Mihnea-Ion Năstase Explained

Mihnea-Ion Năstase
Birth Date:7 February 1967
Birth Place:Bucharest, Romania
Height:6 ft
Plays:Right-handed
Careerprizemoney:$54,828
Singlesrecord:0–3
Singlestitles:0
Highestsinglesranking:No. 279 (13 Jul 1992)
Doublesrecord:10–11
Doublestitles:1
Highestdoublesranking:No. 159 (10 Jun 1991)
Wimbledondoublesresult:1R (1989)

Mihnea-Ion Năstase (born 7 February 1967) is a former professional tennis player from Romania. He is a nephew of two-time Grand Slam winner Ilie Năstase and his father, Constantin Năstase, was a Romanian Davis Cup representative.[1]

Career

Năstase was born in Bucharest but grew up in Italy and went to college in the United States, where he played tennis for Mississippi State University.[2]

Partnering Leonardo Lavalle, Năstase was a winner in the boys' doubles event at the 1984 US Open. It was his second Grand Slam final, having finished runner-up to Mark Kratzmann and Simon Youl in the 1983 Wimbledon Championships, with Olli Rahnasto.[3]

In 1984, Năstase became the third member of his family to play for the Romanian Davis Cup team. With Andrei Dîrzu, he took part in Romania's doubles rubber against West Germany in their World Group Relegation Play-off. The West Germans won the match and the tie. Năstase never appeared in the Davis Cup again.[4]

The Romanian was primarily a doubles player and it was in the men's doubles that he made his only senior Grand Slam appearance.[5] It was in the 1989 Wimbledon Championships, where he and Lan Bale lost in the opening round to Javier Frana and his former junior partner Leonardo Lavalle.[5]

He was a semi-finalist with Borja Uribe at Florence in 1989 but his best performance came in the 1990 Sanremo Open, which he and Goran Prpic won.[5]

ATP career finals

Doubles: 1 (1–0)

Challenger titles

Doubles: (3)

No.width=50YearTournamentwidth=75SurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
1. 1989Jakarta, IndonesiaHard Brian Page Neil Borwick
Steve Furlong
3–6, 6–3, 7–6
2.1989Nicosia, CyprusClay Srinivasan Vasudevan Sean Cole
Nick Fulwood
6–3, 6–7, 6–1
3.1991Bangalore, IndiaClay Vladimir Gabrichidze Sean Cole
Martin Zumpft
2–6, 7–5, 6–3

Notes and References

  1. http://itftennis.com/ProCircuit/players/player/profile.aspx?PlayerID=10000979 ITF Tennis Profile
  2. Milwaukee Journal, "Malice doesn't live here", 7 January 1988, Mary Schmitt
  3. http://itftennis.com/Juniors/players/player/profile.aspx?PlayerID=10000979 ITF Junior Profile
  4. http://www.daviscup.com/en/players/player/profile.aspx?playerid=10000979 Davis Cup Profile
  5. http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Na/M/Mihnea-Ion-Nastase.aspx ATP World Tour Profile