Guillermo Vilas, Guillermo Jr’s superhero on his sixth birthday

William Ville He’s been away from flashes for a long time. At 70 and with some health problems, the best Argentine tennis player in history lives in Montecarlo with his family. And the few connections with the outside world come through the social posts of Phiang, his wife, with whom he had four children: Andanin, Lalindao, Intila and Guillermo.

This Monday, April 3, is little Guillermo Junior’s birthday. He blew out six candles and his mother had the task of showing the family party. But the most beautiful thing is the image that has already gone viral with the embrace of the little heir with his father and the legend.

The happy boy is seen hugging his father, whose left arm is seen, which lead to him being one of the best racketeers on the circuit and a Superman T-shirt. Yes, of course, Big Willy is Little Willy’s superhero.

It’s not the first time that Phiangphathu Khumueang, his partner since 2000, shows scenes of family intimacy. At the end of 2021 she had also moved Vilas’ followers with a family video in which family routines are observed.

On that occasion, the four heirs of the gigantic Willy were seen going to play tennis at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. In the video, also posted on Instagram, we saw the three daughters of the man from Mar del Plata, winner of 62 titles, walk around the club, towards the pitch. And the younger one, who follows him a little further back, struggles to carry a bag of rackets almost as big as him.

Vilas, who no longer appears publicly, was until recently the coach of Andanin, his eldest daughter, who is 20 and was born in Paris. Then came Lalindao, who was born in Miami and is now 13, and Intila, who is eleven months younger and has arrived in Buenos Aires. The youngest and only male in the family is Guillermo Junior, born on April 3, 2017 in Monaco, his current place of residence.

The Monte-Carlo Country Club is a special setting for Guillermo Vilas. There he shouted champion twice. The first, in 1976, when he defeated Poland’s Wojtek Fibak 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 in the final. The second, in 1982, with a 6-1, 7-6 and 6-3 against the Czech Ivan Lendl.

He reached the decisive instance on two other occasions as well. In 1980 he lost his last game against the Swede Björn Borg, who beat him 6-1, 6-0 and 6-2. And in 1981 he was the protagonist together with the American Jimmy Connors in an unprecedented final, which had no champion. Is that after Sunday’s cancellation due to bad weather, the match got underway on Monday, but with the score 5-5 in the first set, rain forced play to be suspended. He was never revived and the title was vacated.