Eduardo Zuleta
Eduardo Zuleta (born 19 November 1935)[1] is a right-handed former Ecuadorian[2] international tennis player. He competed in the Davis Cup in 1961 and 1963.[1][3] Eduardo competed on the U.S. as well as the European summer tennis circuit in the late 1950s-to late 1970s, with notably more success on slow clay surfaces, on which he was a very steady and indefatigable retriever, than on the faster grass, which was a much more popular surface in his day than it is today.
Country (sports) | ![]() |
---|---|
Born | Guayaquil, Ecuador | November 19, 1935
Singles | |
Grand Slam singles results | |
French Open | 3R (1966) |
Wimbledon | 2R (1964, 1966) |
US Open | 4R (1960) |
At the tournament now known as the Cincinnati Masters, Zuleta reached the semifinals in 1961, the quarterfinals in 1963, and the Round of 16 in both 1959 and 1960.
When not on the tournament circuit he practiced in Miami, where he was well known for hitting against a wall for hours, which gave him callouses on his racket hand a good quarter of an inch thick that he would shave down at night with a razor blade.
He toured at times with Ecuadorians Washington Suarez and Davis Cupper Miguel Olvera. Zuleta had the nickname El Barco ("The Ship") in his home country because he invariably returned there from his tennis tours with suitcases full of tennis equipment and clothing that he received free from manufacturers as goodwill advertising.
Perhaps his most conspicuous debut on the tennis stage was his first-round encounter on the grass of the U.S. Championships at Forest Hills, New York, in 1963 with then U.S. No. 1 Chuck McKinley, who had just won Wimbledon two months earlier. The outcome was a foregone conclusion in straight sets, but Eduardo put up a creditable fight.
References
- From Club Court to Center Court, The Evolution of Professional Tennis in Cincinnati by Phillip S. Smith (2008 Edition; ISBN 978-0-9712445-7-3)
- Eduardo Zuleta at daviscup.com
- Eduardo Zuleta at atpworldtour.com
- Extra.ec Torneo de tenis organizado por el “Chivo” Zuleta 4 August 2010 "Eduardo Zuleta, gloria del tenis ecuatoriano, organiza un torneo abierto para tenistas de segunda y tercera categoría; y que tiene el auspicio "