Miguel Olvera

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Miguel Olvera, (born November 14, 1939, in Salitre, Ecuador) was a tennis player in the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1960, as an unseeded player, he won the singles title at the Cincinnati Masters. He remains to this day the only unseeded player ever to win the singles title in Cincinnati. (The tournament began in 1899 and seeding began in 1927.)

In 1967 in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Olvera and teammate Pancho Guzman led the Ecuadorian Davis Cup to a stunning upset of the mighty United States Davis Cup team. After American Cliff Richey defeated Guzman in the first singles match, Olvera, then 26 years old, faced Arthur Ashe in the second singles match. Ashe had never lost a set in ten previous Davis Cup matches, but Olvera came back after dropping the first set to win 4–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–2.

Ecuadorian captain Danny Carrera was so thrilled with the win that he attempted to jump the net to embrace Olvera, tripped and broke his leg. Guzman, age 21, then teammed with Olvera in the doubles, and overcame a 0–6, 2–5 deficit to knock off Marty Riessen and Clark Graebner, 0–6, 9–7, 6–4, 4–6, 8–6. The next day, Guzman beat Ashe in five sets to give Ecuador the victory.

Today, Olvera is a tennis coach in Guayaquil, Ecuador.