Haroon Rahim Explained

Haroon Rahim
Birth Date:1949 11, df=yes
Birth Place:Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Turnedpro:1968
Plays:Right-handed
Singlesrecord:119–150
Singlestitles:2
Highestsinglesranking:No. 34 (24 October 1977)
Frenchopenresult:2R (1975)
Wimbledonresult:2R (1976, 1977)
Usopenresult:3R (1971)
Doublesrecord:101–127
Doublestitles:3
Frenchopendoublesresult:2R (1972)
Wimbledondoublesresult:3R (1976)
Usopendoublesresult:QF (1971)

Haroon Rahim (born 12 November 1949) is a Pakistani former tennis player. The former Pakistan and Asian No. 1, Rahim was the youngest tennis player ever to play for Pakistan in the Davis Cup at 15 years of age. He was also the highest ranking Pakistani tennis player (a career-high singles ranking of World No. 34 in October 1977). He led the UCLA team to victory with Jeff Borowiak and Jimmy Connors in 1970–71 and was 1971 NCAA doubles champion with Jeff Borowiak.[1]

Career

Rahim was from the Punjab city of Lahore, from a large family of avid tennis players. His father, Mir Abdur Rahim, was a civil servant who encouraged his children, sons and daughters, to play tennis. Four of Haroon's elder siblings; M. Nasim, M. Naeem, Zulficar and Shahnaz were also national tennis champions. His father loved tennis so much that he said he wanted to die on the tennis court. In 1968, he died of a heart attack while playing doubles with friends at the picturesque Mayo Gardens, Lahore.

Rahim was only the second Pakistani after Khawaja Saeed Hai to make it to Wimbledon's main draw. After reaching the Wimbledon Junior Boys singles quarterfinals twice (1965 and 1967) he went on to play in several Grand Slams, in both singles and doubles. Rahim won two ATP titles, the first at Little Rock against former Wimbledon runner up Alex Metreveli of the Soviet Union and then the second at Cleveland against Colin Dibley, both in 1976.

He lost a final to Spanish US Open winner and French Open finalist Manuel Orantes. He won three doubles titles, at Oslo in 1974, North Conway in 1975, and Little Rock in 1978. In men's doubles at Grand Slam events he made it to the quarterfinals of the US Open, the third round of Wimbledon, and the second round of the French Open.[2] Rahim is the winner of one of the closest matches ever played when he beat Tom Gorman 6–7(3–5), 7–6(5–1), 7–6(5–4) at the Pennsylvania Lawn Tennis Championships. As both players never lost their serve, each set went to a tie break with Haroon winning the match by just one point.

Last known to be in the U.S., Haroon retired from tennis at age 29, severed contact with his family, and his whereabouts are unknown.[3]

Grand Slams performance timelines

Singles

Tournament 19711972
Australian OpenAAAAA
French OpenA1R2RAA
WimbledonAAA2R2R
US Open3RAAAA

Doubles

Tournament 1971
Australian OpenAAA
French OpenA2RA
WimbledonAA3R
US OpenQFAA

ATP career finals

Singles (2 titles, 3 runners-up)

ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1Mar 1972Altamira International InvitationHard Manuel Orantes4–6, 5–7, 4–6
Win1–1Jan 1976National Tennis Foundation OpenCarpet Alex Metreveli6–4, 6–4
Win2–1Mar 1976Hard (i) Colin Dibley6–4, 7–5
Loss2–2Jan 1977Hard (i) Sandy Mayer2–6, 4–6

Doubles (3 titles, 3 runners-up)

ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1Feb 1971New York City, United StatesCarpet Jimmy Connors Juan Gisbert Sr
Manuel Orantes
6–7, 2–6
Win1–1Nov 1974Oslo, NorwayHard (i) Karl Meiler Jeff Borowiak
Vitas Gerulaitis
6–3, 6–2
Win2–1Aug 1975North Conway, United StatesClay Erik van Dillen John Alexander
Phil Dent
7–6, 7–6
Loss2–2Oct 1975Maui, United StatesHard Jeff Borowiak Fred McNair
Sherwood Stewart
6–3, 6–7, 3–6
Loss2–3Mar 1976Little Rock, United StatesHard (i) Giuliano Pecci Syd Ball
Ray Ruffels
3–6, 7–6, 3–6
Win3–3Jan 1977Little Rock, United StatesHard (i) Colin Dibley Bob Hewitt
Frew McMillan
6–7, 6–3, 6–3

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Haroon Rahim. 1 December 2012.
  2. Web site: Haroon Rahim. 1 December 2012.
  3. Web site: Crazy Diamonds. Nadeem F. Paracha . 1 November 2012 . DAWN.