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TECHNOLOGY Monday 20 noveMber 2017

Tennis great Pancho Segura dies at 96; coached Jimmy Connors

CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) — He developed into a South intense. I could do anything
Pancho Segura, who rose American champion play- with the ball.”
from poverty to win six U.S. er. Word reached Univer- He also gained the repu-
Pro singles and doubles sity of Miami head coach tation as a master strate-
championships and was Gardnar Mulloy, who re- gist.
one of the world’s top am- cruited him for the school “You are trying to draw a
ateur players in the 1940s on a scholarship. Segura short ball so you can at-
and professionals in the went on to win the NCAA tack,” Segura told ESPN.
1950s, has died. He was 96. singles championship three “You need to understand
Segura died Saturday from years in a row, from 1943 to things like your opponent’s
complications of Parkin- 1945.From there he moved grips, his movement, which
son’s disease at his home at to the amateur circuit and shots he can hit and which
the Omni La Costa Resort & was a singles semifinalist shots he can’t.”
Spa in Carlsbad, California, four times at the U.S. Cham- To make a living, Segura
his son, Spencer Segura of pionships, the precursor turned professional in 1947,
Connecticut, said Sunday. to what is known today as about two decades before
Segura went from ama- the U.S. Open. He was a pro players were admit-
teur to barnstorming pro as runner-up in men’s doubles ted to Grand Slam tourna-
a player, then became a and mixed doubles twice ments. He traveled around
coach, including of Jimmy apiece at major tourna- the world on barnstorming
Connors, an eight-time ma- ments in the 1940s. tours with the likes of Bobby
jor singles champion. He also won the U.S. Clay Riggs and Pancho Gonza-
“Sad day -- lost my friend- Court Championship in lez. This undated photo released by Spencer Segura Sr., shows
coach- and mentor,” Con- 1944 and the U.S. Indoor “I played on islands that tennis player Pancho Segura.
nors posted on Twitter Sun- title in 1946. were specks in the Indian Associated Press
day. Although he stood only 5 Ocean,” he told The Los match in 1970, falling in the of the wealthy.
Francisco Olegario Segura feet, 6 inches, Segura held Angeles Times in 1991. “I second round. It “doesn’t take more than
was born into poverty in his own against larger and played for the sheikh of Ku- In 1962, he launched a ca- a racket and a heart to
Ecuador. Childhood rickets more powerful opponents. wait, and I played at mid- reer as a pro and coach at play this game,” he told
bowed his legs. Too weak He had a unique and dev- night in Madrid for $1,000. the Beverly Hills Tennis Club, ESPN.
for soccer, he took to tennis astating two-handed fore- Errol Flynn used to send a moving to the San Diego “It’s a great test of democ-
while working as a ball boy hand. car to pick me up.” club in 1970. He became a racy in action.”
at a club in Guayaquil. “I played with the speed of He won the U.S. Pro Ten- U.S. citizen in 1991. “Me and you, man, in the
“I taught myself how to a bullet,” Segura told The nis Championships singles He continued to watch arena. Just me and you,
play,” Segura told ESPN in San Diego Union-Tribune in title from 1950 to 1952 and and analyze tennis match- baby,” he said.
2009. “And I worked at it, 1987. “Great eyes, great the U.S. Pro doubles title in es well into his 90s, his son “Doesn’t matter how much
day after day, for hours, hands, great under pres- 1948, 1955 and 1958. He said. you have, or who your dad
hitting on the backboard, sure. I was a fighter, a killer. played his last U.S. Pro in Coming from poverty, Se- is, or if you went to Harvard,
begging people to play a I hated to lose to anyone. 1962 when he was 44 and gura discounted the popu- or Yale, or whatever. Just
little bit with me.” My concentration was so his last U.S. Open singles lar view of tennis as a sport me and you.”q

Austin Cook wins at Sea

Island to earn trip to Masters

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner and Cook a spot in the Masters
(AP) — Austin Cook was Brian Harman on Sunday at next year.
chased by proven PGA the chilly, windy Sea Island “It was definitely exciting ...
Tour winners all day at the Club’s Seaside Course. real brutal with the wind,”
RSM Classic. Cook closed with a 3-under Cook said. “I got off to a
Now the Arkansas player is 67 for a four-stroke victory slow start but I was able to Austin Cook celebrates his winning putt on the 18th green during
one of them. over J.J. Spaun. The victory keep my head level and the final round of the RSM Classic golf tournament on Sunday,
The PGA Tour rookie held in the final PGA Tour event know there was a lot of golf Nov. 19, 2017, in St. Simons Island, Ga.
off veterans Brian Gay, of the calendar year gave to be played. q Associated Press