Andrew Ilie

Andrew Ilie
Nation:	Australia
Birthday:	April 18, 1976
Size:	180 cm
Weight:	78 kg
1st professional season:	1994
Resignation:	2004
Playing hand:	Right
Trainer:	Dan Ilie
Prize money:	$ 1,327,838
singles
Career record:	89: 116
Career title:	2
Highest ranking:	38 (May 29, 2000)
Grand Slam record
Double
Career record:	3:13
Highest ranking:	296 (June 12, 2000)
Grand Slam record
Mixed
Grand Slam record
Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

Andrew Ilie (born April 18, 1976 in Bucharest , Romania ) is a former Australian tennis player .

life and career

Andrew Ilie was born in Bucharest , Romania . His family fled with him when he was 10 years old. They then spent a year in a refugee camp in Austria before they were allowed to emigrate to Australia.

In Australia Ilie was able to develop his tennis talent. In 1994 he reached the final of the Australian Open Juniors and finished the year number 8 in the junior world rankings.

In 1995 he first attracted international attention when he threw the then number 15 Richard Krajicek out of the competition in the second round at the French Open . By the end of the year he was able to win two challenger tournaments (in Lillehammer and Perth). But it wasn't until 1998 that his real breakthrough came when he celebrated his first tournament victory in Coral Springs on the ATP Tour. Ilie improved from 473rd place to 59th in the ATP world rankings within one year.

In the following years Ilie did not improve significantly in the world rankings, but gained sympathy, especially among the Australian audience, for his sometimes unbelievable blows in distress. Jon Wertheim, an Australian sports journalist, called him an "emerging cult player". He delighted the French audience by tearing his shirt off after a five-set win against Jonas Bjorkman . He repeated this ritual after another narrow five-set win against Martín Rodríguez in the 2nd round. Only Dominik Hrbatý was able to stop the Australian in the third round of the 1999 French Open (in five sets).

In 2000 he won the tournament in Atlanta and reached the final in St. Pölten .

From 2001 onwards, Ilie's performance, also due to injuries (especially from a pubic bone inflammation), declined. Despite declining performance, he was invited to the Davis Cup game against Argentina in February 2002. There he had no chance on clay against the strong players Gaudio and Chela .

In 2004 he ended his career and moved to Hong Kong with his wife.

title

singles

Legend

ATP Tour (2)

Victories

No.	date	competition	Topping	Final opponent	Result
1.	May 4, 1998	Coral Springs	sand	Davide Sanguinetti	7: 5, 6: 4
2.	May 4, 2000	Atlanta	sand	Jason Stoltenberg	6: 3, 7: 5

Finali

No.	date	competition	Topping	Final opponent	Result
1.	May 22, 2000	St. Polten	sand	Andrei Pavel	5: 7, 6: 3, 2: 6

Web links

• ATP profile of Andrew Ilie (English)
• ITF profile Andrew Ilie (English)
• Davis Cup stats by Andrew Ilie (English)