Felipe Rivera (10 May 1971 – 1 October 1995) was a professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player from

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Career

Rivera, a semi-finalist in the 1989

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

, was the top ranked Chilean junior in the 14s, 16s and 18s age categories.ATP World Tour Profile
/ref> In 1991, Rivera reached the quarter-finals of the Banespa Open in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

with wins over

Martín Jaite Martín Jaite (born 9 October 1964) is a former top-10 professional tennis player from Argentina. Jaite's career-high Association of Tennis Professionals singles ranking was world no. 10, which he achieved in the summer of 1990, and he won a t ...

and

Jean-Philippe Fleurian Jean-Philippe Fleurian (born 11 September 1965) is a former tennis player from France, who turned professional in 1985. In his career, he won one doubles title (1996, Marseille). The right-hander reached his highest ranking on the ATP Tour on 3 ...

. At the French Open that year he came up against

Dinu Pescariu Dinu Mihail Pescariu (born 12 April 1974) is a former tennis player from Romania, who turned professional in 1991. The right-hander represented his native country at two Summer Olympics: in Barcelona (1992) and in Atlanta (1996). He reached his h ...

in the first round and won the opening set, but lost the next two and had to retire hurt in the fourth set. His only other Grand Slam appearance was in the US Open in 1992, where he lost a four set match in the first round to American Scott Davis. He also qualified for the 1992 German Open (an

ATP Super 9 The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...

event) and made the second round, after defeating Spaniard José Francisco Altur. As a doubles player he had his best win on tour when he and partner

Sergio Cortes Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass * ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film * ''Se ...

defeated third seeds Tomás Carbonell and Byron Talbot at the 1993 Movistar Open. He played three ties for the Chile Davis Cup team during his career, the first in 1991, when he was aged only 19. In that tie he teamed up with

Hans Gildemeister Hans Gildemeister Bohner (born Juan Pedro Gildemeister Bohner on 9 February 1956), is a Chilean former tennis player of German ancestry , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = ...

in the doubles and they defeated the Dominican pairing. In 1992 he appeared in Chile's tie against

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. He won the opening rubber, over

Juan Pino Juan Antonio Pino Pérez (born 3 July 1965) is a former professional tennis player from Cuba. Biography Pino, who comes from Pinar del Río in western Cuba, began playing tennis at the age of 10 and trained in Havana. A right handed player, Pino ...

but Chile lost the other four matches, two of which Rivera played. The Chilean also participated in his country's tie against the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

in 1993, which they lost 2–3. Rivera took on Roger Smith in the opening match and Mark Knowles in the final and deciding rubber, losing both.

Death

Rivera was killed in a car crash on 1 October 1995. At the time of his death he was still active on tour, having taken part in a

Challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainment Comics and manga * Challenger (character), comic book character * ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga Film and TV * ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 1979 ...

tournament at

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in July.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Felipe 1971 births 1995 deaths Chilean male tennis players People from Arica Province Road incident deaths in Chile