Victor Pecci

Victor Pecci is one of the few tennis players who has managed to get one of the largest ever crowds of his time in Europe to his side cheering for his name. The man, Victor Pecci had done the unthinkable in a crowd that didn’t know anything above or beyond Bjorn Borg.

That one match is the one that he is most remembered for. Like a real-life Rocky Balboa, Pecci braved the beating that Borg threw at him from the other side of the court and found energy from the crowd and gave the prohibitively favoured champion some anxious moments.However. Pecci lost that match but finished his season with a lot of pride.
Chants of "Pec-ci, Pec-ci, Pec-ci" filled the stadium after every point the 23-year-old won, Pecci consolidated his formidable attacking game and pulled himself back close enough to give Borg a hard time.

"I thought I had the match in my hand at 5-2 in the third. But then he started playing better, taking more chances, and I missed a few passing shots. Suddenly it was 5-all," said Borg, the first man since Henri Cochet (1926-28-30-32) to win the world's premier clay court title four times.

The 6-foot-3-inch Pecci, ranked 30th in the world, had upset seeded Corrado Barazzutti, Harold Solomon, 1977 champion Guillermo Vilas and Jimmy Connors to become the first unseeded finalist at Roland Garros since Yugoslav Nikki Pilic in 1973.

On court, Pecci was a force to be reckoned with. Not only was he fast, but he was also agile, and that helped his playing style a lot. His strength was his double handed right backhand, and a very power right hand made him the player that he was during his time.

As far as his career rankings are concerned, he was ranked world No. 9 in singles in 1980 and world No. 31 in doubles in 1984. Pecci’s legacy would always outlive him as the man who almost beat Borg and reached the 1979 French Open final. He beat Guillermo Vilas 6–0, 6–2, 7–5 in the quarterfinals and Jimmy Connors 7–5, 6–4, 5–7, 6–3 in the semifinals, but lost to three-time champion Björn Borg in the final. He also reached the semifinals in 1981 and was runner-up in Rome. Pecci won the French Open boys' singles in 1973.

Besides all of these titles, he also won the 1979 ATP Most Improved Player Award. Monetarily speaking, his best earnings year was 1979 when he won $185,012, and was 15th on the ATP Prize Money Board.

He has been a member of the Paraguay Davis Cup team since 1976. In 1983, Paraguay upset Czechoslovakia in the first round; and in 1985 upset French in the first round. Has career records of 17-8 in singles and 11-5 in doubles.

Grand slam records doubles

Australian Open: 2R (1980)

French Open: F (1979)

Wimbledon: 3R (1990, 1980)

US Open: 3R (1979)