Jose Luis Clerc

José Luis Clerc, nicknamed "Batata" (Buenos Aires, August 16, 1958), is a former professional Argentine tennis player.

It shone in the early 1980s, when it reached number 4 in the world ranking.

He excelled mostly on slow surfaces, reaching the French Open semifinals twice in 1981 and 1982. He participated in the Tennis Masters Cup four times between 1980 and 1983, reaching the quarterfinals in 1982. He is the eighth player in history with the most titles on clay with 21, also the ninth player in history with the most wins on clay with 301.

He currently remains the second Argentinian with the most professional titles in singles with 25, 3 more than the third, Juan Martín Del Potro.

Davis Cup 1981

José Luis Clerc was a bulwark, along with the legendary Guillermo Vilas, of the Argentine Davis Cup team which he led to play its first Davis Cup final in 1981

Batata defeated Roscoe Tanner 7-5, 6-3, 8-6 in the second single. As Vilas had lost his individual with McEnroe, the doubles (Vilas and Clerc) became key against the tremendous North American duo formed by McEnroe and Peter Fleming. The relationship between Willy and Batata was terrible; they were two conflicting egos. Even so, they left their personal problems off the field and were close to winning, but finally lost after almost six hours of play 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 and 11-9. On the third day of the series, the Argentine dream ended when Clerc fell to Mc Enroe (7-5, 5-7, 6-3, 3-6 and 6-3).

Withdrawal

Since his retirement as a tennis player, Clerc has worked in tennis academies in Argentina, Mexico and the United States. He has also worked as a journalist for live tennis television broadcasts on PSN and currently ESPN, where he comments on Grand Slam tournaments in duo with Luis Alfredo Álvarez.

ATP Tournaments (27; 25+2)

Individuals (25)

Titles

N.o	Date	Tournament	Surface	Oponente en la final	Outcome
1.	15 May 1978	Florence	Brick powder	Patrice Dominguez	6-4 6-2 6-1
2.	27 November 1978	Buenos Aires	Brick powder	Victor Pecci	6-4
3.	4 December 1978	Santiago	Brick powder	Victor Pecci	3-6 6-3 6-3
4.	16 April 1979	Johannesburg	Dura	Deon Joubert	6-2 6-1
5.	10 March 1980	San José	Dura	Jimmy Connors	4-6 2-6 ret.
6.	28 July 1980	South Orange	Brick powder	John McEnroe	6-3 6-2
7.	4 August 1980	Indianapolis	Brick powder	Mel Purcell	7-5 6-3
8.	29 September 1980	Madrid	Brick powder	Guillermo Vilas	6-3 1-6 1-6 6-4 6-2
9.	3 November 1980	Quito	Brick powder	Victor Pecci	6-4 1-6 10-8
10.	17 November 1980	Buenos Aires	Brick powder	Rolf Gehring	6-7 2-6 7-5 6-0 6-3
11.	11 May 1981	Florence	Brick powder	Raúl Ramírez	6-1 6-2
12.	18 May 1981	Rome	Brick powder	Victor Pecci	6-3 6-4 6-0
13.	13 July 1981	Boston	Brick powder	Hans Gildemeister	0-6 6-2 6-2
14.	20 July 1981	Washington	Brick powder	Guillermo Vilas	7-5 6-2
15.	28 July 1981	North Conway	Brick powder	Guillermo Vilas	6-3 6-2
16.	3 August 1981	Indianapolis	Brick powder	Ivan Lendl	4-6 6-4 6-2
17.	8 February 1982	Richmond	Model	Fritz Buehning	3-6 6-3 6-4 6-3
18.	7 June 1982	Venice	Brick powder	Peter McNamara	7-6 6-1
19.	5 July 1982	Gstaad	Brick powder	Guillermo Vilas	6-1 6-3 6-2
20.	12 July 1982	Zell am See	Brick powder	Heinz Gunthardt	6-0 3-6 6-2 6-1
21.	15 November 1982	São Paulo	Brick powder	Marcos Hocevar	6-2 6-7 6-3
22.	24 January 1983	Guarujá	Dura	Mats Wilander	3-6 7-5 6-1
23.	11 July 1983	Boston	Brick powder	Jimmy Arias	6-3 6-1
24.	18 July 1983	Washington	Brick powder	Jimmy Arias	6-3 3-6 6-0
25.	25 July 1983	North Conway	Brick powder	Andrés Gómez	6-3 6-1

Finalist in singles (10)

N.o	Date	Tournament	Surface	Oponente en la final	Outcome
1.	10 July 1978	Gstaad	Brick powder	Guillermo Vilas	3-6 6-7 4-6
2.	30 July 1978	South Orange	Brick powder	Guillermo Vilas	1-6 3-6
3.	10 July 1978	Toronto	Brick powder	Eddie Dibbs	7-5 4-6 1-6
4.	25 September 1978	Aix-en-Provence	Brick powder	Guillermo Vilas	3-6 0-6 3-6
5.	19 November 1979	Buenos Aires	Brick powder	Guillermo Vilas	1-6 2-6 2-6
6.	21 July 1980	Washington	Brick powder	Brian Gottfried	5-7 6-4 4-6
7.	12 October 1981	Basel	Dura(i)	Ivan Lendl	2-6 3-6 0-6
8.	12 April 1982	Houston	Brick powder	Ivan Lendl	6-3 6-7 0-6 4-1 ret.
9.	12 September 1983	Palermo	Brick powder	Jimmy Arias	2-6 6-2 0-6
10.	16 July 1984	Boston	Brick powder	Aaron Krickstein	6-7 6-3 4-6

Doubles (2)

Titles

N.o	Date	Tournaments	Surface	Couple	Opponents	Outcome
1.	18 October 1981	Basel	Dura (indoor)	Ilie Nastase	Markus Günthardt Pavel Složil	7–6, 6–7, 7–6
2.	12 September 1983	Palermo	Whipped earth	Pablo Arraya	Tian Viljoen Danie Visser	1-6, 6-4, 6-4

Historical classification

Individuals

Awards won

• World Cup by Teams, (1980)
• Award for the best athlete in 1981 ("Sportmanship Award" delivered by the ATP)
• Konex Award - Merit Diploma (1980 and 1990)