Alejandro Landa

Alejandro Landa (born March 20, 1988) is a Mexican-born American retired racquetball player.

Landa is a former World Champion in Men's Singles, winning the title in Guatemala City in December 2021 while playing for the USA.

His best result as a junior player was a 2nd-place finish in Boy's U18 at the 2006 Junior World Championships, losing in the final to David Ortega of Mexico.

Landa didn't play on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) more than twice in a season until the 2008–09 season, when he entered five events.

He played five events in the 2009–10 season (four Round of 16 finishes, one Round of 32), and seven events in the 2010–11 season (six Round of 16 finishes, one Round of 32).

Landa was ranked 15th in 2009–10 and 17th in 2010–11.

In 2010, Landa represented Mexico for the first time, and did so twice.

He played Men's Doubles with Ruben Estrada at the 2010 Pan American Championships in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

They lost in the final to Canadians Mike Green and Tim Landeryou, 15–9, 12–15, 11–9.

That summer Landa played both Men's Singles and Men's Doubles at the 2010 World Championships in Seoul, South Korea.

In Men's Singles, he lost in the quarterfinals to Bolivian Ricardo Monroy, 14–15, 15–9, 11–10, while in Men's Doubles – playing with Miguel Perea – he earned a bronze medal by reaching the semi-finals, where they lost to Canadians Green and Landeryou, 15–2, 15–5.

In the IRT 2011–12 season, Landa made his first IRT quarterfinal at the 2012 San Diego Open by getting a forfeit win over Kane Waselenchuk.

He lost to Tony Carson in that quarterfinal, 5–11, 11–4, 11–8, 12–10.

This helped Landa finish 11th in the rankings, which was a career high.

2013 was a breakthrough year for Landa.

In January, he reached his first IRT semi-final at the California Open by defeating Jose Rojas in the Round of 16 and Daniel de la Rosa in the quarterfinals, but he lost to Kane Waselenchuk in the semis, 11–2, 11–8, 7–11, 11–3.

Also in early 2013, Landa reached the quarterfinals twice in New York and St Louis, and he finished 15th at the end of the 2012–13 IRT season.

Also in 2013, Landa played four events on the World Racquetball Tour, reaching the finals each time and winning three of them.

He beat Alejandro Cardona at the San Diego Open, Polo Gutierrez at the Juarez Open and Gutierrez again at the Chile Open, 5–15, 15–12, 11–9.

At the end of the year, Cardona beat Landa, 15–8, 9–15, 11–7, in Chula Vista, California.

Despite a good 2013, Landa played less in the next year.

He was only in three events in the 2013–14 IRT season, and didn't make it past the Round of 16 at all.

Landa also played three events on the WRT in 2014, and won two of them.

Both wins came in Juarez, Mexico.

He defeated Javier Moreno in April and then beat Jake Bredenbeck in August, 15–10, 15–10.

Landa reached the semi-finals at the US Open for the first time in 2014, as he beat Jose Rojas in the Round of 16, 3–11, 11–9, 14–12, 6–11, 11–4 and Daniel de la Rosa in the quarterfinals, 11–2, 11–8, 11–6, before losing to Kane Waselenchuk in the semis, 11–4, 11–2, 11–2.

That was one of two semi-finals he reached in the 2014–15 IRT season.

The other was in San Marcos, Texas, where he defeated Álvaro Beltrán in the Round of 16, 4–11, 11–9, 11–6, 11–7, Chris Crowther in the quarterfinals, 11–7, 11–8, 5–11, 3–11, 14–12, before losing to Rocky Carson, 11–2, 13–11, 11–6.

Landa won both of the WRT events he played in 2015.

He made an impressive run to win again in Juarez, as he defeated Carlos Keller Vargas in the Round of 32, Javier Moreno in the Round of 16, David Horn in the quarterfinals, Sebastian Franco in the semi-finals, and Bredenbeck in the final, 15–5, 15–4.

Then at the end of the year, Landa beat Jaime Martell in the final of the Alamo City Open in San Antonio, beating Bredenbeck in the quarterfinals and David Horn in the semi-finals to reach the final.

In those events, Landa finished in the Round of 16 three times and twice in the Round of 32, which led him to finish ranked 20th that season.

Overall that season, he played in six events with four Round of 16 finishes and one Round of 32 along with that quarterfinal, which ranked him 15th at end of the season.

In 2016, Landa successfully defended his Alamo City Open title by beating Cardona in the final, 15–6, 15–10.

He defeated Andree Parrilla, 15–12, 15–11, in the quarterfinals, and Jaime Martell, 15–11, 15–13, in the semi-finals en route to the final.

Landa played for Mexico for a third time at the 2016 Pan American Championships in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, winning gold in Men's Doubles with Javier Moreno.

Previously, he'd represented Mexico internationally, winning gold in Men's Singles and Doubles at the 2017 Pan American Championships.

Landa also won four titles on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT).

Landa was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, but moved to the US as a teenager.

He began playing racquetball at age 12.