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 Iván Molina (born 16 June 1946) is a former professional Colombian tennis player. Molina and Martina Navratilova teamed to win the 1974 French Open mixed doubles title, beating Rosie Reyes Darmon and Marcello Lara 6–3, 6–3 in the final. T ...

to reach the fourth round of the 1971 French Open, 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 lost in the semifinals in three sets to

Patrice Dominguez Patrice Dominguez (12 January 1950 – 12 April 2015) was a French tennis player born in Algeria. He reached a career high ranking of 36 in 1973. He represented France in the Davis Cup between 1971 and 1979. Dominguez was runner–up at the 197 ...

and

Betty Stöve Betty Flippina Stöve (born 24 June 1945) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. She is best remembered for reaching the ladies' singles final, the ladies' doubles final and the mixed doubles final during the same year at Wimbledon in 19 ...

. He became the first Colombian to reach the fourth round of the singles draw at a

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

when he beat three players at the 1976 US Open,

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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 Alejandro Falla Ramírez (; born 14 November 1983) is a retired professional male tennis player from Colombia. The left-hander turned pro in 2000 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 48 in July 2012. At the 2006 Wimbledon t ...

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 The Grand Prix tennis circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players that existed from 1970 to 1989. The Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis (WCT) were the two predecessors to the current tour for male players, the ATP Tour, with t ...

, 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, 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, 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 Erik van Dillen (born February 21, 1951) is an American retired tennis player who played over 25 Grand Slam championships at Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open. Tennis career Born in San Mateo, California, van Dillen first play ...

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., a doubles specialist on the ATP Tour and

Gabriela Velasco Andreu Gabriela Velasco Andreu (born 1 April 1985) is a former professional Spanish tennis player. Velasco Andreu won 12 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit in her career. On 20 June 2005, she reached her best singles ranking of world number ...

, who has been in the world's top 400.WTA Tennis Profile for Gabriela Velasco Andreu
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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