Harold Solomon

Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Born	(1952-09-17) September 17, 1952 (age 72) Washington D.C.
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro	1972 (amateur from 1971)
Retired	1986
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,802,769
Singles
Career record	585–339
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 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.^[1] 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.

Solomon is Jewish. He grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and attended Springbrook High School and later lived in Pompano Beach, Florida.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} He lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has a wife named Jan, a daughter named Rachel, and a son named Jesse.^[2]

Solomon began playing tennis when he was five.^[7] Ranked as high as second in the United States in his junior career, Solomon won the Clay Court Championship when he was 18.^[8] He was named an All-American at Rice University, where he was a political science major and a member of Wiess College.^[1][9][2]

He turned professional when he finished university in 1972, and first won pro matches in 1974.^[1][8] Among his shots was the moonball—a high and deep shot, normally hit with a lot of spin.^[9][10]

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.^[8] At the US Open, he was a semifinalist in 1977.^[8][9] 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.^[11] His lifetime professional win–loss record is 564–315, and he earned over $1.8 million.^[1] 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.^[1] His best year was in 1980 when his win–loss record was 64–23 and he was ranked No. 5 in the world.^[9] He appeared in Playgirl Magazine's list of 10 sexiest men that same year.^[8]

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]

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.^[12]

Solomon played in the Davis Cup on the American team in 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1978.^[1] He has a record of nine wins and four losses in this competition.^[9] 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.^[9]

Solomon served as president of the Association of Tennis Professionals from 1980 to 1983^[1] and later on its board of directors.^[8][9]

Solomon was inducted into the USTA Mid Atlantic Section Hall of Fame in 1994^[13] 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. He was inducted into the D.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.^[14]

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.^{[15][16][17][18][1][9]} Some of his players won Grand Slam events and the Olympic Games.^[11] He founded and runs the Harold Solomon Tennis Center, now known as the Florida Tennis SBT Academy, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.^[9][19]

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1976	French Open	Clay	Adriano Panatta	1–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–7

Category Grand Slam Grand Prix Masters (1970–89) WCT Finals (1971–89) Grand Prix Series (1970–89), WCT Series (1968–89) Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score Win 1–0 Jul 1974 Washington D.C., U.S. Clay Guillermo Vilas 1–6, 6–3, 6–4 Loss 1–1 Aug 1974 Bretton Woods, U.S. Clay Rod Laver 4–6, 3–6 Loss 1–2 Sep 1974 Los Angeles, U.S. Hard Jimmy Connors 3–6, 1–6 Win 2–2 Feb 1975 Toronto Indoor, Canada Carpet (i) Stan Smith 6–4, 6–1 Win 3–2 Mar 1975 Memphis, U.S. Hard (i) Jiří Hřebec 2–6, 6–1, 6–4 Loss 3–3 Jul 1975 Washington D.C., U.S. Clay Guillermo Vilas 1–6, 3–6 Loss 3–4 Oct 1975 Melbourne, Australia Grass Brian Gottfried 2–6, 6–7, 1–6 Win 4–4 Oct 1975 Perth, Australia Hard Alex Mayer 6–2, 7–6, 7–5 Win 5–4 Nov 1975 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Brian Gottfried 6–3, 6–2, 5–7, 6–2 Loss 5–5 Jan 1976 Monterrey WCT, Mexico Carpet Eddie Dibbs 6–7, 2–6 Win 6–5 Mar 1976 Washington WCT, U.S. Carpet (i) Onny Parun 6–3, 6–1 Win 7–5 Apr 1976 Houston WCT, U.S. Clay Ken Rosewall 6–4, 1–6, 6–1 Loss 7–6 Jun 1976 French Open, Paris Clay Adriano Panatta 1–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–7(3–7) Win 8–6 Aug 1976 Louisville Open, U.S. Clay Wojciech Fibak 6–2, 7–5 Loss 8–7 Aug 1976 Boston, U.S. Clay Björn Borg 7–6, 4–6, 1–6, 2–6 Win 9–7 Oct 1976 Maui, U.S. Hard Bob Lutz 6–3, 5–7, 7–5 Win 10–7 Nov 1976 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Brian Gottfried 6–2, 6–7, 6–3, 6–4 Win 11–7 Jun 1977 Brussels, Belgium Clay Karl Meiler 7–5, 3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4 Win 12–7 Jul 1977 Cincinnati Masters, U.S. Clay Mark Cox 6–2, 6–3 Win 13–7 Sep 1977 WCT Tournament of Champions, U.S. Carpet (i) Ken Rosewall 6–5(7–5), 6–2, 2–6, 0–6, 6–3 Loss 13–8 Feb 1978 Springfield, U.S. Carpet (i) Heinz Günthardt 3–6, 6–3, 2–6 Win 14–8 Apr 1978 Las Vegas, U.S. Hard Corrado Barazzutti 6–1, 3–0 ret. Win 15–8 Jul 1978 Louisville Open, U.S. Clay John Alexander 6–2, 6–2 Loss 15–9 Aug 1978 Boston, U.S. Clay Manuel Orantes 4–6, 3–6 Loss 15–10 Dec 1978 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Tim Gullikson 6–2, 6–7, 6–7, 7–6, 4–6 Win 16–10 Jan 1979 Baltimore, U.S. Carpet (i) Marty Riessen 7–5, 6–4 Loss 16–11 May 1979 Hamburg, West Germany Clay José Higueras 6–3, 1–6, 4–6, 1–6 Loss 16–12 Jul 1979 Forest Hills WCT, U.S. Clay Eddie Dibbs 6–7, 1–6 Win 17–12 Aug 1979 North Conway, U.S. Clay José Higueras 5–7, 6–4, 7–6 Loss 17–13 Oct 1979 Bordeaux, France Clay Yannick Noah 0–6, 7–6, 1–6, 6–1, 4–6 Win 18–13 Nov 1979 Paris Open, France Hard (i) Corrado Barazzutti 6–3, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4 Loss 18–14 Nov 1979 Wembley Championship, England Carpet (i) John McEnroe 3–6, 4–6, 5–7 Win 19–14 Jan 1980 Baltimore U.S. Carpet (i) Tim Gullikson 7–6, 6–0 Loss 19–15 Apr 1980 Las Vegas, U.S. Hard Björn Borg 3–6, 1–6 Win 20–15 May 1980 Hamburg, West Germany Clay Guillermo Vilas 6–7, 6–2, 6–4, 2–6, 6–3 Win 21–15 Aug 1980 Cincinnati, U.S. Hard Francisco González 7–6, 6–3 Win 22–15 Oct 1980 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard Shlomo Glickstein 6–2, 6–3 Loss 22–16 Apr 1981 Las Vegas, U.S. Hard Ivan Lendl 4–6, 2–6 Grand Slam singles performance timeline Key W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH (W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record. Tournament 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 Career W-L 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 36–12 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 22–11 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 58–27 See also List of select Jewish tennis players References ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Harold Solomon". International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 23, 2014. ^ a b c "Harold Solomon | Bio | Tennis". ATP Tour. ^ Slater, Robert (2000). Great Jews in Sports. J. David Publishers. ISBN 9780824604332 – via Google Books. ^ Horvitz, Peter S. (2007). The Big Book of Jewish Sports Heroes: An Illustrated Compendium of Sports History and the 150 Greatest Jewish Sports Stars. SP Books. ISBN 9781561719075 – via Google Books. ^ Goldman, David J. (2013). Jewish Sports Stars (2nd Revised Edition): Athletic Heroes Past and Present. Kar-Ben. ISBN 9781467716499 – via Google Books. ^ Lorge, Barry (June 6, 1980). "Tennis, Life Are Growing On Solomon" – via www.washingtonpost.com. ^ Goldman, David J. (2013). Jewish Sports Stars (2nd Revised Edition): Athletic Heroes Past and Present. Kar-Ben. ISBN 9781467716499 – via Google Books. ^ a b c d e f "Solomon, Harold". Jews in Sports. Retrieved February 23, 2014. ^ a b c d e f g h i Grasso, John (September 16, 2011). Historical Dictionary of Tennis. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810872370 – via Google Books. ^ Campbell, Shep (1981). Quick Tips from the CBS Tennis Spot. Golf Digest/Tennis, Incorporated. ISBN 9780914178453 – via Google Books. ^ a b "Meet The Staff". Harold Solomon Tennis Institute. Archived from the original on July 1, 2007. Retrieved February 23, 2014. ^ Bodo, Peter. "Bagel, Anyone?". Tennis.com. Retrieved September 4, 2022. ^ "USTA Mid Atlantic Section – Hall of Fame". USTA Mid Atlantic Section. Archived from the original on July 19, 2009. Retrieved February 23, 2014. ^ "Washington, D.C. Sports Hall Inducts Class of 2016". Washington DC Sports Hall of Fame.[permanent dead link‍] ^ "International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame". www.jewishsports.net. ^ "TN Q & A: Harold Solomon - Tennis Now". www.tennisnow.com. ^ "Harold Solomon leaves Team Genie Bouchard" - Tennis.life Archived May 4, 2018, at the Wayback Machine ^ Christopher, Matt (2007). On the Court with ... Jennifer Capriati. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780316030793 – via Google Books. ^ Academy, Florida Tennis SBT. "Florida Tennis SBT Academy Names Rob Castorri GM and Director of Tennis". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). External links Harold Solomon at the Association of Tennis Professionals Harold Solomon at the International Tennis Federation Harold Solomon at the Davis Cup