Rauno Suominen (20 April 1939 – 6 July 2018) was a Finnish
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 and coach.
Career
Suominen represented the
Finland Davis Cup team
The Finland men's national tennis team represents Finland in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Suomen Tennisliitto.
Finland currently compete in the Europe/Africa Zone Group I. They have reached the World Group play-offs thr ...
in four
Davis Cup ties, from 1965 to 1972. His first match was the
1965 Europe Zone first round tie against
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. During his Davis Cup career, he won one of the five singles match and was on the losing side in all 3 doubles matches that he played.
Suominen served as national coach for the Finland Tennis Association from 1971 to 1972 and 1977 to 1979. He relocated to the United States in 1972 to become Head Professional at the Four Seasons Racquet Club in
Williamsville from 1972 to 1976 and again from 1979 to 1980. In 1993, he began working as an independent pro in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
. Suominen died of
motor neuron disease
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...
in 2018.
See also
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List of Finland Davis Cup team representatives
This is a list of tennis players who have represented the Finland Davis Cup team
The Finland men's national tennis team represents Finland in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Suomen Tennisliitto.
Finland currently compete i ...
References
External links
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{{Commons category, Rauno Suominen
1939 births
2018 deaths
Finnish male tennis players