Harold Solomon (born September 17, 1952) is an American former professional tennis player who played during the 1970s and 1980s. He achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 5 in singles in 1980, and of No. 4 in doubles in 1976. Over the course of his career, he won 22 singles titles.

Solomon was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Hall of Fame, the USTA Mid Atlantic Section Hall of Fame, the D.C. Sports Hall of Fame, and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Early and personal life Solomon is Jewish. He grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and attended Springbrook High School and later lived in Pompano Beach, Florida. He lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has a wife named Jan, a daughter named Rachel, and a son named Jesse.

Tennis career Solomon began playing tennis when he was five. Ranked as high as second in the United States in his junior career, Solomon won the Clay Court Championship when he was 18. He was named an All-American at Rice University, where he was a political science major and a member of Wiess College.

He turned professional when he finished university in 1972, and first won pro matches in 1974. Among his shots was the moonball—a high and deep shot, normally hit with a lot of spin.

At the French Open, Solomon's best showing was when he reached the singles final in 1976. He "pumped his two-fisted backhand like a cane-cutter", but lost to Adriano Panatta in four sets. Panatta said of Solomon that "his tennis is bizarre, I suppose, but he fights so hard". He reached the quarterfinals in 1972 and 1975 and made it to the semifinals in 1974 and 1980. At the US Open, he was a semifinalist in 1977. He won the tournament now known as the Cincinnati Open 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 earned over $1.8 million. He was ranked among 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 and he was ranked No. 5 in the world. He appeared in Playgirl Magazines 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."

Solomon is credited with coining the term 'Bagel', referring to a set in tennis that ends with a score of 6–0. It was then popularized by commentator Bud Collins.

Davis Cup Solomon played in the Davis Cup on the American team in 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1978. He has a record of nine wins and four 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 from 1980 to 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. He was inducted into the D.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

Coaching career Solomon began coaching in the 1990s, working with Jennifer Capriati, Mary Joe Fernandez, Shahar Pe'er, Justin Gimelstob, Eugenie Bouchard, Allie Kiick, Jim Courier, Monica Seles, Anna Kournikova and others."Harold Solomon leaves Team Genie Bouchard" - Tennis.life Some of his players won Grand Slam events and the Olympic Games. He founded and runs the Harold Solomon Tennis Center, now known as the Florida Tennis SBT Academy, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Grand Slam finals Singles: 1 runner-up ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1976 French Open Clay Adriano Panatta 1–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–7

Career finals Singles: 38 (22 wins / 16 losses) CategoryGrand SlamGrand Prix Masters (1970–89)WCT Finals (1971–89)Grand Prix Series (1970–89), WCT Series (1968–89) ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1–0 Jul 1974 Washington D.C., US Clay Guillermo Vilas 1–6, 6–3, 6–4Loss 1–1 Aug 1974 Bretton Woods, US Clay Rod Laver 4–6, 3–6Loss 1–2 Sep 1974 Los Angeles, US Hard Jimmy Connors 3–6, 1–6Win 2–2 Feb 1975 Toronto Indoor, Canada Carpet (i) Stan Smith 6–4, 6–1Win 3–2 Mar 1975 Memphis, US Hard (i) Jiří Hřebec 2–6, 6–1, 6–4Loss 3–3 Jul 1975 Washington D.C., US Clay Guillermo Vilas 1–6, 3–6Loss 3–4 Oct 1975 Melbourne, Australia Grass Brian Gottfried 2–6, 6–7, 1–6Win 4–4 Oct 1975 Perth, Australia Hard Alex Mayer 6–2, 7–6, 7–5Win 5–4 Nov 1975 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Brian Gottfried 6–3, 6–2, 5–7, 6–2Loss 5–5 Jan 1976 Monterrey WCT, Mexico Carpet Eddie Dibbs 6–7, 2–6Win 6–5 Mar 1976 Washington WCT, US Carpet (i) Onny Parun 6–3, 6–1Win 7–5 Apr 1976 Houston WCT, US Clay Ken Rosewall 6–4, 1–6, 6–1Loss 7–6 Jun 1976French Open, Paris Clay Adriano Panatta 1–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–7(3–7)Win 8–6 Aug 1976 Louisville Open, US Clay Wojciech Fibak 6–2, 7–5Loss 8–7 Aug 1976 Boston, US Clay Björn Borg 7–6, 4–6, 1–6, 2–6Win 9–7 Oct 1976 Maui, US Hard Bob Lutz 6–3, 5–7, 7–5Win 10–7 Nov 1976 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Brian Gottfried 6–2, 6–7, 6–3, 6–4Win 11–7 Jun 1977 Brussels, Belgium Clay Karl Meiler 7–5, 3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4Win 12–7 Jul 1977 Cincinnati Masters, US Clay Mark Cox 6–2, 6–3Win 13–7 Sep 1977 WCT ToC, US Carpet (i) Ken Rosewall 6–5(7–5), 6–2, 2–6, 0–6, 6–3Loss 13–8 Feb 1978 Springfield, US Carpet (i) Heinz Günthardt 3–6, 6–3, 2–6Win 14–8 Apr 1978 Las Vegas, US Hard Corrado Barazzutti 6–1, 3–0 ret.Win 15–8 Jul 1978 Louisville Open, US Clay John Alexander 6–2, 6–2Loss 15–9 Aug 1978 Boston, US Clay Manuel Orantes 4–6, 3–6Loss 15–10 Dec 1978 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Tim Gullikson 6–2, 6–7, 6–7, 7–6, 4–6Win 16–10 Jan 1979 Baltimore, US Carpet (i) Marty Riessen 7–5, 6–4Loss 16–11 May 1979 Hamburg, West Germany Clay José Higueras 6–3, 1–6, 4–6, 1–6Loss 16–12 Jul 1979 Forest Hills WCT, US Clay Eddie Dibbs 6–7, 1–6Win 17–12 Aug 1979 North Conway, US Clay José Higueras 5–7, 6–4, 7–6Loss 17–13 Oct 1979 Bordeaux, France Clay Yannick Noah 0–6, 7–6, 1–6, 6–1, 4–6Win 18–13 Nov 1979 Paris Open, France Hard (i) Corrado Barazzutti 6–3, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4Loss 18–14 Nov 1979 Wembley Championship, UK Carpet (i) John McEnroe 3–6, 4–6, 5–7Win 19–14 Jan 1980 Baltimore U.S. Carpet (i) Tim Gullikson 7–6, 6–0Loss 19–15 Apr 1980 Las Vegas, US Hard Björn Borg 3–6, 1–6Win 20–15 May 1980 Hamburg, West Germany Clay Guillermo Vilas 6–7, 6–2, 6–4, 2–6, 6–3Win 21–15 Aug 1980 Cincinnati, US Hard Francisco González 7–6, 6–3Win 22–15 Oct 1980 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard Shlomo Glickstein 6–2, 6–3Loss 22–16 Apr 1981 Las Vegas, US Hard Ivan Lendl 4–6, 2–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament 197219731974197519761977197819791980198119821983198419851986 Career W-L Australian OpenAAAAAAAAAAAAAANH0–0 French OpenQF3RSFQFF4R3R4RSF1R2RA3RAA36–12 Wimbledon1RA1RAA1RAAAAAAAA1R0–4 US Open2R1RA4R1RSF4R4R4R3R3R1RAAA22–11 Win–loss4–32–25–27–26–28–35–26–28–22–23–20–12–10–00–158–27

Doubles: 3 (1 win, 2 losses) ResultW-L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 Feb 1976 Fort Worth WCT, US Carpet Eddie Dibbs Vitas Gerulaitis Sandy Mayer 4–6, 5–7Win 1–1 Mar 1976 Washington WCT, US Carpet Eddie Dibbs Mark Cox Cliff Drysdale 6–4, 7–5Loss 0–2 Jul 1976 Cincinnati, US Clay Eddie Dibbs Stan Smith Erik van Dillen 1–6, 1–6

See also List of select Jewish tennis players

References

External links