ACHIEVMENTS

Far Eastern Games

• 1934 Men’s Singles – Gold

Davis Cup

• 1937 Men’s Singles – Gold
• 1957 Eastern Zone Team Events – Gold
• 1958 Eastern Zone Team Events – Gold
• 1960 Eastern Zone Team Events – Gold
• 1964 Eastern Zone Team Events – Gold

Pan American Championships

• 1950 Men’s Singles – Gold

Asian Games

• 1958 Men’s Doubles – Gold
• 1958 Men’s singles – Silver
• 1958 Asian Gamed Mixed Doubles – Bronze

Commercial Leagues

• 1946 Pennsylvania Clay Court Championships Men’s Singles – Gold
• 1948 Wimbledon Plate Men’s Singles – Gold
• 1948 Copenhagen International (Clay) Men’s Singles – Gold
• 1948 Midland Countries Championships Men’s Singles – Gold
• 1949 Welsh Championships Men’s Singles – Gold
• 1949 West of England Championships Men’s Singles – Gold
• 1949 Beerschot Men’s Singles – Gold
• 1950 Indian International Championships Men’s Singles – Gold
• 1950 All India Championships Men’s Singles – Gold
• 1950 Northern India Championships Men’s Singles – Gold
• 1951 Easter Mediterranean Tennis Championship (Athens-Greece) Men’s Singles – Gold

Hall of Fame

• 2007 Far Eastern University Sports Hall of Fame Inductee
• 2016 Philippine Sports Hall of Fame Inductee

BIOGRAPHY

Born on October 27, 1920, tennis legend Felicisimo Hermoso Ampon stood tall on the global tennis stage during the 1950’s and 1960’s bannering the Philippine flag.

Ampon, also referred to as “Mighty Mite”, was born from a family of tennis players – a son to former tennis player Felix Ampon and brother to Desideria Ampon who prevailed in the women’s division of the sport during her time. Felicisimo was once considered the best tennis player in the world, far exceeding the great players from his family.

At age 14, Felicisimo introduced himself in the sporting scene with a gold medal win at the 1934 Far Eastern Games men’s singles, to mark the start of what would be a legendary career.

Not long after his first stint, Ampon made history when he won the Wimbledon Plate Championship in 1948, and reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open twice.

This was succeeded by the notable win of Ampon at the 1950 edition of the Pan American Championships held in Mexico City, when he won the singles title, beating tennis elite Tom Brown of the United States in the finals.

He also represented the country at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan where he had brought home the men’s singles silver, and the mixed doubles event bronze medal where he partnered up with his sister Desideria.

Ampon ruled the tennis court, whether it be in Asia or the world. In 30 years of his career, he had his name etched in the Davis Cup history after leading the Philippine team – some of whom were sports greats, namely Raymundo Deyro, Johnny Jose and Cesar Carmona, and being hailed as the Davis Cup Zonal Champions in the Eastern Zone for multiple editions.

The Mighty Mite proved relentless as he also appeared in different international championships to emerge as either a finalist or champion of the overall tourney. This includes Grand Slam tournaments like the French Open in 1952, and 1953, the Wimbledon in 1949, 1950, and 1953, and the US Open in 1948, 1950, and 1952.

To pay tribute to his achievements, he was recognized by the Philippine Sportswriters Association and was enshrined as Athlete of the Year in their annual awards. Eventually, he was inducted into the second batch of the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.