| Country | El Salvador |
|---|---|
| Residence | Sonsonate, El Salvador |
| Born | July 4, 1986 Sonsonate, El Salvador |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Turned pro | 2003 |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Career prize money | US$26,398 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 5–2 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 434 (July 7, 2008) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 2–1 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 520 (February 27, 2006) |
| Last updated on: July 16, 2008. | |
Rafael Arévalo González (born July 4, 1986) is a professional tennis player from El Salvador. The majority of Arévalo's professional career has been restricted to playing on the Futures (ITF) circuit, with a further 22 appearances for the El Salvador Davis Cup team; he also encountered modest success in the juniors, reaching a peak of No. 10 in 2004. However, in 2008, aided by the Salvadoran Tennis Federation (Federación Salvadoreña de Tenis), he was awarded an invitation to the 2008 Beijing Olympics tennis tournament. The Tripartite Commission, which issued the invitation, is composed of representatives from International Olympic Committee (IOC), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), and the International Tennis Federation (ITF), and it is standard practice to award such invitations (of which there were two for the men's singles tennis event) to countries with small Olympic teams. Arévalo was the first player from El Salvador to represent the country, in a tennis competition, at the Olympics.[1] Arévalo defeated Lee Hyung-taik in three sets, in the first round, before being easily beaten by Swiss world number one Roger Federer in the second.[2]