Harold Solomon

Harold Solomon (born September 17, 1952, in Washington, D.C.) was an American professional tennis player during the 1970s and 1980s. He achieved a career-high ranking of No. 5 in the world in 1980.

Tennis career

Solomon began playing tennis at the age of five, and as a junior player he was ranked as high as No. 2 in the United States in the 14, 16, and 18 age groups, and won the U.S. Boys 18 Clay Court Championship.

He earned All-America honors at Rice University in (Texas) at the close of his sophomore year.[2] At Rice he was a member of Wiess College.

He then turned professional in 1972, and won his first pro singles titles in Washington, D.C. in 1974.

Solomon would go on to reach the singles final at the French Open in 1976, falling to Adriano Panatta. He also reached the semifinals at the French Open in 1974 and 1980, and was a quarterfinalist in 1972 and 1975.

At the U.S. Open, he was a semifinalist in 1977. 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 professional career won-loss record is 564–315, and his career prize money winnings is $1,802,769 (not including the Senior Tour).[4]

He ranked among the world's Top 10 singles players four out of five consecutive years: 1976, 1978, 1979 and 1980.

In 1980, his best year, he won 64 matches and lost 23. Also that year, Playgirl Magazine named him one of the 10 sexiest men of the year.

Solomon was ranked in the world's Top 20 for 7 consecutive years between 1974 and 1980.

He and his doubles partner, Eddie Dibbs, were dubbed "The Bagel Twins." They reached the No. 4 doubles ranking in the world in 1976, and ranked in the world doubles Top 10 from 1974 to 1976.

Grand Slam singles finals

Runner-ups (1)

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

Singles titles (22)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1.	1974	Washington, D.C., U.S.	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	1–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	1.	1974	Bretton Woods, U.S.	Clay	Rod Laver	4–6, 3–6
Runner-up	2.	1974	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Jimmy Connors	3–6, 1–6
Winner	2.	1975	Toronto Indoor WCT, Canada	Carpet	Stan Smith	6–4, 6–1
Winner	3.	1975	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Jiří Hřebec	2–6, 6–1, 6–4
Runner-up	3.	1975	Washington, D.C., U.S.	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	1–6, 3–6
Runner-up	4.	1975	Melbourne Indoor, Australia	Grass (i)	Brian Gottfried	2–6, 6–7, 1–6
Winner	4.	1975	Perth, Australia	Hard	Alex Mayer	6–2, 7–6, 7–5
Winner	5.	1975	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Brian Gottfried	6–3, 6–2, 5–7, 6–2
Runner-up	5.	1976	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Eddie Dibbs	6–7, 2–6
Winner	6.	1976	Washington WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Onny Parun	6–3, 6–1
Winner	7.	1976	Houston WCT, U.S.	Clay	Ken Rosewall	6–4, 1–6, 6–1
Runner-up	6.	1976	French Open, Paris	Clay	Adriano Panatta	1–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–7
Winner	8.	1976	Louisville, U.S.	Clay	Wojtek Fibak	6–2, 7–5
Runner-up	7.	1976	Boston, U.S.	Clay	Björn Borg	7–6, 4–6, 1–6, 2–6
Winner	9.	1976	Maui, U.S.	Hard	Bob Lutz	6–3, 5–7, 7–5
Winner	10.	1976	Johannesburg WCT, South Africa	Hard	Brian Gottfried	6–2, 6–7, 6–3, 6–4
Winner	11.	1977	Brussels, Belgium	Clay	Karl Meiler	7–5, 3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Winner	12.	1977	Cincinnati, U.S.	Clay	Mark Cox	6–2, 6–3
Winner	13.	1977	Tournament of Champions WCT, Lakeway	Hard (i)	Ken Rosewall	7–6, 6–2, 2–6, 0–6, 6–3
Runner-up	8.	1978	Springfield, U.S.	Carpet	Heinz Günthardt	3–6, 6–3, 2–6
Winner	14.	1978	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Corrado Barazzutti	6–1, 3–0, RET.
Winner	15.	1978	Louisville, U.S.	Clay	John Alexander	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	9.	1978	Boston, U.S.	Clay	Manuel Orantes	4–6, 3–6
Runner-up	10.	1978	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Tim Gullikson	6–2, 6–7, 6–7, 7–6, 4–6
Winner	16.	1979	Baltimore WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Marty Riessen	7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	11.	1979	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	José Higueras	6–3, 1–6, 4–6, 1–6
Runner-up	12.	1979	Forest Hills WCT, U.S.	Clay	Eddie Dibbs	6–7, 1–6
Winner	17.	1979	North Conway, U.S.	Clay	José Higueras	5–7, 6–4, 7–6
Runner-up	13.	1979	Bordeaux, France	Clay	Yannick Noah	0–6, 7–6, 1–6, 6–1, 4–6
Winner	18.	1979	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Corrado Barazzutti	6–3, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	14.	1979	Wembley, England	Carpet	John McEnroe	3–6, 4–6, 5–7
Winner	19.	1980	Baltimore WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Tim Gullikson	7–6, 6–0
Runner-up	15.	1980	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Björn Borg	3–6, 1–6
Winner	20.	1980	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	6–7, 6–2, 6–4, 2–6, 6–3
Winner	21.	1980	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Francisco González	7–6, 6–3
Winner	22.	1980	Tel Aviv, Israel	Hard	Shlomo Glickstein	6–2, 6–3
Runner-up	16.	1981	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	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 was a member of United States Davis Cup Teams in 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1978, going 9–4 in competition. His ’72 and ’78 teams won Davis Cup championships.

Style of play

Known as "the Human Backboard", because he played like one, Solomon was notorious for frustrating his opponents with his lobs and relentless, methodical returns. He employed a slow, methodical, gritty, determined style marked by tireless effort, and a powerful two-fisted right-handed backhand.

"When you played Harold", observed fellow pro Erik Van Dillen, "you'd better bring your lunch and dinner – you might be out there all day." Solomon defended himself this way: "I guess it's not so exciting to see eight million balls hit back and forth, but I wonder, is it any more exciting to see Boris Becker and Ivan Lendl each hitting 40 aces?"

ATP

Solomon was President of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) from 1980 to 1983. After 1983 he served on the ATP Board of Directors.

Halls of Fame

Soloman was inducted into the USTA Mid Atlantic Section Hall of Fame in 1994. and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

Coaching career

Solomon began coaching in the early 1990s. He is largely identified with women's pro Mary Joe Fernandez, whom he tutored for five years.

He also helped Jennifer Capriati return to top form in the late 1990s. He was initially contacted by Jennifer's father, but said he would not coach her until Jennifer called him herself. After she did, he helped lead her to two titles in 1999 and to the semifinals in the Australian Open. In 2000, however, Solomon and Capriati parted ways after he was frustrated by her lack of focus. She would then go on to win 3 Grand Slams and obtain the Number One ranking.

He also aided and refined the careers of Jim Courier, Justin Gimelstob, Monica Seles, Mirjana Lučić, Anna Kournikova, and Daniela Hantuchová.[5] Solomon has also coached players in the finals of Grand Slam Events, and to Gold and Silver medals at the Olympic Games.[6]

In 2007 former world # 3 Brian Gottfried joined the coaching staff at the Harold Solomon Tennis Institute in Fort Lauderdale.

Miscellaneous

• After retiring from the ATP tour in 1986, Solomon worked as the Vice President of Human Resources in the family-owned business, Diversified Services.

• He was also Chairman of the Board of End World Hunger, a not-for-profit organization that taught residents of low-income housing projects in the U.S. how to grow food and become self-sufficient.

See also

• List of select Jewish tennis players

Links

• ATP bio
• Davis Cup record
• Jewish Sports bio
• Jews in Sports bio