The Most Famous

TENNIS PLAYERS from Romania

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This page contains a list of the greatest Romanian Tennis Players. The pantheon dataset contains 1,569 Tennis Players, 23 of which were born in Romania. This makes Romania the birth place of the 17th most number of Tennis Players behind Netherlands, and Japan.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Romanian Tennis Players of all time. This list of famous Romanian Tennis Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Romanian Tennis Players.

Photo of Ilie Năstase

1. Ilie Năstase (b. 1946)

With an HPI of 64.06, Ilie Năstase is the most famous Romanian Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 47 different languages on wikipedia.

Ilie Theodoriu Năstase (Romanian pronunciation: [iˈli.e nəsˈtase] ; born 19 July 1946) is a Romanian former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top singles spot from 23 August 1973 to 2 June 1974, and was the first man to hold the position on the computerized ATP rankings. Năstase is one of the 10 players in history who have won over 100 total ATP titles, with 64 in singles and 45 in doubles. Năstase won seven major titles: two in singles, three in men's doubles and two in mixed doubles. He also won four Masters Grand Prix year-end championship titles. He was the first professional sports figure to sign an endorsement contract with Nike, doing so in 1972. Năstase wrote several novels in French in the 1980s, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1991.

Photo of Ion Țiriac

2. Ion Țiriac (b. 1939)

With an HPI of 59.61, Ion Țiriac is the 2nd most famous Romanian Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Ion Țiriac (Romanian pronunciation: [iˈon t͡siriˈak]; born 9 May 1939), also known as the "Brașov Bulldozer", is a Romanian businessman and former professional tennis and ice hockey player. He has been president of the Romanian Tennis Federation. A former singles top 10 player on the ATP Tour, he was active from 1958 to 1979 and won 34 career singles titles. Tiriac was the winner of one grand slam title, the 1970 French Open in men's doubles. Țiriac was the first man to play against a woman and defeat her, in a sanctioned tennis tournament (against Abigail Maynard, in 1975). The highlight of his ice hockey career was participating as a defenseman in the Romanian national team at the 1964 Winter Olympics. After retirement, Tiriac became active as a tennis coach, advisor and player agent in the 1980s, taking under his wing Ilie Năstase, Manuel Orantes, Adriano Panatta, Guillermo Vilas, Henri Leconte and the young Boris Becker. Later, Țiriac developed the Mutua Madrid Open ATP masters tennis tournament, which he has owned from 2009 to 2021. In 2013, he was elected as contributor into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He has been managing French tennis player Lucas Pouille since December 2016. As a tennis player, Tiriac played dramatic five-setters against Rod Laver, Stan Smith, Jan Kodeš and Manuel Orantes. His singles record includes wins over Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Roscoe Tanner, Manuel Orantes, Andrés Gimeno, Adriano Panatta and Niki Pilić. He played three Davis Cup finals (in 1969, 1971 and 1972). As of April 2022, Forbes ranked him as the third-richest person in Romania with a net worth of $1.6 billion.

Photo of Simona Halep

3. Simona Halep (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 46.58, Simona Halep is the 3rd most famous Romanian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 61 different languages.

Simona Halep (Romanian pronunciation: [siˈmona haˈlep]; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 64 weeks, which ranks twelfth in the history of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. Halep was the year-end No. 1 in 2017 and 2018. She has won two Grand Slam singles titles, at the 2018 French Open and the 2019 Wimbledon Championships. From 27 January 2014 to 8 August 2021, Halep was ranked in the top 10 for 373 consecutive weeks, the eighth-longest streak in WTA history. During this seven-year span, she finished each year ranked no lower than No. 4. She has won 24 WTA Tour singles titles and finished runner-up 18 times. A French Open junior champion and former junior world No. 1, Halep first broke into the world's top 50 at the end of 2011, the top 20 in August 2013, and the top 10 in January 2014. She won her first six WTA titles in the same calendar year in 2013, and was the first to do so since Steffi Graf in 1986. This led to her being named the WTA Most Improved Player of the year. Halep reached three major finals at the 2014 French Open, 2017 French Open, and 2018 Australian Open before winning her first major title at the 2018 French Open over Sloane Stephens. Halep also finished runner-up at the 2014 WTA Finals to Serena Williams, despite defeating Williams in the round-robin stage. She did not defeat Williams a second time until the final of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships. Halep was named the WTA Most Popular Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015, as well as the WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player of the Year in 2017, 2018, and 2019. She is a recipient of the Patriarchal Cross of Romania and the Order of the Star of Romania, and was named an honorary citizen of Bucharest. She is the third Romanian to reach the top 10 of the WTA rankings after Virginia Ruzici and Irina Spîrlea, and the second Romanian woman to win a major singles title after Ruzici. She is also the first Romanian woman to be ranked world No. 1 and the first Romanian to win a Wimbledon singles title. Halep is regarded as one of the best returners on the WTA Tour, while also building her game around controlled aggression and being able to hit winners from defensive positions. Halep was suspended from the WTA Tour in October 2022 after testing positive for a banned substance. In February 2024 the ban was reduced from 4 years to 9 months, already served, and she returned to the tour at the 2024 Miami Open.

Photo of Virginia Ruzici

4. Virginia Ruzici (b. 1955)

With an HPI of 46.41, Virginia Ruzici is the 4th most famous Romanian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Virginia Ruzici (born 31 January 1955) is a former professional tennis player from Romania. She won the 1978 French Open singles championship.

Photo of Sorana Cîrstea

5. Sorana Cîrstea (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 41.24, Sorana Cîrstea is the 5th most famous Romanian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea (Romanian pronunciation: [soˈrana ˈkɨrste̯a]; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. In singles, she achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 on 12 August 2013. In doubles, her career-high ranking is No. 35, which she reached on 9 March 2009. Her biggest achievements include reaching the quarterfinals at the 2009 French Open, the quarterfinals at the 2023 US Open, and the final at the 2013 Rogers Cup.

Photo of Andrei Pavel

6. Andrei Pavel (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 40.80, Andrei Pavel is the 6th most famous Romanian Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Andrei Pavel (born 27 January 1974) is a Romanian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 13 and won three titles, including the 2001 Canada Masters. He also reached a career-high in doubles of No. 18 and won six doubles titles.

Photo of Florența Mihai

7. Florența Mihai (1955 - 2015)

With an HPI of 39.71, Florența Mihai is the 7th most famous Romanian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Florența Mihai (Romanian pronunciation: [floˈrent͡sa miˈhaj]; 2 September 1955 – 14 October 2015) was a professional tennis player from Romania. She was the runner-up in two events at the 1977 French Open. She lost in the singles final to Mima Jaušovec in three sets, and with partner Iván Molina, lost in the mixed doubles final to John McEnroe and Mary Carillo. With Virginia Ruzici, Mihai won gold medals in the doubles at Summer Universiades in 1977, 1979, and 1981.

Photo of Irina-Camelia Begu

8. Irina-Camelia Begu (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 39.06, Irina-Camelia Begu is the 8th most famous Romanian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Irina-Camelia Begu (born 26 August 1990) is a Romanian tennis player. She reached a career-high WTA singles ranking of world No. 22 , in August 2016. Two years later, she reached her highest ranking in doubles, also No. 22. Begu has won five singles titles and nine doubles titles on the WTA Tour. She also has won three singles titles on the WTA Challenger Tour, with 12 singles and 19 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. As a junior, she reached semifinal at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships, partnering with Oksana Kalashnikova. Later, as a senior, she continued with Grand Slam doubles success. She reached the semifinal at the 2018 Australian Open and quarterfinals of the 2017 French Open and 2018 Wimbledon Championships. In singles, she has the round of 16 as her best Grand Slam result at the 2015 Australian Open, 2016 French Open and 2022 French Open. In singles, she reached one Premier final, at the 2014 Kremlin Cup, but lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Her other significant results in singles include two quarterfinals of the Premier Mandatory-level Madrid Open in 2015 and 2016 and semifinal of the Premier 5 Italian Open in 2016. In doubles, she has never won higher level tournament than International, but reached the final of the Premier-5 Wuhan Open in 2015, as well as, two Premier-level finals at the Kremlin Cup in 2015 and Eastbourne International in 2018.

Photo of Monica Niculescu

9. Monica Niculescu (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 36.97, Monica Niculescu is the 9th most famous Romanian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked by the WTA as high as No. 28 in singles and No. 11 in doubles. She has won three singles and 10 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, one singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Challenger Tour, as well as 19 singles and 22 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. She was ranked within the top 30 for several years in singles. Niculescu entered the Grand Slam doubles final at Wimbledon 2017 tournament, together with Chan Hao-ching. She reached the quarterfinals in doubles in all Grand Slam championships. In WTA 1000 tournaments, she got into three finals (doubles), six semifinals (five in doubles), and 12 quarterfinals (11 in doubles). In singles, her best Grand Slam performance is reaching round four, which she did at the 2011 US Open and 2015 Wimbledon Championships.

Photo of Victor Hănescu

10. Victor Hănescu (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 36.35, Victor Hănescu is the 10th most famous Romanian Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Victor Hănescu (born 21 July 1981) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world no. 26.

People

Pantheon has 26 people classified as Romanian tennis players born between 1939 and 1997. Of these 26, 25 (96.15%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Romanian tennis players include Ilie Năstase, Ion Țiriac, and Simona Halep. The most famous deceased Romanian tennis players include Florența Mihai. As of April 2024, 3 new Romanian tennis players have been added to Pantheon including Florența Mihai, Victor Crivoi, and Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

Living Romanian Tennis Players

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Deceased Romanian Tennis Players

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Newly Added Romanian Tennis Players (2024)

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