Rafael Arevalo
Encyclopedia
Rafael Arévalo González (born July 4, 1986) is a professional tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 player from El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

. The majority of Arévalo's professional career has been restricted to playing on the Futures (ITF) circuit, with a further 22 appearances for the El Salvador Davis Cup team
El Salvador Davis Cup team
The El Salvador Davis Cup team represents El Salvador in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Federación Salvadorena de Ténis....

; he also encountered modest success in the juniors, reaching a peak of No. 10 in 2004. However, in 2008, aided by the Salvadoran Tennis Federation (Federación Salvadoreña de Tenis), he was awarded an invitation to the 2008 Beijing Olympics tennis tournament
Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Tennis competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were held from August 10 to August 17 at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre. The DecoTurf surface rendered the event a hardcourt tournament....

. The Tripartite Commission, which issued the invitation, is composed of representatives from International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...

 (IOC), National Olympic Committee
National Olympic Committee
National Olympic Committees are the national constituents of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, they are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games...

s (NOCs), and the International Tennis Federation
International Tennis Federation
The International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...

 (ITF), and it is standard practice to award such invitations (of which there were two for the men's singles tennis event) to countries with small Olympic teams. Arévalo was the first player from El Salvador
El Salvador at the Olympics
El Salvador has competed in nine Summer Games. They have never competed in the Winter Games. As of 2010, El Salvador has yet to earn a medal. The top sport the country has participated in is cycling....

 to represent the country, in a tennis competition, at the Olympics. Arévalo defeated Lee Hyung-taik
Lee Hyung-taik
Hyung-Taik Lee is a retired professional tennis player from South Korea. Lee's career-high ranking in singles is World No. 36, which he achieved in August 2007.-Personal life:...

 in three sets, in the first round, before being easily beaten by Swiss world number one 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.

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