Harold Solomon
Age: 72
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.
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. He was named All-American at Rice University, where he was a member of Wiess College.
He turned professional when he finished university in 1972, and first won pro matches in 1974.
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. 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. His lifetime professional win-loss record is 564-315, and he has earned over $1.8 million. 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. 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.
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."
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 | 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 | WCT Tournament of Champions, 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 played in the Davis Cup on the American team in 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1978. 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 and later on its Board of Directors.
Halls of Fame
Solomon was inducted into the USTA Mid Atlantic Section Hall of Fame in 1994 and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. 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. Some of his players participated in Grand Slam events and the Olympic Games.