Jairo Velasco Sr. (born 9 May 1947) is a former 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 Colombia.ATP sources erroneously have him representing Spain during his career Velasco has additionally several Senior World Championship titles in different age classes in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. World Singles Champion: * 1994 Buenos Aires, 45+ * 1996 Velden, 45+ * 1997 Johannesburg, 50+ * 2019 Umag, 70+ * 2023 Mallorca, 75+ World Doubles Champion: * 1994 Buenos Aires, 45+ * 1996 Velden, 45+ * 1997 Johannesburg, 50+ * 2012 Umag, 65+ * 2021 Mallorca, 70+ * 2022 Florida, 75+ * World Mixed Champion: * 2019 Umag, 70+ * 2021 Mallorca, 70+ * 2022 Florida, 75+ * 2023 Mallorca, 75+

Career

Velasco teamed with Iván Molina to reach the fourth round of the

1971 French Open The 1971 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 24 May until 6 June. It was the 75th staging of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam ...

, where they were defeated by eventual champions

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Unite ...

and

Marty Riessen Marty Riessen (born December 4, 1941) is an American former amateur and professional tennis player active from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was ranked as high as No. 11 in the world in singles on the ATP rankings in September 1974, though was rank ...

. In mixed doubles at the

1973 French Open The 1973 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 21 May until 3 June. It was the 77th staging of the French Open, and the second Grand S ...

, he and countrywoman

Isabel Fernández de Soto María-Isabel Fernández de Soto (born 18 September 1950) is a former professional tennis player from Colombia. Biography Fernández, who is originally from Cali, took a tennis scholarship to the University of South Florida at the age of 19. A ...

lost in the semifinals in three sets to Patrice Dominguez and Betty Stöve. He became the first Colombian to reach the fourth round of the singles draw at a Grand Slam when he beat three players at the 1976 US Open,

Ferdi Taygan Ferdi Taygan (born December 5, 1956) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. He is of Turkish descent. Taygan enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career, he won 19 doubles titles and finis ...

Barry Phillips-Moore Barry Phillips-Moore (born 9 June 1938) is an Australian former tennis player of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. In singles, Phillips-Moore twice reached the semifinals of the Australian Championships, in 1961 and 1968. In doubles, he was a q ...

and

Bill Scanlon William Neil Scanlon (November 13, 1956 – June 2, 2021) was a tennis player from the United States, who won seven singles and two doubles titles during his 13-year professional career. The right-hander reached his career-high ATP singles ...

. His run ended when he lost to

Dick Stockton Richard Edward Stokvis (born November 22, 1942), known professionally as Dick Stockton, is an American retired sportscaster. Stockton began his career in Philadelphia, then moved to Pittsburgh, where he worked as the sports director for KDKA-TV ...

. He remained the only player from his country to go that deep in a Grand Slam tournament until Alejandro Falla made the four round at the

2011 French Open The 2011 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 115th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 22 May to 5 June ...

. The Colombian made seven doubles finals on the Grand Prix tennis circuit, winning two, at

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbühel district (). Kitzbühel ...

and at home in Bogota. He also made the singles final at Bogota, in 1979, but lost to

Víctor Pecci Víctor Pecci Sr. (born October 15, 1955) is a former professional tennis player from Paraguay. He was ranked as high as world No. 9 in singles in 1980 and world No. 31 in doubles in 1984. Pecci is famous for reaching the 1979 French Open final. ...

. He won 24 singles rubbers for the

Colombia Davis Cup team The Colombia men's national tennis team represents Colombia in the Davis Cup and is governed by the Federación Colombiana de Tenis. Colombia currently competes in the David Cup Finals, formerly known as the World Group. In 2018, they have rea ...

, a national record. In all, he participated in 21 ties and won a total of 33 matches, being victorious in nine doubles rubbers. He was most notably a member of the side which defeated the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the North & Central America Zone final of the

1974 Davis Cup The 1974 Davis Cup was the 63rd edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 57 teams would enter the competition, 33 in the Europe Zone, 12 in the Americas Zone, and 12 in the Eastern Zone. Niger ...

, beating both

Harold Solomon Harold Solomon (born September 17, 1952) is an American former professional tennis player Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). ...

and Erik van Dillen in his two singles rubbers. In the Americas Inter-Zonal final, which curiously featured the South African team, Velasco lost his first match to

Bob Hewitt Robert Anthony John Hewitt (born 12 January 1940) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. In 1967, after marrying a South African, he became a South African citizen. He has won 15 major titles and a career Grand Slam in both men' ...

and was defeated in the doubles, to surrender the tie. He then beat Ray Moore in a dead rubber. The Colombians, with Velasco in the side, made the Inter-Zonal final again in 1981, but were defeated by

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 ...

Personal

Early in his career, Velasco moved to Barcelona in Spain, where he still lives. He married a woman from the area, and they have three children, including

Jairo Velasco Jr. Jairo Velasco Jr. (born 21 January 1974) is a former Spanish professional tennis player. His father, Jairo Velasco Sr., was a Colombian tennis player, who emigrated to Spain. Career Velasco was a doubles specialist, usually teaming up with coun ...

, a doubles specialist on the ATP Tour and Gabriela Velasco Andreu, who has been in the world's top 400.WTA Tennis Profile for Gabriela Velasco Andreu
/ref>

Grand Prix career finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Doubles: 7 (2–5)

Challenger titles

Singles: 3

Doubles: 1

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Velasco, Jairo Sr. 1947 births Living people Colombian male tennis players Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Sportspeople from Bogotá 20th-century Colombian people