Alejandro Falla
Alejandro Falla Ramírez (Spanish pronunciation: [aleˈxandɾo ˈfaʎa raˈmiɾes];[1] 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 tournament, Falla upset 9th seed Nikolay Davydenko and at the 2007 Sony Ericsson Open he beat 9th seed Tommy Haas in straight sets. He reached the semifinals of the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon in 2007, beating players such as the 5th seed Ivan Ljubičić.
Full name | Alejandro Falla Ramírez | ||||||||||
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Country (sports) | |||||||||||
Residence | Bogotá, Colombia | ||||||||||
Born | Cali, Colombia | 14 November 1983||||||||||
Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||
Turned pro | 2000 | ||||||||||
Retired | 2018 | ||||||||||
Plays | Left-handed (two-handed backhand) | ||||||||||
Prize money | $3,101,331 | ||||||||||
Singles | |||||||||||
Career record | 114–169 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) | ||||||||||
Career titles | 0 | ||||||||||
Highest ranking | No. 48 (16 July 2012) | ||||||||||
Grand Slam Singles results | |||||||||||
Australian Open | 3R (2010, 2012) | ||||||||||
French Open | 4R (2011) | ||||||||||
Wimbledon | 3R (2012) | ||||||||||
US Open | 2R (2006, 2011) | ||||||||||
Doubles | |||||||||||
Career record | 17–41 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) | ||||||||||
Career titles | 0 | ||||||||||
Highest ranking | No. 130 (3 August 2009) | ||||||||||
Grand Slam Doubles results | |||||||||||
Australian Open | 1R (2010, 2012, 2013) | ||||||||||
French Open | 2R (2014) | ||||||||||
Wimbledon | 1R (2010) | ||||||||||
US Open | 1R (2010) | ||||||||||
Medal record
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Last updated on: 21 August 2018. |
Career
The Colombian became the first player from his country to break into the top 100 of the ATP Rankings since Mauricio Hadad in 1996. In 2006, Alejandro qualified a career-high five times into the main draw of ATP tournaments. In his second tournament of the year, he reached the final of the Mexico City Challenger. He then went on to earn points for his country in a Davis Cup tie against Paraguay Davis Team. Then later in April, he won the Bogotá Challenger. At Roland Garros, he reached the second round after defeating Justin Gimelstob, though he lost to Roger Federer in the second round. A few weeks later at Wimbledon, he managed to beat Nikolay Davydenko in a four-set thriller. His victory over Davydenko was his first win over a top-10 player, and a first ever for a Colombian player. However, he was then defeated in the second round by Philipp Kohlschreiber in another four-set match. He then reached the second round in the US Open. In the first round, he beat Juan Martín del Potro in four sets, before being defeated by Dmitry Tursunov in straight sets.
Falla almost caused a sensation in the first round of Wimbledon in 2010, winning the first two sets against defending champion Roger Federer and serving for the match at 5–4 in the fourth set (he was three points away from winning), before Federer eventually won 5–7, 4–6, 6–4, 7–6, 6–0.[2]
His best result in a Grand Slam was in 2011 at the French Open. Falla reached the fourth round, where he lost to the unseeded Juan Ignacio Chela.
In the 2014 Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Falla rallied to beat 2011 champion Philipp Kohlschreiber 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to become the first Colombian to reach the final of a grass-court tournament. He lost to six-time champion Roger Federer in the final.
Juniors
Alejandro Falla made it to the semi-finals in the 2001 French Open, giving a big inspiration to Colombian players aspiring to achieve strong results in junior open tennis.
Doubles
In junior doubles at the French Open, he and compatriot Carlos Salamanca defeated the German duo Markus Bayer and Philipp Petzschner, the first junior title won by Colombians in a Grand Slam.
Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | |||||||
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Junior Grand Slam Tournaments | |||||||||
Australian Open | A | A | |||||||
French Open | 1R | W | |||||||
Wimbledon | 1R | 1R | |||||||
US Open | A | 2R | |||||||
Doubles: 1 (1 title)
Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
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Win | 2001 | French Open | Clay | 3–6, 7–5, 6–4 |
ATP career finals
Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)
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Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
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Loss | 0–1 | Jul 2013 | Colombia Open, Colombia | 250 Series | Hard | 3–6, 6–7(4–7) | |
Loss | 0–2 | Jun 2014 | Halle Open, Germany | 250 Series | Grass | 6–7(2–7), 6–7(3–7) |
Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
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Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
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Loss | 0–1 | Feb 2011 | Pacific Coast Championships, United States | 250 Series | Hard | 4–6, 6–4, [8–10] |
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures singles finals
Legend |
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ATP Challenger (11–8) |
ITF Futures (3–2) |
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
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Runner–up | 1. | 16 June 2002 | Bogotá, Colombia | Clay | 6–7(6–8), 6–7(2–7) | |
Runner–up | 2. | 23 June 2002 | Bogotá, Colombia | Clay | 6–7(3–7), 6–7(1–7) | |
Winner | 3. | 13 January 2003 | San Salvador, El Salvador | Clay | 6–4, 6–4 | |
Winner | 4. | 26 May 2003 | Pereira, Colombia | Clay | 7–5, 6–3 | |
Winner | 5. | 13 October 2003 | Bogotá, Colombia | Clay | 7–5, 6–3 | |
Runner–up | 6. | 1 February 2004 | Waikoloa, United States | Clay | 5–7, 6–7(4–7) | |
Winner | 7. | 8 March 2004 | Bogotá, Colombia | Clay | 4–6, 6–1, 6–2 | |
Winner | 8. | 29 March 2004 | Salinas, Ecuador | Hard | 6–7, 6–2, 6–2 | |
Runner–up | 9. | 6 July 2005 | Pozoblanco, Spain | Hard | 3–6, 3–6 | |
Runner–up | 10. | 15 July 2005 | Binghamton, United States | Hard | 6–7(3–7), 3–6 | |
Runner–up | 11. | 2 April 2006 | Mexico City, Mexico | Clay | 3–6, 6–4, 4–6 | |
Winner | 12. | 24 April 2006 | Bogotá, Colombia (2) | Clay | 6–4, 6–2 | |
Runner–up | 13. | 11 November 2007 | Bratislava, Slovakia | Hard (i) | 6–4, 6–7(7–9), 1–6 | |
Winner | 14. | 3 May 2009 | Pereira, Colombia | Clay | 6–4, 4–6, 6–2 | |
Winner | 15. | 20 September 2009 | Cali, Colombia | Clay | 6–3, 6–4 | |
Winner | 16. | 18 October 2009 | Rennes, France | Hard | 6–3, 6–2 | |
Runner–up | 17. | 5 April 2010 | Bogotá, Colombia | Clay | 6–4, 4–6, 1–6 | |
Winner | 18. | 25 September 2011 | Cali, Colombia (2) | Clay | 6–4, 6–3 | |
Runner–up | 19. | 31 October 2011 | Medellín, Colombia | Clay | 7–6(7–2), 4–6, 4–6 | |
Winner | 20. | 1 April 2012 | Barranquilla, Colombia | Clay | 6–4, 6–1 | |
Winner | 21. | 16 July 2012 | Bogotá, Colombia | Clay | 7–5, 6–3 | |
Winner | 22. | 4 January 2014 | Nouméa, New Caledonia | Hard | 6–2, 6–2 | |
Winner | 23. | 26 January 2014 | Bucaramanga, Colombia | Clay | 7–5, 6–1 | |
Runner–up | 24. | 9 January 2016 | Nouméa, New Caledonia | Hard | 7–5, 2–6, 2–6 |
Singles performance timeline
Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | SR | W–L |
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Grand Slam Tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | Q2 | 2R | A | 3R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 1R | Q2 | A | 0 / 7 | 7–7 |
French Open | A | A | A | 2R | Q1 | 2R | 1R | 2R | Q1 | 2R | 4R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | Q1 | A | 0 / 10 | 7–10 |
Wimbledon | A | A | A | 2R | Q3 | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 1R | Q2 | A | 0 / 11 | 5–11 |
US Open | A | A | A | Q2 | Q1 | 2R | Q2 | Q1 | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | A | 1R | Q3 | A | A | 0 / 6 | 2–6 |
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 3–4 | 4–4 | 4–4 | 1–3 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 34 | 21–34 |
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 | |||||||||||||||||||
Indian Wells Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | 3R | Q1 | A | A | 0 / 5 | 3–5 |
Miami Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | 3R | A | A | 2R | Q1 | 2R | 3R | 1R | 3R | Q1 | A | 0 / 6 | 8–6 |
Monte Carlo Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 |
Rome Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | 1R | Q1 | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 |
Madrid Masters | NH | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | Q1 | Q1 | 1R | A | A | 0 / 5 | 1–5 |
Canada Masters | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | A | 1R | Q2 | Q1 | A | 0 / 6 | 1–6 |
Cincinnati Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 2R | Q1 | 1R | A | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 4 | 1–4 |
Shanghai Masters | Not Masters Series | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | |||||||
Paris Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 2R | Q1 | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 |
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–5 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 0–2 | 3–6 | 2–3 | 2–5 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 31 | 15–31 |
National Representation | |||||||||||||||||||
Olympics | Not Held | A | Not Held | A | Not Held | 1R | Not Held | A | NH | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | ||||||||
Davis Cup | Z2 | Z2 | A | Z3 | Z2 | Z2 | Z1 | Z1 | Z1 | PO | Z1 | Z1 | PO | Z1 | PO | A | PO | 0 / 0 | 22–10 |
Win–Loss | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 1 | 22–11 |
Career Statistics | |||||||||||||||||||
Titles / Finals | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 2 | |
Year-end Ranking | 1383 | 566 | 275 | 127 | 231 | 108 | 81 | 180 | 81 | 105 | 74 | 54 | 99 | 88 | 122 | 273 | 397 |
Doubles Performance Timeline
Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | W–L |
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Grand Slam Tournaments | ||||||
Australian Open | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | A | 0–3 |
French Open | 1R | A | 1R | A | 2R | 1–3 |
Wimbledon | 1R | A | A | A | 1R | 0–2 |
US Open | 1R | A | A | A | 1R | 0–2 |
Win–Loss | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1-3 | 1–10 |
References
- "The pronunciation by Alejandro Falla himself". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- Cheese, Caroline (21 June 2010). "Wimbledon 2010: Roger Federer survives massive scare". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alejandro Falla. |