Haroon Rahim

Haroon Rahim

Country (sports)	Pakistan
Born	(1949-11-12) 12 November 1949 Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Turned pro	1968
Plays	Right-handed
Singles
Career record	119–150
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 44 (2 July 1977)
Grand Slam Singles results
French Open	2R (1975)
Wimbledon	2R (1976, 1977)
US Open	3R (1971)
Doubles
Career record	101–127
Career titles	3
Grand Slam Doubles results
French Open	2R (1972)
Wimbledon	3R (1976)
US Open	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 ever (a career-high singles ranking of World No. 44 in July 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]

He 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. 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.

Haroon Rahim was only the second Pakistani after Khawaja Saeed Hai to make it to the Wimbledon's main draw. He played in many 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 the former record holder of the fastest serve, Australian, Colin Dibley, both in 1976.

He also lost a final to Spanish US Open winner and French Open finalist, Manuel Orantes.

He also won 3 doubles titles, one at Oslo in 1974, North Conway in 1975 and Little Rock in 1978. Success was also seen in the men's doubles where he made it to the quarter finals of the US Open, the third round of Wimbledon, and the second round of the French Open.^[2]

Haroon Rahim is the winner of the closest match ever played, he beat Tom Gorman 6–7^(3–5), 7–6^(5–1), 7–6^(5–4) Pennsylvania Grass Championships, as both players never losing their serve, each set went to a tie break with Haroon winning the match by just one point.

Last known to be in the US, Haroon retired from tennis, severed contact with his family and his whereabouts are unknown.^[3]

Grand Slams performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

ATP career finals

Singles (2 titles, 3 runners-up)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	17 March 1972	Caracas, Venezuela	Hard	Manuel Orantes	4–6, 5–7, 4–6
Winner	2.	29 January 1976	Cleveland, United States	Carpet	Alex Metreveli	6–4, 6–4
Winner	3.	24 April 1976	Little Rock, United States	Carpet	Colin Dibley	6–4, 7–5
Runner-up	4.	31 January 1977	Little Rock, United States	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	2–6, 4–6

Doubles (3 titles, 3 runners-up)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	14 February 1971	New York City, United States	N/A	Jimmy Connors	Juan Gisbert Sr Manuel Orantes	6–7, 2–6
Winner	2.	16 November 1974	Oslo, Norway	N/A	Karl Meiler	Jeff Borowiak Vitas Gerulaitis	6–3, 6–2
Winner	3.	4 August 1975	North Conway, United States	Clay	Erik Van Dillen	John Alexander Phil Dent	7–6, 7–6
Runner-up	4.	5 October 1975	Maui, United States	Hard	Jeff Borowiak	Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart	6–3, 6–7, 3–6
Runner-up	5.	1 March 1976	Little Rock, United States	Carpet	Giuliano Pecci	Syd Ball Ray Ruffels	3–6, 7–6, 3–6
Winner	6.	31 January 1977	Little Rock, United States	Carpet	Colin Dibley	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	7–6(7–5), 6–4

References

External links

• Haroon Rahim at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Haroon Rahim at the International Tennis Federation
• Haroon Rahim at the Davis Cup
• Haroon Rahim: The greatest tennis player Pakistan has ever produced