Charlie (Charles Manuel) Pasarell, Jr. (born February 12, 1944, San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a former Puerto Rican tennis player and commentator. Representing the United States as a player, he has been heavily engaged in the administration of the professional game from the inception of the ATP in 1972 and has been Vice President when he was still playing and until recently on the Board of Directors representing the Americas tournaments.
He is also known as Charlito ("Little Charlie") because his father had the same name and was also a gifted tennis player, being the champion of Puerto Rico six times in the 1950s.[1] The younger Pasarell won over half dozen Orange Bowl titles and five U.S. Junior titles including the U.S. Junior in Singles and Doubles (with Clark Graebner) in 1961. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he won the NCAA men's singles and doubles (with Ian Crookenden of New Zealand) titles in 1966, one year after his friend and teammate Arthur Ashe. He reached #1 in the rankings of American men's players in 1967, also in 1967 he became the first man for over 30 years to win the U.S. National Indoors in successive years; this tournament was the biggest indoor tournament in the world and second only to the U.S. Championships.
Pasarell competed in major tournaments from 1960 through 1979, with his most successful showings coming in doubles. He reached the finals in men's doubles at the U.S. Championships in 1965 with Frank Froehling and 1969 with Dennis Ralston, the French Open with Arthur Ashe in 1970, and the Australian Open in 1977 with Erik Van Dillen. He was a quarter finalist at the U.S. Championships in 1965 and Wimbledon in 1967. Pasarell was also a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team in 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1974.
In 1969, Pasarell played Pancho Gonzales in what was, until 2010, the longest match in Wimbledon history. The 41-year-old Gonzales finally defeated the 25-year-old 22–24, 1–6, 16–14, 6–3, 11–9 after a battle that lasted 5 hours and 12 minutes.[2] Pasarell was also the first man to beat the reigning champion in the first round at Wimbledon, when in 1967 he beat Manuel Santana. In 1968, he played the first great match on centre court of open tennis when he narrowly lost to Ken Rosewall in the second round.
Pasarell is currently the tournament director of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, and a commentator for The Tennis Channel. He is a member of the Intercollegiate Men's Tennis Hall of Fame and the Southern California Tennis Association Hall of Fame.