Martín Jaite

Martín Jaite

Country	Argentina
Residence	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Born	9 October 1964 Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Turned pro	1983
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Career prize money	U$S 1,873,881
Singles
Career record	301–179
Career titles	12
Highest ranking	No. 10 (9 July 1990)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	3rd round (1992)
French Open	QF (1985)
Wimbledon	2nd round (1986)
US Open	3rd round (1985 , 1989)
Doubles
Career record	60–82
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 59 (13 May 1985)

Martín Jaite (born October 9, 1964, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine right-handed former top-10 professional tour tennis player.

Jaite's ATP highest tour ranking was World # 10, which he achieved in the summer of 1990, and he won a total of 12 titles and $1,873,881 in tour prize money during his career.

Jaite's playing style leveraged his consistency, speed, thoughtful use of tactics, and fitness to compensate for his lack of power. His best surface was clay, which allowed him to hit the ball deep to either side of the court, and gave him more time to use his defensive skills. Jaite's best shot was his topspin single-handed backhand, which was difficult for his opponent to attack.

Tennis career

While moving back and forth between Barcelona and Argentina as a child, Jaite was a top junior in both countries. He won the Spanish National championships, and was offered a try-out on the Argentine Davis Cup team, but declined at first because he didn't want to offend Spain. He finally joined the team, but lost to Jimmy Connors when the Argentinians faced the United States.

In 1983, Jaite joined the ATP tour and quickly moved up the world rankings; from # 826 in 1982 to # 156 in 1983 to # 54 in 1984. The following year, he won his first ATP tour title and was ranked in the world's top 20, where he remained for the next few years.

In 1985, Jaite also reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, his best Grand Slam result.

In May 1986 at Forest Hills Jaite defeated world # 4 Boris Becker, 6–2, 7–6.

In May 1987 Jaite beat world # 9 Henri Leconte, 7–6, 7–6, in Germany. In September 1987 Jaite upset world # 3 Mats Wilander, 7–6, 6–4, 4–6, 0–6, 6–4, to win a competition in Bacelona, Spain.

In April 1989 he upset world # 8 Jakob Hlasek, 6–4, 6–1, in Monte Carlo.

Jaite became only the sixth South American to be ranked in the top 10 in the ATP computer rankings, reaching # 10 in 1990. In May 1990 he defeated world # 2 Stefan Edberg, 3–6, 6–2, 6–4, in Germany.

Jaite defeated world # 4 Guy Forget 6–2, 6–2, in April 1991 in France, and then again in July, 7–6(5), 7–5, in Gstaad, Switzerland.

Olympics

He participated for his native country at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, but lost to Brad Gilbert, the eventual bronze medal winner.

Davis Cup

Jaite was 14–20 in Davis Cup play, 11–7 in singles on clay, between 1984 and 1999 [1].

Jaite was involved in a Davis Cup tie against the U.S. in Buenos Aires when Andre Agassi was leading 6–2, 6–2, 5–0. Jaite was leading 40–0 in the 6th game of the 3rd set, and missed his first serve. Agassi then called out to his then-coach Nick Bollettieri, "hey watch this, and then followed by catching the second serve in his left hand to give Jaite the game. Viewed as an act of disrepect, Agassi was booed by the crowd for five minutes.[2]

After tennis

Jaite has had an important role in Argentine tennis since his retirement. He is the tournmament director for ATP Buenos Aires, the Buenos Aires Challenger, and director of Futures events in Argentina. From July 2007 till December 2008 Jaite was coaching David Nalbandian, and helped lead him to titles in Madrid and Bercy, where he became the first man to defeat the top two players in the world, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, in consecutive tournaments.

Career titles (12)

Legend (Singles)

Grand Slam (0)

Tennis Masters Cup (0)

ATP Masters Series (0)

ATP Tour (12)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
1.	1985	Buenos Aires	Clay	Diego Pérez	6–4, 6–2
2.	1986	Bologna	Clay	Paolo Canè	6–2, 4–6, 6–4
3.	1986	Stuttgart	Clay	Jonas Svensson	7–5, 6–2
4.	1987	Barcelona	Clay	Mats Wilander	7–6(5), 6–4, 4–6, 0–6, 6–4
5.	1987	Palermo	Clay	Karel Nováček	7–6(5), 6–7(7), 6–4
6.	1989	Stuttgart	Clay	Goran Prpić	6–3, 6–2
7.	1989	Madrid	Clay	Jordi Arrese	6–3, 6–2
8.	1989	São Paulo	Clay	Javier Sánchez	7–6(5), 6–3
9.	1989	Itaparica	Hard	Jay Berger	6–4, 6–4
10.	1990	Guarujá	Hard	Luiz Mattar	3–6, 6–4, 6–3
11.	1990	Gstaad	Clay	Sergi Bruguera	6–3, 6–7(5), 6–2, 6–2
12.	1991	Nice	Clay	Goran Prpić	3–6, 7–6(1), 6–3

See also

• List of Jewish tennis players

External links

• Martín Jaite at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Davis Cup bio
• Jews in Sports bio

Persondata
Name	Jaite, Martin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	9 October 1964
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Date of death
Place of death