in the garage of my house." 139 00:11:01.118 --> 00:11:03.037 "I'd play three hours every evening." 140 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.790 "There was a lamp on the ceiling." 141 00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:10.753 "I'd break it every single day, so my mom told me, 142 00:11:10.836 --> 00:11:12.963 'You'll get a new light bulb per day.'" 143 00:11:13.047 --> 00:11:16.384 "So I'd play until I broke it." 144 00:11:16.467 --> 00:11:19.261 "It would last me for two or three hours." 145 00:11:37.321 --> 00:11:38.447 Here they are. 146 00:11:43.577 --> 00:11:44.495 Okay. 147 00:11:46.205 --> 00:11:47.540 Here we have… 148 00:11:49.625 --> 00:11:51.335 his first racket, 149 00:11:52.002 --> 00:11:54.380 a Sarina, which was made by Sportlandia. 150 00:11:54.463 --> 00:11:56.424 This is the real one. 151 00:12:01.595 --> 00:12:05.516 This Dunlop Gold Wing… 152 00:12:06.976 --> 00:12:09.311 was his second racket. It's a more professional one. 153 00:12:10.146 --> 00:12:11.772 And then he started using… 154 00:12:13.357 --> 00:12:17.111 the Blue Flash, a racket more suitable for competitions. 155 00:12:19.864 --> 00:12:23.492 My research aimed at reconstructing 156 00:12:23.576 --> 00:12:28.164 the 280 weeks between August 1973, 157 00:12:28.247 --> 00:12:31.792 when the first official ATP ranking was published, 158 00:12:31.876 --> 00:12:34.545 and December 1978. 159 00:12:34.628 --> 00:12:37.089 This period wasn't chosen randomly. 160 00:12:37.173 --> 00:12:39.842 It was when, in my opinion as a journalist, 161 00:12:39.925 --> 00:12:43.637 Vilas had more chances to have achieved the world number one. 162 00:12:48.517 --> 00:12:53.731 I contacted former tournament directors, former ATP chairmen, 163 00:12:53.814 --> 00:12:57.818 the Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and USTA libraries, 164 00:12:57.902 --> 00:13:00.029 the Hall of Fame library in Newport, 165 00:13:00.112 --> 00:13:05.993 journalists that worked at that time, news agencies, newspaper archives. 166 00:13:06.076 --> 00:13:09.705 I consulted more than 100 reliable sources. 167 00:13:12.750 --> 00:13:18.088 I got the help of many relatives, friends and colleagues 168 00:13:18.172 --> 00:13:21.258 who typed in thousands of match results, because there were lots of them. 169 00:13:21.342 --> 00:13:24.428 There were between 80 and 90 tournaments per season. 170 00:13:24.512 --> 00:13:27.848 Our records reflected the real activity at the courts 171 00:13:27.932 --> 00:13:30.392 without any distortion. 172 00:13:30.476 --> 00:13:34.980 I was, and I've always been, by Eduardo's side. 173 00:13:35.064 --> 00:13:37.608 I helped him with everything he asked me 174 00:13:37.691 --> 00:13:42.112 because I find research fascinating and I'm quite obsessive. 175 00:13:42.696 --> 00:13:44.824 I'm satisfied with my collaboration 176 00:13:45.491 --> 00:13:48.327 because truth was at stake here. 177 00:13:50.538 --> 00:13:53.082 That's how Project V was born. 178 00:13:53.165 --> 00:13:56.877 I named it "V" after Vilas, of course, 179 00:13:56.961 --> 00:13:59.755 but also as a way of trying to keep it confidential. 180 00:14:31.036 --> 00:14:33.998 My dad noticed that most players who came 181 00:14:34.081 --> 00:14:36.542 to the Campeonato del Sur de la República tournament 182 00:14:36.625 --> 00:14:38.335 had Locícero as their instructor 183 00:14:38.419 --> 00:14:41.630 and spoke very fondly of him. 184 00:14:43.757 --> 00:14:49.847 When I was eight and a half, Locícero settled in Mar del Plata 185 00:14:49.930 --> 00:14:53.934 and founded a tennis school, and we started playing there. 186 00:14:58.814 --> 00:14:59.732 My instructor told me: 187 00:14:59.815 --> 00:15:01.817 "Do you want to be a champion or just play tennis?" 188 00:15:01.901 --> 00:15:04.278 "Do you want to be the best in your club or in Argentina?" 189 00:15:04.361 --> 00:15:05.779 "So, what comes next?" 190 00:15:05.863 --> 00:15:09.116 "Winning tournaments, and then Grand Slam tournaments." 191 00:15:09.199 --> 00:15:11.076 "Could I be the Argentine champion?" 192 00:15:11.160 --> 00:15:13.370 He said: "Yes, you can, if you do as I say." 193 00:15:16.624 --> 00:15:19.335 A champion must have two main things… 194 00:15:19.418 --> 00:15:21.629 VOICE OF FELIPE LOCÍCERO VILAS'S ONLY TENNIS INSTRUCTOR 195 00:15:21.712 --> 00:15:23.172 …talent and passion. 196 00:15:23.255 --> 00:15:26.842 They should learn from a professional who's studied, 197 00:15:26.926 --> 00:15:28.427 who knows and understands, 198 00:15:29.178 --> 00:15:33.015 the three main areas in professional tennis: 199 00:15:33.098 --> 00:15:36.810 physical training, technique and serving skills. 200 00:15:36.894 --> 00:15:39.605 If you fail in any of these three areas, 201 00:15:39.688 --> 00:15:41.231 if you don't do your best, 202 00:15:41.315 --> 00:15:42.900 you won't become a great player. 203 00:15:44.193 --> 00:15:45.361 I asked my instructor, 204 00:15:45.444 --> 00:15:48.280 "How many tennis players in the world are there on tour?" 205 00:15:48.364 --> 00:15:50.908 He replied, "There are about 60 or 70 players." 206 00:15:50.991 --> 00:15:54.703 In the whole world! I then realized I was playing a demanding sport. 207 00:15:55.871 --> 00:15:59.500 I'm telling you, tennis is not hard to play. 208 00:15:59.583 --> 00:16:03.128 But if you don't understand it, you can't improve. 209 00:16:04.838 --> 00:16:07.925 Take music, for example. Once you understand it, it's not hard. 210 00:16:08.008 --> 00:16:09.426 C, D, E, F, A, B… 211 00:16:09.510 --> 00:16:15.224 And then you can play a tango, a ranchera… any kind of music. 212 00:16:15.307 --> 00:16:16.976 You can even compose your own. 213 00:16:17.059 --> 00:16:18.769 It's the same with tennis. 214 00:16:19.395 --> 00:16:22.106 There are 4 forehand-related subjects and 4 backhand-related subjects. 215 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:25.985 After a year with him, he said, "I won't charge you anymore." 216 00:16:26.068 --> 00:16:27.861 "But I want to come to class every day." 217 00:16:28.696 --> 00:16:32.366 "And you will, but I won't charge you." And he never charged me again. 218 00:16:32.992 --> 00:16:35.869 Because he knew I'd be a tennis player. 219 00:16:35.953 --> 00:16:37.454 LOCÍCERO AND HIS STAR PLAYER: VILAS 220 00:16:42.668 --> 00:16:44.837 RENOWNED TENNIS PLAYERS AT PRIMARY SCHOOL AGE 221 00:16:44.920 --> 00:16:48.215 VILAS: RISING STAR IN TENNIS HE'S THE CLUB NÁUTICO'S PROMISE AT AGE 12 222 00:16:58.350 --> 00:17:00.769 A NATIONAL IDOL AND AN EXAMPLE FOR THE YOUTH 223 00:17:00.853 --> 00:17:02.062 My mother was… 224 00:17:02.146 --> 00:17:04.857 She was always afraid that I'd try to play professionally. 225 00:17:04.940 --> 00:17:06.942 TENNIS - YOUNG TALENT WILL DEFINE THE AUTUMN SEASON 226 00:17:07.026 --> 00:17:09.028 "What if our son becomes a tennis player?" 227 00:17:09.111 --> 00:17:11.613 She said, "He won't, he'll see there's no money in it." 228 00:17:11.697 --> 00:17:15.325 "He won't be able to have the lifestyle we have now 229 00:17:15.409 --> 00:17:17.036 and he'll stop playing." 230 00:17:18.912 --> 00:17:23.542 My mother met up with some important people, some lawyers, 231 00:17:23.625 --> 00:17:28.213 and they tried to convince me I'd be really unhappy. 232 00:17:29.256 --> 00:17:31.717 I replied, "I'll be unhappy if I do what you do for a living." 233 00:17:31.800 --> 00:17:33.385 The meeting was very short. 234 00:17:34.136 --> 00:17:36.930 I was already a champion in Argentina. 235 00:17:37.014 --> 00:17:39.641 -Already? -In South America. 236 00:17:41.226 --> 00:17:42.102 VILAS GOES TO THE USA 237 00:17:42.186 --> 00:17:44.938 I was part of a team of South American champions. 238 00:17:45.022 --> 00:17:48.025 When I was 15, I won the Orange Bowl. 239 00:17:48.692 --> 00:17:51.320 MIAMI, USA 240 00:17:51.403 --> 00:17:55.032 The Orange Bowl is the starting point for most players. 241 00:17:55.115 --> 00:17:57.451 Hardly ever does a good player appear somewhere else. 242 00:18:03.540 --> 00:18:06.418 I started asking, "Hey, who's the best player here?" 243 00:18:06.502 --> 00:18:08.212 "This one? That one?" They said, "Connors." 244 00:18:09.213 --> 00:18:11.632 "Which one is Connors?" "The one who's there with his mom." 245 00:18:13.092 --> 00:18:16.762 There he was. I watched him play, he played with the Wilson T2000 racket. 246 00:18:17.429 --> 00:18:22.392 The Wilson T2000 racket was created by Lacoste in 1940. 247 00:18:23.018 --> 00:18:25.604 Connors liked it because he's not very strong. 248 00:18:25.687 --> 00:18:28.357 He's very weak… as a player. 249 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:31.944 That racket was really powerful. He was the only one who used it. 250 00:18:32.027 --> 00:18:35.489 I studied him for a week. I watched him every time he trained. 251 00:18:37.616 --> 00:18:39.952 Then I had to play against him, and I beat him. 252 00:18:40.035 --> 00:18:42.538 Truth be told, I didn't have to do much because… 253 00:18:45.040 --> 00:18:46.166 Well, I played very well. 254 00:18:46.250 --> 00:18:48.544 I did what I had to do to win. 255 00:18:48.627 --> 00:18:51.588 He'd never watched me play because he was better than me. 256 00:18:51.672 --> 00:18:54.466 That time, he lost 6-4, 7-5, I think. 257 00:18:55.050 --> 00:18:58.428 He shook my hand quite angrily and looking away. 258 00:18:58.971 --> 00:19:01.014 And then he left, he disappeared. 259 00:19:01.098 --> 00:19:02.349 VILAS, ORANGE BOWL CHAMPION 260 00:19:02.432 --> 00:19:05.936 I was checking who would be my future enemies. 261 00:19:06.019 --> 00:19:07.479 VILAS DOMINATES AT THE ORANGE BOWL 262 00:19:12.067 --> 00:19:15.445 Guillermo Vilas is back in Mar del Plata since last night. 263 00:19:15.529 --> 00:19:17.156 CHANNEL 10 OF MAR DEL PLATA JANUARY 1970 264 00:19:17.239 --> 00:19:19.950 And, of course, he's already back at the Club Náutico, 265 00:19:20.033 --> 00:19:21.368 which is sort of his second home. 266 00:19:21.451 --> 00:19:24.454 Which was your most important achievement so far, 267 00:19:24.538 --> 00:19:26.248 the most satisfying one? 268 00:19:26.331 --> 00:19:29.293 Well, having won the Orange Bowl championship. 269 00:19:29.877 --> 00:19:31.420 Every year I've taken part, 270 00:19:31.503 --> 00:19:34.339 I've won the Orange Bowl, both doubles and singles. 271 00:19:34.423 --> 00:19:37.968 And that's the most important championship for a tennis player. 272 00:19:38.051 --> 00:19:39.261 Will you go to Punta del Este? 273 00:19:40.137 --> 00:19:43.599 I'll try to, but I'm too tired from my last trip, 274 00:19:43.682 --> 00:19:46.226 I haven't had some rest since… 275 00:19:46.310 --> 00:19:48.395 I haven't had a rest day since July, 276 00:19:48.478 --> 00:19:50.772 I've been playing every day, I traveled to Europe… 277 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:54.318 It's quite tiring, I should stop for a while 278 00:19:54.401 --> 00:19:57.112 because this year will be even more intense than the previous one. 279 00:19:57.196 --> 00:19:59.990 I'll play the Davis Cup and many other tournaments. 280 00:20:00.073 --> 00:20:03.285 -And you're studying too. -Yes, this is my last year in high school, 281 00:20:03.368 --> 00:20:05.787 and I have to prepare for the university admission exams. 282 00:20:20.594 --> 00:20:27.559 JOURNALIST, THE NEW YORK TIMES 283 00:20:33.857 --> 00:20:38.153 Vilas's 1977 tour was extraordinary. 284 00:20:38.237 --> 00:20:42.115 That's why nobody paid any attention to his performance in other years. 285 00:20:43.283 --> 00:20:45.535 When analyzing 1975, 286 00:20:45.619 --> 00:20:50.624 I noticed that Jimmy Connors had been number one by a very small margin, 287 00:20:50.707 --> 00:20:55.420 his average was a little more than 0.19 higher than Vilas's. 288 00:20:55.504 --> 00:20:56.380 AVERAGE 289 00:20:56.463 --> 00:21:02.761 Connors's average was 42.72 against Vilas's 42.52. 290 00:21:03.303 --> 00:21:04.429 This difference was… 291 00:21:05.138 --> 00:21:10.644 so small that it made me focus only in Vilas's and Connors's points. 292 00:21:12.437 --> 00:21:19.403 JOURNALIST, THE TENNIS CHANNEL 293 00:21:27.369 --> 00:21:29.788 After many additions, subtractions and divisions, 294 00:21:29.871 --> 00:21:33.417 I realized that I was making a terrible mistake 295 00:21:33.500 --> 00:21:39.339 because taking only Vilas and Connors into account, as I had planned, 296 00:21:39.423 --> 00:21:43.677 and making that isolated comparison, was impracticable. 297 00:21:44.594 --> 00:21:50.183 I then understood I had to redo the rankings from their very first day, 298 00:21:50.267 --> 00:21:54.730 from August 1973 and forward. 299 00:21:55.355 --> 00:21:56.773 Truth be told, I was… 300 00:21:57.649 --> 00:22:02.321 absolutely demoralized, many of my calculations were of no use. 301 00:22:02.863 --> 00:22:06.158 I had to start from scratch in many areas. 302 00:22:07.284 --> 00:22:09.911 Our house was practically no longer a home. 303 00:22:09.995 --> 00:22:13.123 It was full of papers, books, and magazines. 304 00:22:13.206 --> 00:22:17.336 It turned literally into a warehouse full of evidence 305 00:22:17.419 --> 00:22:20.630 that forced us, for instance, not to have people over 306 00:22:20.714 --> 00:22:21.757 due to lack of space. 307 00:22:26.553 --> 00:22:32.351 This is the place where I spent hundreds of hours, day and night. 308 00:22:33.560 --> 00:22:35.103 I would go to sleep 309 00:22:35.187 --> 00:22:39.733 and sometimes wake up and write stuff down in a notebook, still in bed, 310 00:22:39.816 --> 00:22:44.404 and then I'd come back here to try and give shape to those ideas. 311 00:22:45.530 --> 00:22:47.991 Sometimes my children would come down, I'd see them, 312 00:22:48.075 --> 00:22:50.827 and they would tell me, "Why are you still up so late?" 313 00:22:50.911 --> 00:22:51.787 So there's that. 314 00:22:51.870 --> 00:22:55.832 Eduardo put Vilas's ATP ranking at the top of his priorities. 315 00:22:56.416 --> 00:22:59.544 I fought a lot with him and with myself. 316 00:23:00.253 --> 00:23:02.297 It was very hard, because I felt… 317 00:23:04.966 --> 00:23:06.510 that the most precious things to me, 318 00:23:06.593 --> 00:23:09.388 my marriage and my family, were in jeopardy. 319 00:23:09.471 --> 00:23:12.224 EDU, YOU'RE THE NUMBER ONE 320 00:23:12.307 --> 00:23:14.684 I kept doing every possible calculation, 321 00:23:14.768 --> 00:23:17.562 doing as much as I could with my math knowledge, 322 00:23:17.646 --> 00:23:21.483 until one day I just… I got sick and tired of it all. 323 00:23:21.566 --> 00:23:25.487 I tore everything into pieces and that was it. 324 00:23:25.570 --> 00:23:27.531 All that work… 325 00:23:28.323 --> 00:23:33.161 So many hours and sheets of paper that were of absolutely no use. 326 00:23:52.055 --> 00:23:54.433 "You'll be whatever you have to be or you'll be nothing." 327 00:24:00.522 --> 00:24:03.442 That kind of thought was very popular at that time. 328 00:24:03.525 --> 00:24:06.528 According to those new values, the world was wrong. And it was. 329 00:24:12.951 --> 00:24:17.080 After the end of the war, we were dancing to Glenn Miller. 330 00:24:17.789 --> 00:24:19.666 Then Elvis came up, 331 00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:22.669 with a completely different music. 332 00:24:23.378 --> 00:24:25.714 And I had my own Elvis, Flaco Spinetta. 333 00:24:25.797 --> 00:24:28.675 I went to one of his concerts. There were many people waiting, 334 00:24:28.758 --> 00:24:29.801 everyone had long hair. 335 00:24:29.885 --> 00:24:33.346 Flaco Spinetta went on stage, followed by David Lebón, dressed in women's clothes. 336 00:24:33.430 --> 00:24:38.101 Just that, by Mar del Plata standards, was something astonishing. 337 00:24:42.564 --> 00:24:44.191 That concert blew my mind. 338 00:24:46.693 --> 00:24:50.280 The hippie movement emerged, 339 00:24:50.363 --> 00:24:54.826 and I liked its ideology of liberation, of letting yourself loose… 340 00:24:56.661 --> 00:25:00.707 of seeing that life is not just about studying and working, 341 00:25:00.790 --> 00:25:02.417 and doing everything fathers did. 342 00:25:02.501 --> 00:25:04.252 It was against getting chained to all that. 343 00:25:04.336 --> 00:25:06.671 It was all about following your passion. 344 00:25:06.755 --> 00:25:09.966 And, sometimes, passions give you lots of freedom 345 00:25:10.759 --> 00:25:11.801 and little money. 346 00:25:13.970 --> 00:25:15.722 I remember when Woodstock took place. 347 00:25:16.848 --> 00:25:19.351 At that moment, the world changed. 348 00:25:19.935 --> 00:25:24.105 My passions grew even stronger because I saw that was the only choice. 349 00:25:26.983 --> 00:25:28.443 DAVIS: KOCH AND VILAS THE FIRST MATCH 350 00:25:31.780 --> 00:25:33.657 I went to Houston to play. 351 00:25:33.740 --> 00:25:37.369 I entered a record store and asked, "Man, I come from Argentina." 352 00:25:37.452 --> 00:25:39.412 "Which progressive music records do you have?" 353 00:25:39.496 --> 00:25:41.831 "Here," he said. 354 00:25:43.625 --> 00:25:44.960 It was Hendrix. 355 00:25:45.794 --> 00:25:49.130 I listened to Hendrix from Houston to Miami, 356 00:25:49.214 --> 00:25:50.799 and then to Buenos Aires, nonstop. 357 00:25:51.716 --> 00:25:53.885 I was completely blown away. 358 00:25:56.680 --> 00:25:59.474 GRADUATION IN PARIS VILAS HAD AN EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE 359 00:26:01.101 --> 00:26:03.186 In Argentina, sport fans 360 00:26:03.270 --> 00:26:07.190 are becoming familiar with terms that, until now, were almost unheard: 361 00:26:07.274 --> 00:26:10.402 passing shot, drive, backhand, Grand Slam, topspin, 362 00:26:10.485 --> 00:26:15.240 all thanks to our rising star in the tennis world, Guillermo Vilas. 363 00:26:15.907 --> 00:26:17.701 ARGENTINE OPEN 364 00:26:17.784 --> 00:26:22.414 We're witnessing the amazing arrival of the new icon in world tennis. 365 00:26:22.497 --> 00:26:23.873 How high will he go? 366 00:26:23.957 --> 00:26:26.710 Will he play the next Masters in Melbourne? 367 00:26:26.793 --> 00:26:29.671 Vilas is popularizing tennis across Argentina. 368 00:26:41.099 --> 00:26:44.269 Guillermo has evolved as I expected. 369 00:26:44.352 --> 00:26:46.396 When we arrived in Melbourne, he showed 370 00:26:46.479 --> 00:26:49.316 he had recovered from the exhaustion he'd been feeling in Buenos Aires. 371 00:26:49.399 --> 00:26:51.359 VOICE OF JUAN CARLOS BELFONTE TRAINER AND ADVISER 372 00:27:03.496 --> 00:27:07.000 My coach set up a weird training session, which I had never done before. 373 00:27:09.294 --> 00:27:11.588 I'd wake up at 4:00 a.m. 374 00:27:11.671 --> 00:27:14.049 and he'd make me exercise on an incline. 375 00:27:14.132 --> 00:27:19.763 He included other unique exercises, he prepared a mixed routine for me. 376 00:27:19.846 --> 00:27:24.267 To be honest, it was quite bizarre, but I was at my best. 377 00:27:27.062 --> 00:27:29.648 Năstase ruled at the Masters Cup, 378 00:27:29.731 --> 00:27:34.027 but I was applying the techniques my trainer had taught me. 379 00:27:34.110 --> 00:27:35.278 I was on automatic mode. 380 00:27:47.457 --> 00:27:48.333 And I grew tired. 381 00:27:52.921 --> 00:27:58.468 At some point, I started to apply the techniques a bit more anarchically. 382 00:28:05.266 --> 00:28:07.477 I made all the right decisions. 383 00:28:20.949 --> 00:28:26.329 Guillermo Vilas has won the 1974 Masters. 384 00:28:26.413 --> 00:28:29.416 He defeated Romanian Ilie Năstase, 385 00:28:29.499 --> 00:28:33.128 who has been the winner of the tournament for the last three years. 386 00:28:53.356 --> 00:28:56.609 The most difficult part was rationalizing what happened. 387 00:28:56.693 --> 00:28:57.902 It took me three years. 388 00:28:58.820 --> 00:29:04.200 Everything in life has its own system, mechanics and repetitions. 389 00:29:04.284 --> 00:29:07.245 Sometimes those repetitions are so apart 390 00:29:07.328 --> 00:29:08.997 that it's hard to find a pattern. 391 00:29:09.789 --> 00:29:13.334 Until I found it. When I did, the result was that extraordinary 1977. 392 00:29:13.418 --> 00:29:15.044 I spent three years studying. 393 00:29:20.216 --> 00:29:22.969 I was totally devastated, 394 00:29:23.052 --> 00:29:27.432 so my patient wife embarked on a crusade 395 00:29:27.515 --> 00:29:30.560 to find a brilliant mathematician, 396 00:29:30.643 --> 00:29:34.189 who was also knowledgeable in the history of tennis. 397 00:29:37.609 --> 00:29:42.113 I started wondering where I could find people who were absolutely nuts 398 00:29:42.197 --> 00:29:45.575 and obsessed with such a specific topic as it is the ATP ranking. 399 00:29:45.658 --> 00:29:47.410 Even more specifically, the old ATP ranking, 400 00:29:47.494 --> 00:29:50.622 a ranking that got lost in time. 401 00:29:51.372 --> 00:29:56.211 I thought, "Okay, if Eduardo already looked for books, newspaper archives, 402 00:29:56.294 --> 00:29:58.046 tournament directors, what do we have left?" 403 00:29:58.129 --> 00:29:59.005 "Fans, of course." 404 00:29:59.088 --> 00:30:00.131 CAREFUL 405 00:30:00.215 --> 00:30:02.550 AVERAGE - MONDAY HE HAD 886 406 00:30:02.634 --> 00:30:06.471 I started searching for people talking 407 00:30:06.554 --> 00:30:09.766 about the ATP ranking on international blogs. 408 00:30:10.683 --> 00:30:15.271 I felt that those people were special, they were really obsessed, 409 00:30:15.355 --> 00:30:17.816 because nobody pays you to write on a blog. 410 00:30:18.733 --> 00:30:22.737 At some point, I entered a forum and I found a Slovak man. 411 00:30:22.821 --> 00:30:24.364 I asked him some questions, 412 00:30:24.447 --> 00:30:29.327 and I told Eduardo, "Look, I found a guy who's quite similar to you." 413 00:30:31.538 --> 00:30:35.500 She found a Slovak man who didn't take on the challenge, 414 00:30:35.583 --> 00:30:39.796 but he recommended another man, a Romanian named Marian Ciulpan. 415 00:31:04.362 --> 00:31:09.617 An Argentinian was about to work with a Romanian to study Vilas's ranking. 416 00:31:09.701 --> 00:31:13.496 And Vilas, an Argentinian, had achieved his victories 417 00:31:13.580 --> 00:31:17.250 thanks to Felipe Locícero, of course, but also to a Romanian, Ion Ţiriac. 418 00:31:40.064 --> 00:31:42.775 I sent him different sets of data, 419 00:31:42.859 --> 00:31:45.194 different tournament results. 420 00:31:45.278 --> 00:31:48.489 If we consider the huge amount of information to analyze… 421 00:31:49.574 --> 00:31:51.367 it was quite an ambitious goal. 422 00:32:46.673 --> 00:32:47.882 Does anyone know? 423 00:32:49.884 --> 00:32:52.637 Borg, Panatta, please go to the main court. 424 00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:54.681 -Borg, Panatta. -Not Panatta, Vilas! 425 00:32:56.057 --> 00:32:57.934 Borg, Vilas, please go to the main court. 426 00:32:58.017 --> 00:32:58.935 Thanks. 427 00:32:59.018 --> 00:33:01.437 Guillermo Vilas, Argentina. 428 00:33:18.621 --> 00:33:20.915 I was really nervous at that tournament 429 00:33:21.624 --> 00:33:23.334 because I had beaten him the previous time, 430 00:33:23.418 --> 00:33:25.128 because I had won the Masters Cup… 431 00:33:27.130 --> 00:33:29.507 because I knew I had a good chance of beating him, 432 00:33:29.590 --> 00:33:33.344 and, as I said before, because I was just a player, not a great player. 433 00:34:01.664 --> 00:34:03.750 APARTMENT NUMBER 46 OCTOBER 28TH 434 00:34:03.833 --> 00:34:07.462 I was close friends with Borg. We traveled together all the time. 435 00:34:07.545 --> 00:34:11.966 One day, I met him before entering the hotel and he said, 436 00:34:12.050 --> 00:34:14.093 "May I ask you something?" 437 00:34:14.886 --> 00:34:18.890 "Your forehand stinks, 438 00:34:19.515 --> 00:34:22.560 and my backhand is quite shitty." 439 00:34:22.643 --> 00:34:24.645 So, we exchanged techniques. 440 00:34:51.047 --> 00:34:53.091 We played together. I played doubles with Borg. 441 00:34:53.174 --> 00:34:55.927 I made bets with Borg, 442 00:34:56.552 --> 00:34:59.597 we bet on who would make a rival drop their racket, 443 00:34:59.680 --> 00:35:02.642 which one of us would make them drop more rackets. 444 00:35:02.725 --> 00:35:05.103 And we would aim at their chests 445 00:35:05.186 --> 00:35:08.231 because, back then, no one was familiarized with the concept of topspin. 446 00:36:10.084 --> 00:36:12.378 SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 447 00:36:36.527 --> 00:36:39.614 With Ciulpan, calculations became much more agile. 448 00:36:39.697 --> 00:36:45.745 Between August 1973 and December 1978, 449 00:36:45.828 --> 00:36:47.997 according to the ATP database, 450 00:36:48.080 --> 00:36:52.376 128 official rankings were published, 451 00:36:52.460 --> 00:36:56.214 out of the 280 possible ones, given the amount of weeks in that interval. 452 00:36:56.297 --> 00:36:59.508 So, following that official criterion, 453 00:36:59.592 --> 00:37:04.263 the other 152 weeks shouldn't be granted to anyone. 454 00:37:04.347 --> 00:37:05.806 But that's not what happened. 455 00:37:08.726 --> 00:37:11.979 In 1975, the 13 weeks with published rankings 456 00:37:12.063 --> 00:37:14.357 were granted to Jimmy Connors… 457 00:37:16.317 --> 00:37:19.654 and so were the 39 weeks with no published rankings. 458 00:37:21.113 --> 00:37:24.200 They granted him the full year, 52 weeks, 459 00:37:24.283 --> 00:37:27.995 without having properly calculated or confirmed any of them. 460 00:38:30.558 --> 00:38:31.892 CHAMPION 461 00:38:31.976 --> 00:38:35.813 Vilas knew he had played very well in 1975. 462 00:38:35.896 --> 00:38:37.231 CHAMPION 463 00:38:37.315 --> 00:38:38.399 CHAMPION 464 00:38:38.482 --> 00:38:44.030 After Wimbledon, he won more than 30 matches in a row. 465 00:38:44.113 --> 00:38:48.117 He felt he was very close to Connors's average. 466 00:38:50.036 --> 00:38:51.746 SEMIFINALS 467 00:38:51.829 --> 00:38:54.498 For Vilas's averages, 468 00:38:54.582 --> 00:38:58.461 his consistent performance during several periods of that season 469 00:38:58.544 --> 00:39:00.755 was crucial. 470 00:39:00.838 --> 00:39:02.256 According to the ATP, 471 00:39:02.340 --> 00:39:05.384 Connors became number one by a very slim margin, 472 00:39:05.468 --> 00:39:10.431 virtually nothing, just 0.198 above Vilas's average. 473 00:39:10.514 --> 00:39:13.809 Then Vilas filed his first complaints before the ATP. 474 00:39:13.893 --> 00:39:18.189 Almost every week, he'd ask the people in charge of the list 475 00:39:18.272 --> 00:39:21.525 if he had gone up in the ranking. 476 00:39:21.609 --> 00:39:23.527 The answer was always the same: 477 00:39:23.611 --> 00:39:26.405 "No, Willy." "No, Willy, you're still number two." 478 00:39:26.489 --> 00:39:30.409 That was the only answer he ever got, he never made it to number one, 479 00:39:30.493 --> 00:39:32.536 even when he was winning every week. 480 00:39:35.748 --> 00:39:37.666 I knew I had an advantage. 481 00:39:38.292 --> 00:39:41.921 How could it be? After so much time, how come… 482 00:39:42.546 --> 00:39:44.882 I'd never reached number one… 483 00:39:45.633 --> 00:39:46.967 not even for a single day? 484 00:40:19.750 --> 00:40:21.460 CONNORS - POINTS - AVERAGE 485 00:40:21.544 --> 00:40:25.214 15TH SEPTEMBER, 1975 22ND SEPTEMBER, 1975 486 00:40:25.297 --> 00:40:27.091 SPANISH MANUEL ORANTES BEAT THE ARGENTINE IDOL 487 00:40:27.174 --> 00:40:29.677 Although Vilas suffered an upset 488 00:40:29.760 --> 00:40:35.599 at the 1975 US Open semifinals in Forest Hills 489 00:40:35.683 --> 00:40:37.643 against Spanish Manuel Orantes, 490 00:40:37.726 --> 00:40:43.941 that performance propelled him to take the next step in his career. 491 00:40:58.247 --> 00:41:04.670 According to our research, from Monday, September 22nd, 1975, 492 00:41:04.753 --> 00:41:09.675 Guillermo Vilas was the real world number one for the first time in his life. 493 00:41:09.758 --> 00:41:10.676 AVERAGES 494 00:41:33.491 --> 00:41:35.868 That was when he took a leap forward, 495 00:41:35.951 --> 00:41:38.662 which lasted for five more weeks, 496 00:41:39.330 --> 00:41:41.665 up to 27th October, 1975, 497 00:41:41.749 --> 00:41:44.293 when Connors became number one again. 498 00:41:46.086 --> 00:41:47.838 Connors ranked number one for ten more weeks, 499 00:41:47.922 --> 00:41:49.882 and Vilas got it for two more, 500 00:41:49.965 --> 00:41:54.345 those starting on 5th and 12th January, 1976. 501 00:41:54.428 --> 00:41:58.474 That sums up his seven weeks at number one. 502 00:42:00.059 --> 00:42:02.686 Jimmy Connors earned every one of his weeks as number one, 503 00:42:03.270 --> 00:42:05.147 our research doesn't contest that. 504 00:42:05.731 --> 00:42:09.735 He and Vilas are involuntary actors in the official version of this story. 505 00:42:10.361 --> 00:42:13.656 Neither of them tilted the balance in their favor or against it. 506 00:42:16.867 --> 00:42:20.246 Ţiriac, is Guillermo Vilas changing his playing style? 507 00:42:20.329 --> 00:42:23.999 I think Guillermo should change his style, 508 00:42:24.083 --> 00:42:25.501 he should be more… 509 00:42:26.168 --> 00:42:30.839 more aggressive, go to the net more often, hit more volley shots. 510 00:42:30.923 --> 00:42:32.925 I think he is on the right path. 511 00:42:33.008 --> 00:42:35.636 This is a complicated transition period, 512 00:42:35.719 --> 00:42:40.099 but it's his best chance to keep playing at a high level. 513 00:42:40.182 --> 00:42:42.101 Let's hope for good luck and success. 514 00:42:42.184 --> 00:42:46.480 In any case, we'll thank you for your work and your help 515 00:42:46.564 --> 00:42:48.566 in making Guillermo the world number one in tennis. 516 00:42:48.649 --> 00:42:49.984 -That's what we all want. -Thanks. 517 00:42:54.154 --> 00:42:56.115 Ţiriac had approached me a couple of times. 518 00:42:57.032 --> 00:43:00.911 I had always played very well with him, so I thought, "Let's try it for a month." 519 00:43:02.788 --> 00:43:05.791 After a month training with him, I won three tournaments in a row. 520 00:43:09.545 --> 00:43:10.796 Then I called him and told him, 521 00:43:10.879 --> 00:43:12.965 "I want to hire you, how much do you charge?" 522 00:43:13.048 --> 00:43:14.508 He asked me, "Why?" 523 00:43:14.592 --> 00:43:16.552 And I replied, "I hit my ceiling." 524 00:43:16.635 --> 00:43:19.138 "But you already won this and that…" 525 00:43:19.221 --> 00:43:22.600 "I did win those, but it would be easier with you." 526 00:43:29.189 --> 00:43:34.445 VILAS'S COACH 527 00:43:35.487 --> 00:43:37.323 One day, Ţiriac asked me, 528 00:43:37.406 --> 00:43:42.453 "How does it feel to be before the best coach in the world?" 529 00:43:42.536 --> 00:43:45.247 And I replied, "You know very well 530 00:43:45.331 --> 00:43:50.794 that you're before a player who can hit any shot you ask for." 531 00:43:50.878 --> 00:43:52.796 With my technique, I can hit any shot, 532 00:43:52.880 --> 00:43:55.924 I can play however you like, I can play on any surface, 533 00:43:56.008 --> 00:44:00.929 I can give spin to any shot in any situation 534 00:44:01.013 --> 00:44:03.307 without hurting myself, and I can do it for hours. 535 00:44:03.390 --> 00:44:04.767 In fact, the first test he gave me 536 00:44:04.892 --> 00:44:07.519 was to see how many hours I could play without getting tired. 537 00:44:07.603 --> 00:44:09.438 After eight hours, he stopped. 538 00:44:11.482 --> 00:44:13.901 I told him I could go on, but he said it was enough. 539 00:44:33.045 --> 00:44:36.256 Immediately after that, I made it to the finals in Australia. 540 00:45:12.418 --> 00:45:13.544 I lost against Tanner. 541 00:45:25.180 --> 00:45:27.641 I started playing every tournament, and I was doing awful. 542 00:45:27.725 --> 00:45:30.018 NICE DEFEAT IN FINAL 543 00:45:31.103 --> 00:45:33.063 MONTE CARLO SEMIFINALS DEFEAT 544 00:45:34.106 --> 00:45:35.315 HAMBURG QUARTER FINALS DEFEAT 545 00:45:35.399 --> 00:45:38.736 Sometimes you need to hit rock bottom… 546 00:45:38.819 --> 00:45:40.028 ROME SECOND ROUND DEFEAT 547 00:45:40.112 --> 00:45:41.864 …so anything going up can lift you with it. 548 00:45:44.324 --> 00:45:47.161 Then I traveled to Hawaii. 549 00:45:49.621 --> 00:45:52.249 I had always wanted to go there alone. 550 00:45:53.041 --> 00:45:59.173 HAWAII, USA 551 00:46:02.926 --> 00:46:06.847 I remember I went to the desert. I started running and got up a mountain. 552 00:46:06.930 --> 00:46:08.223 I watched the sunset. 553 00:46:08.307 --> 00:46:10.434 And after that, I turned 554 00:46:10.517 --> 00:46:15.063 and, of course, the light disappeared on that side of the mountain. 555 00:46:15.731 --> 00:46:18.859 It was dark, there were coyotes, 556 00:46:19.651 --> 00:46:23.155 you could hear howls all around… I was really scared. 557 00:46:26.909 --> 00:46:31.455 So… I stayed there for ten days, and then Ţiriac came to see me. 558 00:46:32.289 --> 00:46:35.542 When he saw I was so down, he told me, "I'm in charge now." 559 00:46:36.627 --> 00:46:37.836 "This will be hard." 560 00:46:52.351 --> 00:46:55.729 He started managing everything related to my training, 561 00:46:55.813 --> 00:46:58.607 even my schedule. I didn't have to think about anything. 562 00:46:59.441 --> 00:47:01.568 He adjusted my routine, and he made me stop writing. 563 00:47:01.652 --> 00:47:07.324 At the time, I used to write poetry, watch movies and read lots of books. 564 00:47:07.407 --> 00:47:11.370 "No, you must stop with all that." He started shaping me like clay. 565 00:47:13.413 --> 00:47:14.790 I did everything he said. 566 00:47:15.499 --> 00:47:17.334 And it worked. It worked perfectly. 567 00:47:18.710 --> 00:47:22.297 He put me on a very strict diet. I was starving. 568 00:47:22.881 --> 00:47:24.758 I was so hungry I dreamed of food. 569 00:47:36.854 --> 00:47:41.900 DECEMBER 2013 570 00:47:41.984 --> 00:47:43.402 Although it's hard to believe, 571 00:47:44.027 --> 00:47:47.239 Vilas was the last to know about our research. 572 00:47:47.906 --> 00:47:51.285 I had been searching for the truth for six years, 573 00:47:51.368 --> 00:47:54.913 and once I had a solid amount of statistical data, 574 00:47:54.997 --> 00:47:56.790 I decided to inform Vilas. 575 00:47:57.749 --> 00:48:00.085 BUENOS AIRES, DECEMBER 26TH, 2013 576 00:48:00.168 --> 00:48:04.965 "Here, these are the first good news about your ATP ranking," I said. 577 00:48:05.048 --> 00:48:10.429 He looked at them with suspicion, run his left fingers through his hair, 578 00:48:10.512 --> 00:48:13.015 then looked at me, asked for another cup of coffee. 579 00:48:13.098 --> 00:48:15.517 He kept talking about the weather, the heat… 580 00:48:16.184 --> 00:48:17.978 He didn't react at all. 581 00:48:18.687 --> 00:48:21.607 VILAS PHONED PUPPO 48 HOURS LATER 582 00:48:29.823 --> 00:48:32.492 "I'm sorry," he told me, "I was a bit cold, 583 00:48:32.576 --> 00:48:36.997 but I got so emotional, so many things ran through my head." 584 00:48:37.080 --> 00:48:41.209 "It was the third time that I felt something so strong related to tennis." 585 00:48:41.752 --> 00:48:44.880 "The first time was when I won the Masters Cup, when I was a nobody." 586 00:48:44.963 --> 00:48:48.050 "The second one, when I won my second Australia Open, 587 00:48:48.133 --> 00:48:51.303 because my father was there and I saw him cry for the first time." 588 00:48:51.386 --> 00:48:53.597 "This is the third time." 589 00:48:57.809 --> 00:48:59.311 His last sentence 590 00:48:59.895 --> 00:49:02.814 hit me even harder. 591 00:49:02.898 --> 00:49:09.279 He said, "You have no idea how much these pages mean to me." 592 00:49:12.366 --> 00:49:16.703 It was my first positive experience with Vilas in relation to the research, 593 00:49:16.787 --> 00:49:20.415 but it also scared me a bit 594 00:49:21.124 --> 00:49:22.668 because approaching him could be… 595 00:49:23.585 --> 00:49:24.920 dangerous 596 00:49:25.003 --> 00:49:27.881 if I didn't get good results. 597 00:49:27.965 --> 00:49:31.593 Vilas hadn't asked me to get him the number one ranking. 598 00:49:31.677 --> 00:49:33.470 I was involving him in this fight… 599 00:49:34.846 --> 00:49:38.976 which had a different path than his. 600 00:49:39.059 --> 00:49:41.645 Mine was a lot more aggressive. 601 00:49:42.396 --> 00:49:45.315 I regretted having given him that envelope. 602 00:49:52.489 --> 00:49:55.742 PARIS, FRANCE 603 00:50:26.273 --> 00:50:28.859 I had played the Roland-Garros final before. 604 00:50:28.942 --> 00:50:35.073 At the time, I had won about 40 or 35 tournaments. 605 00:50:36.199 --> 00:50:37.659 I wasn't a rookie. 606 00:50:37.743 --> 00:50:42.372 And Ţiriac realized that the key to playing that final 607 00:50:42.456 --> 00:50:43.915 was doubling the training. 608 00:51:06.271 --> 00:51:08.356 CLUB MEMBERS 609 00:51:08.440 --> 00:51:13.862 Here's where Vilas trained in 1977, La Faisanderie. 610 00:51:14.863 --> 00:51:18.784 He spent May and June, 1977 training here because it was a very quiet place, 611 00:51:18.867 --> 00:51:22.079 where Vilas was isolated from almost everything. 612 00:51:23.413 --> 00:51:25.248 So they would meet up here. 613 00:51:33.381 --> 00:51:35.759 Vilas would sleep under the trees here. 614 00:51:37.761 --> 00:51:39.763 It's a very beautiful place. 615 00:51:48.105 --> 00:51:50.065 It used to be a pheasant hunting ground. 616 00:51:51.691 --> 00:51:53.819 It's a bit distant from downtown Paris, 617 00:51:55.028 --> 00:51:57.072 but it's a beautiful place. 618 00:52:06.248 --> 00:52:08.458 Ţiriac handled everything, and I obeyed him. 619 00:52:11.169 --> 00:52:14.589 I realized that every time I'd try to intervene, I'd complicate things. 620 00:52:16.716 --> 00:52:18.927 I always followed the schedule he planned, 621 00:52:19.678 --> 00:52:21.263 I did everything he told me to. 622 00:52:21.346 --> 00:52:26.101 I trained and stuck to my routine, repeating always the same. 623 00:52:37.571 --> 00:52:39.614 I wouldn't get involved in anything. 624 00:52:46.538 --> 00:52:50.792 I just wrote in my diary every day in order to relax. 625 00:52:51.751 --> 00:52:53.753 I was very anxious, I couldn't sleep at night. 626 00:52:53.837 --> 00:52:57.090 PERSONAL INFORMATION 627 00:52:57.174 --> 00:52:59.676 I'M THE BEST PARIS, MAY, 1977 628 00:52:59.759 --> 00:53:02.053 I HAVE NO DOUBTS ABOUT IT, BUT I'LL HAVE TO PROVE IT 629 00:53:02.137 --> 00:53:04.264 AND I WILL PROVE IT BIG TIME 630 00:53:04.347 --> 00:53:08.226 THIS TROPHY WILL BE MINE AND I'LL PROVE IT BIG TIME 631 00:54:28.598 --> 00:54:32.227 COLGATE INTERNATIONAL SERIES 632 00:55:07.053 --> 00:55:08.930 I was too focused on the other match. 633 00:55:09.014 --> 00:55:11.891 I only realized it was over when the umpire said so. 634 00:55:17.397 --> 00:55:19.733 I knew I was playing the match point, 635 00:55:19.816 --> 00:55:23.153 but my instinct told me one point ended and another one started. 636 00:55:23.236 --> 00:55:25.947 That's why I didn't raise my arms. 637 00:55:26.573 --> 00:55:28.491 And I turned to Ţiriac. 638 00:55:35.332 --> 00:55:37.959 Deep down, you play automatically. 639 00:55:38.543 --> 00:55:41.463 If you take a shark out of the water it will still bite the air. 640 00:55:41.546 --> 00:55:43.673 It's out of the water, there's nothing there. 641 00:55:43.757 --> 00:55:46.092 What is it trying to bite? It just does, just in case. 642 00:55:46.760 --> 00:55:49.179 And I was like that shark. 643 00:55:54.142 --> 00:55:58.229 DECEMBER 4TH, 2014 644 00:55:59.439 --> 00:56:01.358 The starting point of this story 645 00:56:01.441 --> 00:56:04.778 was Thursday, December 4th, 2014. 646 00:56:04.861 --> 00:56:11.117 I clearly remember the time, it was 2:56 p.m., Buenos Aires time, 647 00:56:11.201 --> 00:56:15.955 or 12:56 p.m., according to the destination time, 648 00:56:16.039 --> 00:56:18.458 Ponte Vedra Beach, in the United States. 649 00:56:19.417 --> 00:56:25.548 That was the exact moment when I sent the whole arsenal of documents 650 00:56:25.632 --> 00:56:28.593 to the ATP Chairman directly. 651 00:56:28.676 --> 00:56:32.097 That e-mail included a link and a password 652 00:56:32.180 --> 00:56:39.145 so he could open the 1232 encrypted files online, 653 00:56:39.229 --> 00:56:45.151 plus the 1119 pages of the research itself. 654 00:56:52.242 --> 00:56:56.871 JOURNALIST, ESPN TENNIS 655 00:57:02.252 --> 00:57:06.005 Our research guaranteed that every doubt, 656 00:57:06.089 --> 00:57:10.510 every technical shortage, and the ATP statistics 657 00:57:10.593 --> 00:57:16.808 were confronted with real, concrete evidence scanned from different sources. 658 00:57:39.956 --> 00:57:41.916 I felt lonely, although I love being alone. 659 00:57:42.000 --> 00:57:43.585 I had so much fun! 660 00:57:46.254 --> 00:57:51.509 After a match, I'd go to my room, order room service, eat and fall asleep. 661 00:57:52.177 --> 00:57:54.053 I had no energy left. 662 00:57:57.515 --> 00:58:00.935 My sleeping schedule changed, and when you're exhausted, 663 00:58:01.561 --> 00:58:06.024 you can't be with other people, and nevertheless you still think a lot. 664 00:58:08.485 --> 00:58:13.281 You can have the most beautiful and free ideas you can think of. 665 00:58:13.364 --> 00:58:15.283 My fondest memories happened at that time. 666 00:58:16.242 --> 00:58:19.287 I enjoyed the simple things in life, like ice cream. 667 00:58:22.373 --> 00:58:25.210 When you're tired, you prefer sedentary activities. 668 00:58:26.127 --> 00:58:27.170 I mean, 669 00:58:27.253 --> 00:58:31.466 you want your bed to be cool, you want to turn on the air conditioner. 670 00:58:31.549 --> 00:58:34.385 They're small, simple things. 671 00:58:34.469 --> 00:58:38.306 But those are the things that can enliven that essential stage in your life. 672 00:58:42.060 --> 00:58:45.063 THIRD ROUND 673 00:58:46.272 --> 00:58:49.275 CHAMPION 674 00:58:50.026 --> 00:58:52.278 CHAMPION 675 00:58:52.946 --> 00:58:55.240 CHAMPION 676 00:58:59.410 --> 00:59:00.286 I arrived at Gstaad 677 00:59:00.995 --> 00:59:02.539 and Thomaz Koch told me, 678 00:59:02.622 --> 00:59:05.458 "You have to come tomorrow to see Krishnamurti, 679 00:59:05.542 --> 00:59:06.876 he's a Hindu philosopher." 680 00:59:07.710 --> 00:59:08.753 It was raining, so I went. 681 00:59:15.677 --> 00:59:22.350 VOICE OF JIDDU KRISHNAMURTI PHILOSOPHER 682 00:59:32.860 --> 00:59:36.281 That experience blew me away. 683 00:59:38.700 --> 00:59:40.952 Suddenly, all that joy I felt had… 684 00:59:41.786 --> 00:59:44.414 some serenity attached to it. 685 00:59:44.497 --> 00:59:50.962 There were very important things that depended on harmony, not on anxiety. 686 00:59:51.713 --> 00:59:53.256 That realization changed my life. 687 00:59:59.554 --> 01:00:01.306 We waited for an answer from the ATP. 688 01:00:01.389 --> 01:00:04.684 It came two months later, and it was negative. 689 01:00:14.777 --> 01:00:16.279 According to the Board of Directors, 690 01:00:16.362 --> 01:00:20.908 they didn't have the full data from the '70s, 691 01:00:20.992 --> 01:00:25.872 and therefore couldn't find the reason for the mistakes we'd found. 692 01:00:36.132 --> 01:00:42.096 That rejection lead us to ask Vilas himself to join our task force. 693 01:00:43.431 --> 01:00:46.684 Vilas then sent a e-mail to Chairman Kermode personally… 694 01:00:46.768 --> 01:00:47.935 ATP CHAIRMAN 2013-2019 695 01:00:48.019 --> 01:00:49.479 …telling him, among other things, 696 01:00:49.562 --> 01:00:53.608 that he was certain that Kermode would understand 697 01:00:53.691 --> 01:00:57.612 the very difficult and unfair position the ATP had put him in, 698 01:00:57.695 --> 01:01:03.284 and that he felt, as a founding member of the ATP, 699 01:01:03.368 --> 01:01:06.079 that he was free to take legal actions. 700 01:01:06.704 --> 01:01:10.375 Kermode answered him that same day, he was quick. 701 01:01:10.458 --> 01:01:13.670 But he maintained the same posture we already knew. 702 01:01:13.753 --> 01:01:19.300 Vilas didn't receive a more solid answer. 703 01:01:20.593 --> 01:01:22.679 NEW YORK, USA JULY 1977 704 01:01:22.762 --> 01:01:26.516 Today I'm resuming this recording I started some time ago, 705 01:01:27.266 --> 01:01:28.726 four days ago. 706 01:01:30.228 --> 01:01:32.313 Recording my thoughts on tape is hard. 707 01:01:32.397 --> 01:01:34.649 MESSAGE FROM VILAS TO HIS FRIENDS CHACHO, ARTURO AND FLACO 708 01:01:34.732 --> 01:01:36.651 It seems there are no feelings involved. 709 01:01:37.527 --> 01:01:39.320 Everything here is going fine. 710 01:01:40.405 --> 01:01:42.573 I feel quite nostalgic. I miss you terribly. 711 01:01:43.950 --> 01:01:45.535 But I feel quite close to you all. 712 01:01:45.618 --> 01:01:48.413 I look forward to going back to Argentina so I can be with you, 713 01:01:49.205 --> 01:01:52.041 so I can share things with you. 714 01:01:52.125 --> 01:01:54.544 I plan to play very well in the upcoming tournaments, 715 01:01:54.627 --> 01:01:56.421 I'll be in great shape. 716 01:01:57.964 --> 01:01:59.132 I'll win. 717 01:01:59.215 --> 01:02:00.174 That's my wish. 718 01:02:23.865 --> 01:02:27.869 Outside the tennis world, Vilas was very perceptive. 719 01:02:27.952 --> 01:02:30.580 I remember he told me many times 720 01:02:30.663 --> 01:02:34.208 that, when he arrived in New York in 1977, 721 01:02:34.292 --> 01:02:36.836 he felt its atmosphere was very strange. 722 01:02:36.919 --> 01:02:40.923 There were looting, fires, a financial crisis, 723 01:02:41.007 --> 01:02:43.551 and a terrible heatwave. 724 01:02:43.634 --> 01:02:46.387 On top of that, the Son of Sam case was ongoing, 725 01:02:46.471 --> 01:02:50.516 he was caught just before the US Open, in Forest Hills. 726 01:03:06.365 --> 01:03:09.076 The atmosphere was stifling in every sense of the word, 727 01:03:09.160 --> 01:03:10.953 and Vilas noticed it. 728 01:03:19.420 --> 01:03:21.172 I was worried because I was very tired. 729 01:03:21.255 --> 01:03:23.299 I was on a winning streak. 730 01:03:23.382 --> 01:03:24.967 I had won in Kitzbühel, 731 01:03:25.051 --> 01:03:27.720 Washington, Louisville, 732 01:03:27.804 --> 01:03:29.972 Columbus, Ohio, 733 01:03:30.056 --> 01:03:33.768 South Orange, Westchester. 734 01:03:33.851 --> 01:03:35.394 I won all those in a row. 735 01:03:35.478 --> 01:03:37.104 And there I was, at the US Open. 736 01:04:16.769 --> 01:04:18.646 I entered the court soaked in sweat. 737 01:04:26.988 --> 01:04:29.365 Ţiriac had one tactic, and I had a different one. 738 01:04:29.448 --> 01:04:33.077 I started using mine, but it didn't work immediately. 739 01:04:47.675 --> 01:04:51.470 He had won four or five extraordinary points, 740 01:04:51.554 --> 01:04:53.681 he was hitting amazing volleys. 741 01:04:54.557 --> 01:04:56.893 At some point, I saw the ball coming 742 01:04:56.976 --> 01:05:00.813 and I ran towards the open area, but there was nothing there anymore. 743 01:05:23.961 --> 01:05:26.547 The hardest part of winning is not beating the opponent, 744 01:05:26.631 --> 01:05:28.591 but convincing him he'll lose. 745 01:05:37.016 --> 01:05:40.394 We're waiting for the decision, there's some doubt. 746 01:05:42.730 --> 01:05:46.150 Vilas has won! 747 01:05:46.233 --> 01:05:49.654 Vilas is the champion in Forest Hills! Right now, the Argentinian is surrounded 748 01:05:49.737 --> 01:05:53.616 by a huge crowd of photographers and spectators, it's quite chaotic. 749 01:05:53.699 --> 01:05:55.534 Vilas is the champion of the US Open! 750 01:05:55.618 --> 01:05:57.453 He's the world number one! 751 01:05:59.288 --> 01:06:02.041 For the first time in the history of the US Open final, 752 01:06:02.124 --> 01:06:03.417 and of tennis in general, 753 01:06:03.501 --> 01:06:05.962 the spectators invaded the court. It always happens when I play. 754 01:06:06.045 --> 01:06:08.589 Same at Roland-Garros, but there were just 20 people then. 755 01:06:08.673 --> 01:06:09.715 Here they were 100,000. 756 01:06:14.762 --> 01:06:17.932 That last day, September 11th, 1977, 757 01:06:18.599 --> 01:06:20.559 when he arrived at the hotel at night, 758 01:06:20.643 --> 01:06:23.479 after beating Jimmy Connors in the US Open final, 759 01:06:24.146 --> 01:06:27.066 he took this notebook, his diary, 760 01:06:27.149 --> 01:06:31.946 and when he opened it, there was only one blank page left. 761 01:06:32.697 --> 01:06:35.032 The very last one. 762 01:06:35.116 --> 01:06:36.283 This is that page. 763 01:06:36.367 --> 01:06:38.411 And he started writing… 764 01:06:40.037 --> 01:06:41.622 that he won. He wrote how he won. 765 01:06:42.623 --> 01:06:45.751 And then he wrote, "Bravo, Guillermo. Your friend of 25 years." 766 01:06:47.670 --> 01:06:49.964 He was his own friend at that time. 767 01:06:54.301 --> 01:06:57.263 One day before the beginning of the 2015 Roland-Garros, 768 01:06:57.346 --> 01:07:01.475 I was contacted by American journalist Cristopher Clarey, 769 01:07:01.559 --> 01:07:03.310 who works for The New York Times, 770 01:07:03.394 --> 01:07:05.187 because Kermode had informed him 771 01:07:05.271 --> 01:07:07.982 that the ATP wouldn't grant Vilas the number one ranking. 772 01:07:09.442 --> 01:07:12.987 That caught me off guard. Until then, the research was confidential. 773 01:07:13.070 --> 01:07:17.450 That article was published online on May 25th, 774 01:07:17.533 --> 01:07:21.370 and in the printed version of The New York Times the following day. 775 01:07:21.454 --> 01:07:23.497 The headline shocked me. 776 01:07:42.975 --> 01:07:47.146 It was a long article where Kermode gave his point of view 777 01:07:47.229 --> 01:07:51.150 and stated that he was 100% sure, 778 01:07:51.233 --> 01:07:54.862 or at least as sure as he could be, 779 01:07:54.945 --> 01:07:58.365 that history cannot be rewritten. 780 01:08:11.462 --> 01:08:13.089 VILAS WAS NUMBER ONE IN 1975 781 01:08:13.172 --> 01:08:17.093 The impact across the tennis world news was enormous. 782 01:08:17.176 --> 01:08:19.553 We hadn't thought of going public, 783 01:08:19.637 --> 01:08:22.223 but, at least, that accident 784 01:08:22.306 --> 01:08:27.686 was helpful and put the topic in the media's agenda. 785 01:08:27.770 --> 01:08:30.397 WITH WEAK ARGUMENTS, ATP REJECTS VILAS'S NUMBER ONE CLAIM 786 01:08:30.481 --> 01:08:31.774 A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION REVEALED 787 01:08:31.857 --> 01:08:34.944 THE ARGENTINE PLAYER SHOULD HAVE BEEN NUMBER ONE IN 1975 788 01:09:17.528 --> 01:09:20.489 We should consider something very basic, 789 01:09:20.573 --> 01:09:23.659 imposed by history itself: 790 01:09:23.742 --> 01:09:26.996 when an athlete gets a result, 791 01:09:27.079 --> 01:09:30.291 that result belongs to them forever. 792 01:09:30.374 --> 01:09:35.546 No one can manipulate their achievements nor tell them what to do with them. 793 01:09:35.629 --> 01:09:39.884 Neither the ATP, the ITF, the journalists nor the athletes themselves can change it. 794 01:09:39.967 --> 01:09:43.512 It's their right, it doesn't prescribe, and it's inalienable. 795 01:09:46.932 --> 01:09:51.854 In May 2015, Vilas authorized the addition of a lawyer to the team, 796 01:09:51.937 --> 01:09:54.690 so he could get a legal point of view. 797 01:09:54.773 --> 01:09:57.818 This lawyer was Adrián Sautu de la Riestra. 798 01:09:57.902 --> 01:10:02.072 He took on our legal representation before the ATP. 799 01:10:03.199 --> 01:10:07.203 At first, we offered the ATP an arbitration… 800 01:10:07.286 --> 01:10:08.370 LAWYER 801 01:10:08.454 --> 01:10:11.081 …previous to a declaratory relief action 802 01:10:11.165 --> 01:10:14.376 to recognize Guillermo's world number one ranking. 803 01:10:15.085 --> 01:10:17.213 We also made it clear 804 01:10:17.796 --> 01:10:20.841 that he wasn't seeking a monetary compensation. 805 01:10:46.533 --> 01:10:48.994 NEW YORK, USA JANUARY 1978 806 01:10:51.622 --> 01:10:53.999 In the '70s tennis world, 807 01:10:54.083 --> 01:10:55.751 there was a much-anticipated tradition: 808 01:10:55.834 --> 01:10:59.046 the cover of the influential magazine World Tennis, 809 01:10:59.129 --> 01:11:01.590 especially their issue with the season summary. 810 01:11:01.674 --> 01:11:04.134 On that cover, they put the tennis player who, 811 01:11:04.218 --> 01:11:08.264 according to their journalistic criteria, had been number one that year. 812 01:11:08.347 --> 01:11:11.892 And to decide who that player was in 1977, 813 01:11:11.976 --> 01:11:15.896 the magazine editors waited until the Masters Cup final, 814 01:11:15.980 --> 01:11:19.275 in January 1978, between Borg and Connors. 815 01:11:20.067 --> 01:11:21.735 JANUARY 1978 816 01:11:21.819 --> 01:11:25.072 That year, Connors had won nine tournaments. 817 01:11:26.031 --> 01:11:27.157 Borg had won seven. 818 01:11:28.033 --> 01:11:29.410 I had won 14. 819 01:11:30.035 --> 01:11:32.705 Both of them had won one Gran Slam each. 820 01:11:32.788 --> 01:11:35.416 I had won two, and I had made it to the final in another one. 821 01:11:35.499 --> 01:11:36.959 I doubled their achievements. 822 01:11:37.584 --> 01:11:40.963 But, at that moment, everything depended on that result. 823 01:11:41.046 --> 01:11:42.047 JIMMY CONNORS USA 824 01:11:42.131 --> 01:11:44.466 Connors had no chance, he hadn't won anything. 825 01:11:44.550 --> 01:11:46.218 I needed him to win. 826 01:11:47.136 --> 01:11:49.513 I didn't want to go see the final, it was too moving for me. 827 01:11:49.596 --> 01:11:50.681 It was too hard. 828 01:11:55.644 --> 01:11:58.897 I did something unusual. 829 01:11:59.940 --> 01:12:02.443 I remember I went to Woodstock. 830 01:12:02.526 --> 01:12:03.527 WOODSTOCK, USA JANUARY 1978 831 01:12:03.610 --> 01:12:04.528 Woodstock. 832 01:12:07.448 --> 01:12:11.660 There, I had my first contact with real freedom 833 01:12:11.744 --> 01:12:13.537 when I attended the Woodstock Festival. 834 01:12:21.462 --> 01:12:23.672 In Woodstock, I felt that freedom again. 835 01:12:24.548 --> 01:12:29.053 I saw those plains and thought, "Honestly, if the other one wins, 836 01:12:29.887 --> 01:12:30.888 maybe…" 837 01:12:31.764 --> 01:12:35.059 "That could happen. If so, I should build myself a shack and come live here." 838 01:12:36.018 --> 01:12:36.894 "Out of spite." 839 01:12:48.947 --> 01:12:50.407 That night I traveled back 840 01:12:51.033 --> 01:12:53.869 and arrived quite late, I was staying at the Plaza Hotel. 841 01:12:57.414 --> 01:13:01.085 I came in quietly, and then I ran into Donald Dell. 842 01:13:01.794 --> 01:13:03.045 He asked me… 843 01:13:06.715 --> 01:13:07.800 I said, "No, I didn't." 844 01:13:08.300 --> 01:13:09.301 "Who won?" 845 01:13:10.886 --> 01:13:13.639 "Connors," he said. 846 01:13:15.307 --> 01:13:16.683 I asked him, 847 01:13:17.768 --> 01:13:19.186 "How was it all?" 848 01:13:19.269 --> 01:13:22.523 I tried not to laugh or smile, and I said, "Was it a good match?" 849 01:13:23.774 --> 01:13:26.568 Then I went to my room… 850 01:13:27.528 --> 01:13:29.363 and I stayed in there. 851 01:13:31.156 --> 01:13:33.742 I laid there, staring at the ceiling all night long. 852 01:13:42.292 --> 01:13:45.212 The next day, I went to Aerolíneas Argentinas 853 01:13:45.295 --> 01:13:46.713 and bought a flight ticket. 854 01:13:46.797 --> 01:13:47.798 I got on the plane. 855 01:13:48.966 --> 01:13:53.595 And then the captain came to see me, he was a very close friend of mine. 856 01:13:54.930 --> 01:13:56.640 He told me, "Guillermo… 857 01:13:59.184 --> 01:14:00.769 Ţiriac sent this to you." 858 01:14:06.400 --> 01:14:09.278 I opened it and it was the World Tennis magazine. 859 01:14:09.736 --> 01:14:11.864 The issue with the number one player. 860 01:14:13.615 --> 01:14:17.578 VILAS NUMBER ONE! 861 01:14:17.661 --> 01:14:19.955 FOR VILAS… 862 01:14:20.038 --> 01:14:22.082 All of us had done the photo session. 863 01:14:22.749 --> 01:14:24.543 Me, Borg, you know? 864 01:14:24.626 --> 01:14:27.212 Because we knew one of us would be the number one. 865 01:14:27.296 --> 01:14:28.922 They were waiting for that. 866 01:14:30.466 --> 01:14:32.634 And when I saw it, 867 01:14:33.385 --> 01:14:38.307 I ordered champagne. I drank a lot that day. 868 01:14:38.390 --> 01:14:40.392 A lot, yeah, but I had earned it. 869 01:14:49.485 --> 01:14:50.986 JUNE 2015 870 01:14:51.069 --> 01:14:54.072 One morning in June 2015, Vilas told me, 871 01:14:54.823 --> 01:14:57.701 "Man, you have to write about my life, 872 01:14:57.784 --> 01:14:59.953 and I want you to be the custodian of my belongings." 873 01:15:05.083 --> 01:15:07.920 "I want you to have all the tennis-related things 874 01:15:08.003 --> 01:15:09.713 that I've kept since I was a kid." 875 01:15:09.796 --> 01:15:11.632 "As well as things related to my parents, 876 01:15:11.715 --> 01:15:14.009 things related to tennis, to music…" 877 01:15:14.092 --> 01:15:17.471 "Well, everything, so you can keep it and nothing gets lost." 878 01:15:17.554 --> 01:15:21.308 I need someone I trust to take care of all my things, and I thought of you." 879 01:15:24.311 --> 01:15:27.314 He also told me, "You know what is important for me." 880 01:15:27.397 --> 01:15:30.984 "I want these things to remain in Argentina, where my story started, 881 01:15:31.068 --> 01:15:32.736 they have to end up here." 882 01:15:34.738 --> 01:15:38.575 Making an inventory of everything… 883 01:15:40.077 --> 01:15:44.039 all the stuff that Guillermo had kept 884 01:15:45.123 --> 01:15:50.045 was a huge task, there were so many things. 885 01:15:50.128 --> 01:15:53.257 You could find every piece of paper, every t-shirt, 886 01:15:53.340 --> 01:15:55.384 the one he was wearing when he won Roland-Garros, 887 01:15:55.467 --> 01:15:58.387 every item Guillermo had. 888 01:15:59.471 --> 01:16:01.723 All that was part of his story, 889 01:16:01.807 --> 01:16:05.352 it was like having him there telling you everything. 890 01:16:06.186 --> 01:16:07.563 It was very moving. 891 01:16:09.106 --> 01:16:12.526 This is a notebook where he wrote… Well, it's full of tactics. 892 01:16:16.655 --> 01:16:18.907 Here he drew the tennis court, 893 01:16:18.991 --> 01:16:22.202 because, according to his ideas, the court has a soul. 894 01:16:23.245 --> 01:16:27.624 "Like everything else." So here he explains that concept, 895 01:16:27.708 --> 01:16:32.671 the court's soul, which way to get in and which way to get out of the court. 896 01:16:32.754 --> 01:16:36.758 He doesn't want to go into detail about this 897 01:16:36.842 --> 01:16:39.261 because this is one of his technical secrets. 898 01:16:40.637 --> 01:16:42.889 Vilas told me, "Please, as a favor, 899 01:16:43.557 --> 01:16:45.976 keep my notebooks somewhere safe." 900 01:16:46.059 --> 01:16:47.686 "I don't want them to get lost." 901 01:16:47.769 --> 01:16:51.898 "They're part of my story, I wrote in them every day." 902 01:16:51.982 --> 01:16:55.611 "I want to leave them in your care, I know you'll protect them." 903 01:16:55.694 --> 01:16:59.197 "And if something should happened to me… you'll know what to do." 904 01:17:00.991 --> 01:17:04.703 He looked me in the eyes. His were red, as usual. 905 01:17:04.786 --> 01:17:05.954 He gave me a hug, 906 01:17:06.038 --> 01:17:09.499 which was a way to seal that spiritual pact we were making. 907 01:17:09.583 --> 01:17:12.919 That was another very moving moment for me. 908 01:17:14.546 --> 01:17:19.343 SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 909 01:17:28.018 --> 01:17:32.648 I won my first tournament, the Masters Cup, without having a coach. 910 01:17:33.482 --> 01:17:36.068 I had traveled with Belfonte. 911 01:17:36.151 --> 01:17:39.738 I brought him again to keep the tradition, because I had no coach again, 912 01:17:39.821 --> 01:17:41.531 and I invited my father. 913 01:17:45.118 --> 01:17:45.994 "Dad… 914 01:17:47.037 --> 01:17:49.873 come to Australia, but you'll have to do as I say." 915 01:17:50.540 --> 01:17:52.584 "You'll have to follow my every move." 916 01:17:52.668 --> 01:17:54.961 "You can't do anything on your own." 917 01:17:55.045 --> 01:17:56.672 "We have to be a team." 918 01:17:56.755 --> 01:17:59.091 "You have to make me feel we're on the same page." 919 01:17:59.758 --> 01:18:00.717 And he did. 920 01:18:27.786 --> 01:18:32.499 We played, and I managed to win without a coach, 921 01:18:33.125 --> 01:18:34.042 and I had the chance 922 01:18:34.584 --> 01:18:36.628 to have my father see me win a Grand Slam. 923 01:18:36.712 --> 01:18:40.132 None of my loved ones had seen me win one before, they'd get very nervous. 924 01:18:59.651 --> 01:19:02.779 At the end, my father cried when I received the cup. 925 01:19:03.530 --> 01:19:07.868 He wasn't the crying kind, that was one of the few times he cried. 926 01:19:07.951 --> 01:19:11.496 He started crying at the bleachers. He was quite moved. 927 01:19:15.292 --> 01:19:17.711 We were staying at the Hilton, and he told me, 928 01:19:17.794 --> 01:19:21.715 "This hotel should be called 'Alcatraz Hilton.'" 929 01:19:21.798 --> 01:19:26.636 And he added, "Your life is beautiful, but I wouldn't want it for the world." 930 01:19:26.720 --> 01:19:30.766 "I wouldn't want to suffer again what I suffered in these last two weeks." 931 01:19:31.433 --> 01:19:32.601 "I don't envy you at all." 932 01:19:32.684 --> 01:19:35.187 "I love how passionate you are about this sport." 933 01:19:35.812 --> 01:19:39.691 "I don't think it's worth it, to live enslaved to tennis, 934 01:19:39.775 --> 01:19:42.027 because you're too into this 935 01:19:42.110 --> 01:19:44.446 and you'll never be able to leave it behind." 936 01:19:44.529 --> 01:19:45.781 "I hope you'll be happy." 937 01:19:45.864 --> 01:19:49.201 "I wish you happiness, but I'll never watch you play again." 938 01:19:49.284 --> 01:19:50.535 And he never did. 939 01:20:06.259 --> 01:20:09.054 DECEMBER 2016 940 01:20:09.137 --> 01:20:12.265 I kept going to Vilas's house to revise his book. 941 01:20:12.349 --> 01:20:15.727 One morning, his lawyer visited us unannounced. 942 01:20:17.729 --> 01:20:22.108 He stayed just for 10 or 15 minutes, but the news was very promising. 943 01:20:24.194 --> 01:20:25.987 In December 2016, 944 01:20:26.071 --> 01:20:30.283 I had had very positive conversations with lawyers linked to the ATP. 945 01:20:30.951 --> 01:20:35.121 We were heading towards the acknowledgment of the number one ranking. 946 01:20:35.914 --> 01:20:38.667 We really felt we were getting closer. 947 01:20:39.459 --> 01:20:41.962 So I went to tell Guillermo about it. 948 01:20:43.755 --> 01:20:46.925 Our lawyer left, we were alone again. 949 01:20:47.676 --> 01:20:50.929 Then I lived the most intense moment with Vilas, 950 01:20:51.012 --> 01:20:55.058 when he felt, for the first time in his life, 951 01:20:55.141 --> 01:20:58.061 that he could receive the number one ranking, 952 01:20:58.144 --> 01:21:00.939 and that his fight could come to an end. 953 01:21:01.022 --> 01:21:04.651 And just by chance, the camera I had put on the table 954 01:21:04.734 --> 01:21:09.656 to record Guillermo's corrections to the book, 955 01:21:09.739 --> 01:21:10.991 kept on recording. 956 01:21:12.284 --> 01:21:16.246 Who would you like to dedicate it to? 957 01:21:17.330 --> 01:21:20.166 -Honestly… -Your number one ranking. 958 01:21:20.250 --> 01:21:22.252 I mean… 959 01:21:22.335 --> 01:21:26.172 After all that hard work you did, all those-- 960 01:21:26.256 --> 01:21:29.175 Do you remember those times I got angry and you did too? 961 01:21:29.259 --> 01:21:33.305 You know? You understood… 962 01:21:34.556 --> 01:21:35.515 You know? 963 01:21:36.182 --> 01:21:38.268 Sometimes I'd get angry 964 01:21:38.351 --> 01:21:42.355 and you'd tell me, "Oh, you're mad at me and not at them." 965 01:21:42.439 --> 01:21:46.276 I was never mad at-- It's just the whole situation. 966 01:21:46.359 --> 01:21:47.903 It makes me think, 967 01:21:48.737 --> 01:21:50.697 "I did that all the time." 968 01:22:02.626 --> 01:22:03.543 It's over. 969 01:22:08.632 --> 01:22:10.800 -Those fucking bastards, dear God. -It's over. 970 01:22:11.760 --> 01:22:14.554 "My man," like you always call me… 971 01:22:14.638 --> 01:22:15.931 -Thanks, my friend. -My man. 972 01:22:17.641 --> 01:22:20.810 -This arm did it. -Thanks. 973 01:22:20.894 --> 01:22:23.980 -Where you have your brother's name. -There he is. 974 01:22:26.858 --> 01:22:29.152 -I love you, man. -Thank you. 975 01:22:41.539 --> 01:22:43.041 Thanks for everything. 976 01:22:52.550 --> 01:22:53.468 We got it. 977 01:22:55.679 --> 01:22:56.680 I just hope it won't… 978 01:22:57.430 --> 01:22:59.683 -vanish again. -It won't. 979 01:23:01.393 --> 01:23:03.728 Guillermo, his wife Phiang and their children 980 01:23:03.812 --> 01:23:07.440 left Argentina on December 19th, 2016. 981 01:23:11.778 --> 01:23:12.779 ON MAY 9TH, 2018, 982 01:23:12.862 --> 01:23:15.657 THE ATP BOARD OF DIRECTORS GAVE THEIR THIRD ADVERSE VERDICT 983 01:23:15.740 --> 01:23:18.410 AND THEY WON'T GIVE THE CASE FURTHER CONSIDERATION 984 01:23:18.493 --> 01:23:19.703 After that negative answer, 985 01:23:19.786 --> 01:23:24.249 we started several legal proceedings around the world. 986 01:23:25.500 --> 01:23:29.212 PARIS, FRANCE 987 01:24:05.540 --> 01:24:06.458 William, 988 01:24:07.167 --> 01:24:08.084 how are you? 989 01:24:11.087 --> 01:24:12.005 Fine, great. 990 01:24:13.173 --> 01:24:14.340 Yes, I'm in Paris already. 991 01:24:15.592 --> 01:24:19.179 Yes. First of all, I want you to know, 992 01:24:19.262 --> 01:24:22.724 what you said about the rackets… I already have them with me. 993 01:24:23.433 --> 01:24:24.517 There were a lot of them. 994 01:24:27.562 --> 01:24:32.734 Yes, I'm traveling to Monaco in two days. 995 01:24:32.817 --> 01:24:34.694 We'll meet soon, then. 996 01:24:35.278 --> 01:24:36.529 At last, right? 997 01:24:39.032 --> 01:24:40.283 Send my regards to everyone. 998 01:24:40.950 --> 01:24:43.870 Bye, William. Bye. 999 01:25:22.033 --> 01:25:26.955 Early in 2017, with the Vilases already settled in Monaco, 1000 01:25:27.038 --> 01:25:30.166 we went on revising his book by phone. 1001 01:25:31.876 --> 01:25:35.880 Through the distance, on every call, I started noticing something was changing. 1002 01:25:36.589 --> 01:25:40.343 Guillermo was finding it harder to remember details. 1003 01:25:42.345 --> 01:25:43.930 "I'm a tennis player," he told me. 1004 01:25:44.848 --> 01:25:46.683 "I can't give up." 1005 01:25:47.725 --> 01:25:49.602 That was the answer I was hoping for. 1006 01:26:06.786 --> 01:26:13.126 MONACO 1007 01:26:26.556 --> 01:26:27.432 ARRIVALS 1008 01:26:49.537 --> 01:26:50.872 -Puppo! -Yeah, it's me. 1009 01:26:52.498 --> 01:26:53.958 Oh, Puppo! 1010 01:26:58.296 --> 01:27:00.381 Puppo! 1011 01:27:00.465 --> 01:27:04.344 Oh, damn, it's so good you're here! 1012 01:27:05.845 --> 01:27:07.764 This is so great! 1013 01:27:07.847 --> 01:27:09.432 -How are you? -How are you? 1014 01:27:09.515 --> 01:27:10.850 -Fine. -Yeah? 1015 01:27:10.934 --> 01:27:12.518 -It's so nice to see you. -Yeah. 1016 01:27:12.602 --> 01:27:16.022 -See? I came. -Yes, thank you. 1017 01:27:17.398 --> 01:27:20.985 You must be really familiar with this one, the Jack Kramer. 1018 01:27:21.069 --> 01:27:22.946 -Yes. -It's signed. 1019 01:27:28.493 --> 01:27:29.410 Look. 1020 01:27:30.870 --> 01:27:32.038 The signature. 1021 01:27:32.121 --> 01:27:34.832 Let's see. The strings are all loose. 1022 01:27:36.751 --> 01:27:37.877 It's perfect. 1023 01:27:38.878 --> 01:27:42.006 -Isn't it heavy? -No. It's not heavy. 1024 01:27:42.090 --> 01:27:44.300 -It's very good. -It's not heavy for your arm. 1025 01:27:44.384 --> 01:27:45.301 Sure. 1026 01:27:51.975 --> 01:27:53.685 At that time… 1027 01:27:54.602 --> 01:27:57.355 -Yeah, we were younger. -We were still okay. 1028 01:27:57.438 --> 01:27:58.439 Yeah, right. 1029 01:27:59.732 --> 01:28:00.817 Yeah, it's true. 1030 01:28:02.527 --> 01:28:03.528 -Yours. -Mine. 1031 01:28:04.320 --> 01:28:05.238 Good. Yours! 1032 01:28:06.322 --> 01:28:07.824 "Guillermo Vilas." 1033 01:28:09.158 --> 01:28:10.535 "1982." 1034 01:28:11.160 --> 01:28:14.372 "Guillermo Vilas and Jimmy Connors, 1981." 1035 01:28:14.455 --> 01:28:16.708 -This was the final that got suspended. -Yes. 1036 01:28:19.127 --> 01:28:23.131 Waiting for the resolution was complicated, emotionally speaking, 1037 01:28:23.214 --> 01:28:26.426 mainly because we started a friendship. 1038 01:28:26.509 --> 01:28:31.723 Our journalist-tennis player relationship changed 1039 01:28:31.806 --> 01:28:35.476 and eventually we became friends. 1040 01:28:36.561 --> 01:28:37.812 There's only us on the boat. 1041 01:28:37.895 --> 01:28:40.356 Sure, who else would get on a boat on a rainy day? 1042 01:28:40.440 --> 01:28:41.357 I would. 1043 01:28:41.441 --> 01:28:42.317 Just us. 1044 01:28:43.901 --> 01:28:47.655 Sure. I really love water. 1045 01:28:47.739 --> 01:28:49.198 -Water… -Yeah, it's beautiful. 1046 01:28:51.034 --> 01:28:53.619 It's not that he chose me or I chose him, 1047 01:28:53.703 --> 01:28:58.499 life just brought us closer. 1048 01:28:58.583 --> 01:29:02.003 And now, seeing him and being so close to him 1049 01:29:02.086 --> 01:29:04.130 is something hard to explain. 1050 01:29:04.213 --> 01:29:06.215 I'll never be able to explain it. 1051 01:29:06.299 --> 01:29:08.092 I am very thankful for this. 1052 01:29:10.136 --> 01:29:11.721 -Guillermo Vilas? -Yes. 1053 01:29:11.804 --> 01:29:13.765 -What remains of him. -I'm Argentinian. 1054 01:29:13.848 --> 01:29:15.224 -Nice to meet you. -How are you? 1055 01:29:15.308 --> 01:29:18.186 I named my son after you. 1056 01:29:18.269 --> 01:29:19.854 -Martín Guillermo. -Guillermo. 1057 01:29:19.937 --> 01:29:21.773 I gave him his middle name after you. 1058 01:29:21.856 --> 01:29:22.899 That's amazing! 1059 01:29:25.276 --> 01:29:26.861 -It's so nice. -He was-- 1060 01:29:26.944 --> 01:29:29.614 He named his son after you. 1061 01:29:34.744 --> 01:29:40.041 I'll never be able to forget Vilas's words… 1062 01:29:41.084 --> 01:29:42.293 words he had kept inside… 1063 01:29:44.128 --> 01:29:46.714 when he thanked me for what I did. 1064 01:29:46.798 --> 01:29:53.429 He saw I trusted in his achievements and made his fight my own. 1065 01:29:55.890 --> 01:29:59.060 And he also thanked me for being by his side… 1066 01:30:00.561 --> 01:30:03.064 as he gave his last step as a tennis player. 1067 01:30:05.066 --> 01:30:07.527 According to him, it was the most important step of all. 1068 01:30:08.194 --> 01:30:09.278 And what moved me the most 1069 01:30:09.362 --> 01:30:12.949 during this friendship was when he told me… 1070 01:30:21.541 --> 01:30:23.418 I was a miracle in his life. 1071 01:30:24.752 --> 01:30:30.216 COLGATE SERIES 1072 01:31:12.258 --> 01:31:16.721 I remember something he told me when I was quite young. 1073 01:31:16.804 --> 01:31:20.349 He told me anyone can run from one side to the other, 1074 01:31:20.433 --> 01:31:23.853 but running forward and back 1075 01:31:23.936 --> 01:31:27.023 was always a bit more complicated. 1076 01:31:27.106 --> 01:31:30.943 You must try to push the opponent 1077 01:31:31.027 --> 01:31:33.654 out of their comfort zone. 1078 01:31:51.255 --> 01:31:55.301 We all know how much he fought. He left everything on the court, 1079 01:31:55.384 --> 01:31:56.886 it meant the world to him. 1080 01:31:56.969 --> 01:31:58.554 So, I can imagine 1081 01:31:58.638 --> 01:32:03.559 being acknowledged as the number one would be great. 1082 01:32:43.099 --> 01:32:44.892 Vilas played his last match in 1992, at age 40. 1083 01:32:44.976 --> 01:32:46.477 He won 62 titles in five continents 1084 01:32:46.561 --> 01:32:48.479 and was ranked top ten for nine consecutive years. 1085 01:32:48.563 --> 01:32:50.273 He holds several records, including the one 1086 01:32:50.356 --> 01:32:52.567 for most official tournaments won in a year (16 in 1977). 1087 01:32:52.650 --> 01:32:54.986 He married Phiangphathu Khumueang in 2005 and has 4 children. 1088 01:32:55.653 --> 01:32:58.197 After 45 years, the seven weeks during which Vilas was number one 1089 01:32:58.281 --> 01:32:59.615 are still unrecognized by the ATP, 1090 01:32:59.699 --> 01:33:02.243 despite having more than 1200 pieces of evidence confirming it. 1091 01:33:02.326 --> 01:33:05.246 In six years of negotiations, the ATP hasn't provided any counterevidence. 1092 01:33:05.329 --> 01:33:07.081 Guillermo Vilas, Eduardo Puppo and their team 1093 01:33:07.164 --> 01:33:08.833 will go on until the truth is acknowledged. 1094 01:34:10.186 --> 01:34:15.316 DEDICATED TO WILLY WITH ALL OUR LOVE AND ADMIRATION 1095 01:34:42.885 --> 01:34:47.640 IN LOVING MEMORY OF JUAN CARLOS BELFONTE, "THE TEACHER"