Javier Soler (born 25 March 1955) 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 Spain.

Biography

A left-handed player from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Soler featured in the

Spain Davis Cup team The Spain men's national tennis team has represented Spain internationally since 1920. Organised by the Real Federación Española de Tenis (RFET), it is one of the 50 members of International Tennis Federation's European association (Tennis Europ ...

for two ties, both in 1977. His first appearance was the doubles rubber when Spain played

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in Athens. He and partner Antonio Muñoz secured the tie with a four-set win. He was called up again for Spain in the Europe Zone final against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in Barcelona. With the Italians having an unassailable 3–1 lead, Soler was picked for the fifth match against

Adriano Panatta Adriano Panatta (born 9 July 1950) is a former professional tennis player from Italy. He won the French Open in 1976, and was the only player ever to defeat Björn Borg at Roland Garros, doing so on two occasions. He is also the only Italian man ...

, a dead rubber. He managed to dominate the former French Open champion for a 6–1, 6–0 win, but the Italian was accused of not playing to his best. The crowd was reportedly incensed by Panatta's performance which was described as "lackadaisical" and showing "little inclination to fight". He allegedly deliberately hit some of his shots out during the match. The crowd booed Panatta throughout and a few attempted to attack him as he left the court. There were even fist fights in the crowd between Spanish and Italian supporters. Soler played in the main singles draw of the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

on three occasions and was unable to get past the opening round. In both 1977 and 1978, he lost in the first round to

Buster Mottram Christopher "Buster" Mottram (born 25 April 1955 in Kingston upon Thames) is an English former tennis player and UK number 1 who achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15 in February 1983. Mottram represented Great Britain in the D ...

, then in 1979 faced ninth seed

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 ...

. Soler, who also played in the 1977 US Open, competed on the

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

and WCT circuits. His best performance was a semi-final appearance at

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

in 1977, during which he defeated

Roger Taylor Roger Taylor may refer to: *Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen *Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran *Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series *Roger Taylor (college pr ...

. He also had career wins over Juan Aguilera and

Corrado Barazzutti Corrado Barazzutti (born 19 February 1953, in Udine) is a former tennis player from Italy. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 7, achieved in August 1978. After his player career Barazzutti was non-playing captain of the Italy Davis C ...

. In 1983 he was a doubles gold medalist at the

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fir ...

in Casablanca.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soler, Javier 1955 births Living people Spanish male tennis players Tennis players from Barcelona Mediterranean Games medalists in tennis Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Spain Competitors at the 1983 Mediterranean Games

Biography

See also

References

External links