Pilar Barril in Spain. No other Spanish player would reach a GS quarterfinal until Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in 1987. Pilar Barril Pilar Barril (10 October 1931 – 30 September 2011) was a female Spanish tennis player who was active during the 1950s and early 1960s. She and María Josefa de Riba were the first Spanish women to play international tennis tournaments after the World War II. She was the first Spanish lady to reach the quarterfinals of the French Open since Lilí de Álvarez. She was also a semifinalist in the 1956 mixed doubles competition. She was a pioneer, appearing regularly at
World number 1 ranked male tennis players best player in 1950 and 1951 when he crushed first Pancho Gonzales and then Pancho Segura in head-to-head tours but was dominated in tournaments by those same players. In 1952, there was no long, headline tour. Instead, there were short tours between different players and several professional tournaments, with the result that none of the professionals played extensively. The short-lived Professional Lawn Tennis Association published an end-of-the-year list in which Segura was ranked the best player in the world, with Gonzales second. During the year, however, Gonzales had defeated Segura 4 matches to 1. Segura had also won a number