Alejandro Falla
Encyclopedia
Alejandro Falla Ramirez (born 14 November 1983 in Cali
Calì
Calì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...

, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

) is a professional male tennis player from Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

. He turned pro in 2000, plays left-handed, weighs 169 lb
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...

 (76 kg) and measures 6'1" (185 cm). At the 2006 Wimbledon tournament, Falla upset 9th seed Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...

 and at the 2007 Sony Ericsson Open he beat 9th seed Tommy Haas
Tommy Haas
Tommy Haas is a German and recently naturalized American professional tennis player. He has competed on the ATP Tour since 1996. After breaking into the world top 100 in 1997, and reaching a career-high ranking of world no...

 in straight sets. He reached the semifinals of the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon
Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon
The Open Sud de France is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It was held annually at the Palais des Sports de Gerland in Lyon, France, in October, from 1987 through to 2009, before being relocated to...

 in 2007, beating players such as the 5th seed Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubicic
----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....

. On April 19, 2010, Falla achieved his career high of #58.

Career

The Colombian became the first player from his country to break into the top 100 of the ATP Rankings since Mauricio Hadad
Mauricio Hadad
Mauricio Hadad is a former tennis player from Colombia.Hadad is of Lebanese background. The right-hander turned pro in 1988 and reached his highest individual ranking on the ATP Tour on September 11, 1995, when he became World number 78. His best performance at a Grand Slam came at the 1996...

 in 1996. In 2006, Alejandro qualified a career-high six times into the main draw of ATP level 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
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...

 tie against Paraguay Davis Team
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

. Then later in April, he won the Bogotá Challenger. At Roland Garros
French Open (tennis)
The French Open |Roland Garros]]) is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June in Paris, France, at the Stade Roland Garros. It is the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world and the second of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments – the other three are...

, he reached the second round after defeating Justin Gimelstob
Justin Gimelstob
Justin Jeremy Gimelstob is a retired American tennis player. Gimelstob has been a resident of Morristown, New Jersey and as of 2009 resided in Santa Monica, California....

, though he lost to Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

 in the second round. A few weeks later at Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...

, he managed to beat Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...

 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
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber is a tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 2001. The right-hander has won six doubles and three singles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 28 September 2009, when he achieved a ranking of World No. 22...

 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
Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine professional tennis player. Del Potro achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of world no. 4...

 in four sets, before being defeated by Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov is a Russian professional male tennis player. He was 12 years old when he came to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player....

 in straight sets.

Falla almost caused a sensation in the first round of Wimbledon in 2010
2010 Wimbledon Championships
The 2010 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from Monday 21 June until Sunday 4 July 2010. It was the 124th staging of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand...

, 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.

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
Juan Ignacio Chela
Juan Ignacio Chela is a professional male tennis player from Argentina. Like most Argentine players he is comfortable on Clay courts and owns all six of his career titles on the surface...

.

Singles Titles

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (0)
Challengers (7)
Futures (3)

No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. January 13, 2003   San Salvador Clay   Jorge Aguilar
Jorge Aguilar
Jorge Roberto Aguilar Mondaca is a Chilean professional tennis player. In 2001 won the U16 world championship with best friend Guillermo Hormazábal and Carlos Rios....

6–4, 6–4
2. May 26, 2003   Pereira
Pereira, Colombia
Pereira is the capital city of the Colombian department of Risaralda. It stands in the center of the western region of the country, located in a small valley that descends from a part of the western Andes mountain chain. Its strategic location in the coffee producing area makes the city an urban...

Clay   Thiago Alves
Thiago Alves (tennis)
Thiago Alves is a professional tennis player who competes mainly on the ITF Tour. His career high rank was #88, achieved on July 13, 2009.- In Grand Slams :He has made four Grand Slam main draw appearances, qualifying into the...

7–5, 6–3
3. October 13, 2003   Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...

Clay   Marco Mirnegg 7–5, 6–3
4. March 8, 2004   Bogotá Clay   Adrián García
Adrián García
Adrián Alonso García Sobarzo is a Chilean tennis player.García was born in Concepción, Chile. On September 13, 2004, he achieved a career-high singles ranking of 103.-Source:* ATP Tour profile for...

4–6, 6–1, 6–2
5. March 29, 2004   Salinas
Challenger Salinas
The Challenger ATP de Salinas Diario Expreso is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the Association of Tennis Professionals Challenger Tour. It is held annually in Salinas, Ecuador, since 1996....

Hard   Gilles Müller
Gilles Müller
Gilles Müller is a Luxembourgish professional tennis player. He was a US Open junior champion and is the most successful male tennis player in the history of his country...

6–7, 6–2, 6–2
6. April 24, 2006   Bogotá Clay   André Sá
André Sá
André Rezende Sá is a professional Brazilian tennis player. He is number 29 for doubles, and 467 for singles.-Personal:...

6–4, 6–2
7. May 03, 2009   Pereira
2009 Seguros Bolivar Open Pereira
The 2009 Seguros Bolívar Open Pereira was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor red clay courts. It was part of the 2009 ATP Challenger Tour...

Clay   Horacio Zeballos 6–4, 4–6, 6–2
8. September 20, 2009   Cali
Seguros Bolivar Open Cali
The Seguros Bolívar Open Cali is a tennis tournament held in Cali, Colombia. The event is part of the challenger series and is played on outdoor clay courts.-Singles:-Doubles:- External links :**...

Clay   Horacio Zeballos 6–3, 6–4
9. October 18, 2009   Rennes
Open de Rennes
The Open de Rennes is a tennis tournament held in Rennes, France since 2006. The event is part of the challenger series and is played on indoor hard courts.-Singles:-Doubles:- External links :**...

Hard   Thierry Ascione
Thierry Ascione
Thierry Ascione is a retired professional tour male tennis player from France. He is 6'2" and weighs just under . He turned pro in 2000 and retired in September, 2010....

6–3, 6–2
10. September 25, 2011   Cali
Seguros Bolivar Open Cali
The Seguros Bolívar Open Cali is a tennis tournament held in Cali, Colombia. The event is part of the challenger series and is played on outdoor clay courts.-Singles:-Doubles:- External links :**...

Clay   Eduardo Schwank
Eduardo Schwank
Eduardo Jonatan Schwank is a professional tennis player from Argentina on the ATP Tour. He is currently coached by Javier Nalbandian, the brother of David Nalbandian....

6–4, 6–3

Singles performance timeline

Tournament20012002200320042005200620072008200920102011SRW–L
Australian Open
Australian Open
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...

A A A A A A LQ 2R A 3R
2010 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but retired due to a right knee injury trailing 3–6, 6–7, 0–3 in the quarterfinals against Andy Murray.Roger Federer met Andy Murray in the final of this event...

1R
2011 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic, who went on to win the tournament by defeating Andy Murray 6–4, 6–2, 6–3 in the final. It was Djokovic's 2nd title at the Australian Open, with this title bearing many resemblances to his title in 2008. Djokovic...

0 / 3 3–3
French Open A A A 2R A 2R 1R 2R LQ 2R
2010 French Open – Men's Singles
Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Robin Söderling, which allowed him to make a second-successive final here. This was the first time since the 2004 French Open that Federer did not reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament.Rafael Nadal won his fifth...

4R
2011 French Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal, the defending champion and, after this tournament, six-time winner of this event defended his title by beating long-time rival Roger Federer for his sixth French Open title, tying him with Björn Borg for most all-time in the open era. Notably, the Spaniard played his first ever...

0 / 6 7–6
Wimbledon A A A 2R A 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R
2010 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
The Men's Singles event at the 2010 saw Rafael Nadal, the World No. 1 and 2nd seed, defeat 12th seed Tomáš Berdych 6–3 7–5 6–4 in the final to win his 2nd Wimbledon title, and his 8th Grand Slam title overall....

1R
2011 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion but lost to Novak Djokovic in the final.Djokovic won his first Wimbledon title. Upon reaching the final, he gained the World No.1 ranking as a result. This marks the first time that neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal is ranked No...

0 / 7 3–7
US Open A A A A A 2R LQ LQ 1R 1R
2010 US Open – Men's Singles
Juan Martín del Potro was the defending champion, but chose not to participate this year, after undergoing a wrist operation in May and only starting to practice again in August...

2R
2011 US Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but was defeated in the final by Novak Djokovic with a score of 6–2, 6–4, 6–7, 6–1. Djokovic claimed his first US Open title, his third Grand Slam of the year, and his fourth Grand Slam overall.-Seeds:...

0 / 4 2–4
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–2 0–0 3–3 1–2 1–3 0–2 3–4 4–4 0 / 20 15–20
Year End Ranking 1383 566 275 125 238 108 84 182 81 105 125

External links

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