Eduardo Zuleta (born 19 November 1935)Eduardo Zuleta
at daviscup.com is a right-handed former

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

ian international

tennis player Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball co ...

. He competed in the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the orga ...

in 1961 and 1963.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 " 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. At the tournament now known as the

Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...

, 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) 1935 births Living people Ecuadorian male tennis players Tennis players at the 1963 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for Ecuador {{ecuador-tennis-bio-stub