Javier Alberto Frana (born 25 December 1966) is a former

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

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and former tennis commentator for

ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America (on-air as ESPN) is the Latin American division of ESPN Inc., and broadcasts sports-related programming for the region in Spanish. It was launched on 31 March 1989. Its programming is adapted to the likes of viewers, who tend ...

. He won 1996 French Open Mixed Doubles title with compatriot

Patricia Tarabini Patricia Tarabini (born 6 August 1968) is a former tennis player from Argentina. She represented her country and won the bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic games, with Paola Suárez, where they lost 7–9 in the third set to eventual gold ...

Tennis career

Frana turned professional in 1986. He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking on July 24, 1995, when he became world No. 30. His highest doubles ranking was world No. 14, achieved on May 25, 1992.

Olympics

Frana debuted at the

Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in 1988, where he was defeated in the second round by fellow countryman

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 ...

, 2–6, 4–6 and 2–6. At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, he reached the second round again, this time falling to France's

Fabrice Santoro Fabrice Vetea Santoro (born 9 December 1972) is a French retired tennis player. Successful in both singles and doubles, he had an unusually long professional career, with many of his accomplishments coming toward the end of his career, and he is ...

, 6–4, 2–6, 1–6, and 1–6. He represented his native country for the last time in Olympic competition at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

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 ...

, where he was defeated in the first round by Great Britain's

Greg Rusedski Gregory Rusedski (born 6 September 1973) is a British and Canadian former tennis player. He was the British No. 1 in 1997, 1999 and 2006, and reached the ATP ranking of world No. 4 for periods from 6 October 1997 to 12 October 1997 and from 25 ...

Personal life

Frana was born in

Rafaela Rafaela () is a city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, about 96 km from the provincial capital. It is the head town of the Castellanos Department. It has a population of 99,150 per the . The city was established in 1881 by Guillermo ...

. He is of

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

origin, his family is from the

Trogir Trogir (; historically known as Traù (from Dalmatian language, Dalmatian, Venetian language, Venetian and Italian language, Italian: ); la, Tragurium; Greek language, Ancient Greek: Τραγύριον, ''Tragyrion'' or Τραγούριον, '' ...

area.

ATP career finals

Singles: 9 (3 titles, 6 runner-ups)

Doubles: 16 (7 titles, 9 runner-ups)

Mixed doubles (1 win)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 4 (1–3)

Doubles: 13 (9–4)

Performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

Mixed doubles

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frana, Javier 1966 births Argentine male tennis players Argentine people of Croatian descent Hopman Cup competitors Living people Olympic bronze medalists for Argentina Olympic medalists in tennis Olympic tennis players of Argentina People from Rafaela Tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 1995 Pan American Games Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Argentina Pan American Games silver medalists for Argentina Pan American Games medalists in tennis French Open champions Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Sportspeople from Santa Fe Province 20th-century Argentine people