Ilie Năstase (born July 19, 1946 in Bucharest) was a Romanian professional tennis player and one of the top players of 1970s, being twice number one in 1972 and 1973.
Among his 57 singles titles are the US Open in 1972 and the French Open in 1973, and in doubles he won at Wimbledon in 1973, the French Open in 1970 and the US Open in 1975. He was runner-up in the Wimbledon singles competition in 1972, playing in a classic men's final against Stan Smith. Nastase was famous for his good humour on court, but also had a reputation for gamesmanship, and acquired the nickname "Nasty" after several incidents where his temperament got the better of him.
He wrote a couple of novels in French in the 1980s and entered politics in the 1990s, making an unsuccessful run for mayor of Bucharest in 1996.
Quotations
- If you have confidence you have patience. Confidence, that is everything.
- As long as I can get angry then I play well. If I play well I can beat everybody. I am happy because I am getting angry.
- My ambition is to do a good job. I never plan anything.
- I haven't reported my missing credit card to the police because whoever stole it is spending less than my wife.
In his recent book Ilie Nastase mentioned that he slept with around 2500 women. After hearing this, his wife said that she is happy to have conquered such a man.
Grand Slam titles (2)
1972 U.S. Open Arthur Ashe 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3
1973 Roland Garros Nikola Pilic 6-3, 6-3, 6-0
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