Haroon Rahim

Haroon Rahim
Country (sports)	Pakistan
Born	12 November 1949 (age 75); Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Turned pro	1965 (amateur); 1968
Retired	1978
Plays	Right-handed
Singles
Career record	243–207 (54%)
Career titles	12
Highest ranking	No. 34 (24 October 1977)
Grand Slam singles results
French Open	2R (1975)
Wimbledon	2R (1976, 1977)
US Open	3R (1971)
Doubles
Career record	101–127
Career titles	3
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open	2R (1972)
Wimbledon	3R (1976)
US Open	QF (1971)

Last updated December 10, 2024

Haroon Rahim (born 12 November 1949) is a Pakistani former tennis player. The former Pakistan and Asian No. 1. He was active from 1965 to 1978 and won 12 singles tour titles.

Rahim was the youngest tennis player ever to play for Pakistan in the Davis Cup at 15 years of age. He was also the highest ranking Pakistani tennis player (a career-high singles ranking of World No. 34 in October 1977). He led the UCLA team to victory with Jeff Borowiak and Jimmy Connors in 1970–71 and was 1971 NCAA doubles champion with Jeff Borowiak.^[1]

Career

Rahim was from the Punjab city of Lahore, from a large family of avid tennis players. His father, Mir Abdur Rahim, was a civil servant who encouraged his children, sons and daughters, to play tennis. Four of Haroon's elder siblings; M. Nasim, M. Naeem, Zulficar and Shahnaz were also national tennis champions. His father loved tennis so much that he said he wanted to die on the tennis court. In 1968, he died of a heart attack while playing doubles with friends at the picturesque Mayo Gardens, Lahore.

He played and won his first tournament in the easter of 1965 at the Huddersfield Open in England.

Rahim was only the second Pakistani after Khawaja Saeed Hai to make it to Wimbledon's main draw. After reaching the Wimbledon Junior Boys singles quarterfinals twice (1965 and 1967) he went on to play in several Grand Slams, in both singles and doubles.

He won 8 tour titles on the ILTF World Circuit including the Ojai Championships the Northumberland Championships and Cranleigh Open all in 1969.

In 1970 he won the U.S. National Amateur Grass Court Championships and the March of Dimes Open against Jimmy Connors. In 1971 he won the Palm Springs International.

Rahim also won two ATP titles, the first at the Arkansas International in Little Rock against former Wimbledon runner up Alex Metreveli of the Soviet Union and then the second at National Tennis Foundation Open in Cleveland against Colin Dibley, both in 1976.

He lost a final to Spanish US Open winner and French Open finalist Manuel Orantes. He won three doubles titles, at Oslo in 1974, North Conway in 1975, and Little Rock in 1978. In men's doubles at Grand Slam events he made it to the quarterfinals of the US Open, the third round of Wimbledon, and the second round of the French Open.^[2]

Rahim is the winner of one of the closest matches ever played when he beat Tom Gorman 6–7^(3–5), 7–6^(5–1), 7–6^(5–4) at the Pennsylvania Lawn Tennis Championships. As both players never lost their serve, each set went to a tie break with Haroon winning the match by just one point.

He played his last tour event at the Surrey Hard Court Championships on clay in 1978.

Last known to be in the U.S., Haroon retired from tennis at age 29, severed contact with his family, and his whereabouts are unknown.^[3]

Grand Slams performance timelines

Key
W	F	SF	QF	#R	RR	Q#	DNQ	A	NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Tournament	1971	1972	1975	1976	1977
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A
French Open	A	1R	2R	A	A
Wimbledon	A	A	A	2R	2R
US Open	3R	A	A	A	A

Doubles

Tournament	1971	1972	1976
Australian Open	A	A	A
French Open	A	2R	A
Wimbledon	A	A	3R
US Open	QF	A	A

ATP career finals

Singles (2 titles, 3 runners-up)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Mar 1972	Altamira International Invitation	Hard	Manuel Orantes	4–6, 5–7, 4–6
Win	1–1	Jan 1976	National Tennis Foundation Open	Carpet	Alex Metreveli	6–4, 6–4
Win	2–1	Mar 1976	Arkansas International Tennis Tournament	Hard (i)	Colin Dibley	6–4, 7–5
Loss	2–2	Jan 1977	Arkansas International Tennis Tournament	Hard (i)	Sandy Mayer	2–6, 4–6

Doubles (3 titles, 3 runners-up)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Feb 1971	New York City, United States	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	Juan Gisbert Sr Manuel Orantes	6–7, 2–6
Win	1–1	Nov 1974	Oslo, Norway	Hard (i)	Karl Meiler	Jeff Borowiak Vitas Gerulaitis	6–3, 6–2
Win	2–1	Aug 1975	North Conway, United States	Clay	Erik van Dillen	John Alexander Phil Dent	7–6, 7–6
Loss	2–2	Oct 1975	Maui, United States	Hard	Jeff Borowiak	Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart	6–3, 6–7, 3–6
Loss	2–3	Mar 1976	Little Rock, United States	Hard (i)	Giuliano Pecci	Syd Ball Ray Ruffels	3–6, 7–6, 3–6
Win	3–3	Jan 1977	Little Rock, United States	Hard (i)	Colin Dibley	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	6–7, 6–3, 6–3

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References

↑ "Haroon Rahim" . Retrieved 1 December 2012.
↑ "Haroon Rahim" . Retrieved 1 December 2012.
↑ Nadeem F. Paracha (1 November 2012). "Crazy Diamonds". DAWN.

External links

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[1] "Haroon Rahim" . Retrieved 1 December 2012.

[2] "Haroon Rahim" . Retrieved 1 December 2012.

[3] Nadeem F. Paracha (1 November 2012). "Crazy Diamonds". DAWN.

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