Harold Solomon

Harold Solomon
Country (sports)  United States
Residence Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States
Born (1952-08-22) August 22, 1952
Washington D.C., United States
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro 1972
Retired 1986
Plays Right-handed (2-handed backhand)
Prize money $1,802,769
Singles
Career record 567–321
Career titles 22
Highest ranking No. 5 (September 8, 1980)
Grand Slam Singles results
French Open F (1976)
Wimbledon 1R (1972, 1974, 1977, 1986)
US Open SF (1977)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals SF (1976)
WCT Finals QF (1975, 1976)
Doubles
Career record 73–129
Career titles 1
Highest ranking No. 4 (1976)

Harold Solomon (born September 17, 1952) is a former American professional tennis player whose career was during the 1970s and 1980s. He achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 5 in 1980.[1]

Tennis career

Solomon began playing tennis when he was five. He was ranked as high as second in the United States in his junior career, and won the Clay Court Championship when he was 18.[2] He was named All-American at Rice University,[1] where he was a member of Wiess College.

He turned professional when he finished university in 1972,[1] and first won pro matches in 1974.[2]

At the French Open, Solomon's best showing was when he reached the finals in singles play in 1976. He reached the quarterfinals in 1972 and 1976, and made it to the semifinals in 1974 and 1980.[2] At the U.S. Open, he was a semifinalist in 1977.[2] He also won the tournament now known as the Cincinnati Masters twice (in 1977 and 1980), and was a finalist at the 1976 and 1978 United States Pro Championships.

Solomon captured a total of 22 professional singles titles.[3] His lifetime professional win-loss record is 564–315, and he has earned over $1.8 million.[1] He was ranked in the top 10 singles players worldwide in 1976, 1978, 1979, and 1980, and was among the top 20 from 1974 to 1980.[1] His best year was in 1980, when his win-loss record was 64–23. He appeared in Playgirl Magazine' list of 10 sexiest men that same year.[2]

Solomon played doubles with Eddie Dibbs. In 1976 they were ranked No. 4 worldwide, and were among the top ten in 1974, 1975, and 1976. They were nicknamed "The Bagel Twins." [1]

Grand Slam singles finals

Runners-up (1)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1976 French Open Adriano Panatta 1–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–7

Singles finals 38 (22/16)

Outcome No. Date Championship Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 1974 Washington, D.C., U.S. Clay Argentina Guillermo Vilas 1–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 1. 1974 Bretton Woods, U.S. Clay Australia Rod Laver 4–6, 3–6
Runner-up 2. 1974 Los Angeles, U.S. Hard United States Jimmy Connors 3–6, 1–6
Winner 2. 1975 Toronto Indoor WCT, Canada Carpet United States Stan Smith 6–4, 6–1
Winner 3. 1975 Memphis, U.S. Carpet Czechoslovakia Jiří Hřebec 2–6, 6–1, 6–4
Runner-up 3. 1975 Washington, D.C., U.S. Clay Argentina Guillermo Vilas 1–6, 3–6
Runner-up 4. 1975 Melbourne Indoor, Australia Grass (i) United States Brian Gottfried 2–6, 6–7, 1–6
Winner 4. 1975 Perth, Australia Hard United States Alex Mayer 6–2, 7–6, 7–5
Winner 5. 1975 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard United States Brian Gottfried 6–3, 6–2, 5–7, 6–2
Runner-up 5. 1976 Monterrey WCT, Mexico Carpet United States Eddie Dibbs 6–7, 2–6
Winner 6. 1976 Washington WCT, U.S. Carpet New Zealand Onny Parun 6–3, 6–1
Winner 7. 1976 Houston WCT, U.S. Clay Australia Ken Rosewall 6–4, 1–6, 6–1
Runner-up 6. 1976 French Open, Paris Clay Italy Adriano Panatta 1–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–7
Winner 8. 1976 Louisville, U.S. Clay Poland Wojtek Fibak 6–2, 7–5
Runner-up 7. 1976 Boston, U.S. Clay Sweden Björn Borg 7–6, 4–6, 1–6, 2–6
Winner 9. 1976 Maui, U.S. Hard United States Bob Lutz 6–3, 5–7, 7–5
Winner 10. 1976 Johannesburg WCT, South Africa Hard United States Brian Gottfried 6–2, 6–7, 6–3, 6–4
Winner 11. 1977 Brussels, Belgium Clay West Germany Karl Meiler 7–5, 3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Winner 12. 1977 Cincinnati, U.S. Clay United Kingdom Mark Cox 6–2, 6–3
Winner 13. 1977 WCT Tournament of Champions, Lakeway Hard (i) Australia Ken Rosewall 7–6, 6–2, 2–6, 0–6, 6–3
Runner-up 8. 1978 Springfield, U.S. Carpet Switzerland Heinz Günthardt 3–6, 6–3, 2–6
Winner 14. 1978 Las Vegas, U.S. Hard Italy Corrado Barazzutti 6–1, 3–0, RET.
Winner 15. 1978 Louisville, U.S. Clay Australia John Alexander 6–2, 6–2
Runner-up 9. 1978 Boston, U.S. Clay Spain Manuel Orantes 4–6, 3–6
Runner-up 10. 1978 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard United States Tim Gullikson 6–2, 6–7, 6–7, 7–6, 4–6
Winner 16. 1979 Baltimore WCT, U.S. Carpet United States Marty Riessen 7–5, 6–4
Runner-up 11. 1979 Hamburg, Germany Clay Spain José Higueras 6–3, 1–6, 4–6, 1–6
Runner-up 12. 1979 Forest Hills WCT, U.S. Clay United States Eddie Dibbs 6–7, 1–6
Winner 17. 1979 North Conway, U.S. Clay Spain José Higueras 5–7, 6–4, 7–6
Runner-up 13. 1979 Bordeaux, France Clay France Yannick Noah 0–6, 7–6, 1–6, 6–1, 4–6
Winner 18. 1979 Paris Indoor, France Hard (i) Italy Corrado Barazzutti 6–3, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 14. 1979 Wembley, England Carpet United States John McEnroe 3–6, 4–6, 5–7
Winner 19. 1980 Baltimore WCT, U.S. Carpet United States Tim Gullikson 7–6, 6–0
Runner-up 15. 1980 Las Vegas, U.S. Hard Sweden Björn Borg 3–6, 1–6
Winner 20. 1980 Hamburg, Germany Clay Argentina Guillermo Vilas 6–7, 6–2, 6–4, 2–6, 6–3
Winner 21. 1980 Cincinnati, U.S. Hard Paraguay Francisco González 7–6, 6–3
Winner 22. 1980 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard Israel Shlomo Glickstein 6–2, 6–3
Runner-up 16. 1981 Las Vegas, U.S. Hard Czechoslovakia Ivan Lendl 4–6, 2–6

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 Career SR
Australian Open A A A A A A A A A A A A A A NH 0 / 0
French Open QF 3R SF QF F 4R 3R 4R SF 1R 2R A 3R A A 0 / 12
Wimbledon 1R A 1R A A 1R A A A A A A A A 1R 0 / 4
US Open 2R 1R A 4R 1R SF 4R 4R 4R 3R 3R 1R A A A 0 / 11
Annual Win-Loss 4–3 2–2 5–2 7–2 6–2 8–3 5–2 6–2 8–2 2–2 3–2 0–1 2–1 0–0 0–1 N/A

NH = tournament not held.

A = did not participate in the tournament.

Davis Cup

Solomon played in the Davis Cup on the American team in 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1978.[1] He has a record of 9 wins and 4 losses in this competition. The US team won the Davis Cup final in 1972 (3–2 against Romania) and 1978 (4–1 against Great Britain) although Solomon did not play in either final.

ATP

Solomon served as president of the Association of Tennis Professionals between 1980 and 1983[1] and later on its Board of Directors.[2]

Halls of Fame

Solomon was inducted into the USTA Mid Atlantic Section Hall of Fame in 1994[4] and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.[1] He was named to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Hall of Fame (player) in 2013.

Coaching career

Solomon began coaching in the 1990s, working with Jennifer Capriati, Mary Joe Fernandez, and others.[1] Some of his players participated in Grand Slam events and the Olympic Games.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Harold Solomon". International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Solomon, Harold". Jews in Sports. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Meet The Staff". Harold Solomon Tennis Institute. Archived from the original on July 1, 2007. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  4. ↑ "USTA Mid Atlantic Section – Hall of Fame". Midatlantic.usta.com. Retrieved February 23, 2014.

External links

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