Rafael Arévalo

Who is Rafael Arévalo?

Rafael Arévalo González is a professional tennis player from El Salvador. The majority of Arévalo's professional career has been restricted to playing on the Futures circuit, with a further 22 appearances for the El Salvador Davis Cup team; 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, he was awarded an invitation to the 2008 Beijing Olympics tennis tournament. The Tripartite Commission, which issued the invitation, is composed of representatives from International Olympic Committee, National Olympic Committees, and the International Tennis Federation, and it is standard practice to award such invitations to countries with small Olympic teams. Arévalo was the first player from El Salvador to represent the country, in a tennis competition, at the Olympics. Arévalo defeated Lee Hyung-taik in three sets, in the first round, before being beaten by Swiss World No. 1 Roger Federer in the second.