Andrew Ilie
Andrew Ilie (born 18 April 1976) is a former tennis player. Ilie fled Romania at age 10 with his family, spending a year at a refugee camp in Austria before emigrating to Australia.[1] He turned professional in 1994 and became a citizen of Australia. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.[2] He won two ATP Tour singles titles (Coral Springs in 1998 and Atlanta in 2000), as well as five Challenger Series tournaments. Ilie reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 38 on 29 May 2000.
Country (sports) | ![]() |
---|---|
Residence | Melbourne, Australia |
Born | Bucharest, SR Romania | 18 April 1976
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
Turned pro | 1994 |
Retired | 2003 |
Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
Prize money | $1,327,838 |
Singles | |
Career record | 89–116 |
Career titles | 2 |
Highest ranking | No. 38 (29 May 2000) |
Grand Slam singles results | |
Australian Open | 4R (1999, 2001) |
French Open | 3R (1995, 1998, 1999) |
Wimbledon | 2R (1999) |
US Open | 2R (2001) |
Other tournaments | |
Olympic Games | 1R (2000) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 3–13 |
Career titles | 0 |
Highest ranking | No. 296 (12 June 2000) |
Grand Slam doubles results | |
Australian Open | 1R (1995, 2000, 2001) |
Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
Australian Open | 1R (2000, 2001) |
Last updated on: 19 October 2021. |
Career
Juniors
He reached the finals of the Australian Open Jrs in 1994.
Pro Tour
Ilie never progressed past the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament, but was a fan-favorite, especially in Australia. Described in 2001 by tennis writer Jon Wertheim as "an emerging cult hero", Ilie developed an avid following whenever he played at the Australian Open in Melbourne.[3] He became well known for adventurous and occasionally outrageous shots, and by ripping his shirt in glee whenever he won a particularly important or hard-fought match.[4] The latter ritual began at the French Open in 1999, as Ilie celebrated his first-round victory in five sets over Jonas Bjorkman, and then repeated the gesture after his second-round victory, also in five sets, over Martin Rodriguez.[5]
The last years of Ilie's career were marred by persistent injuries, including chronic osteitis pubis, which hampered his play. Ilie retired in November 2004.[6] Following retirement, Ilie married and settled in Hong Kong.[4]
Junior Grand Slam finals
Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)
Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1994 | Australian Open | Hard | ![]() | 7–5, 3–6, 3–6 |
ATP career finals
Singles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-ups)
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|
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Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1–0 | May 1998 | Coral Springs, United States | World Series | Clay | ![]() |
7–5, 6–4 |
Win | 2–0 | Apr 2000 | Atlanta, United States | International Series | Clay | ![]() |
6–3, 7–5 |
Loss | 2–1 | May 2000 | St. Polten, Austria | International Series | Clay | ![]() |
5–7, 6–3, 2–6 |
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 8 (6–2)
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|
Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1–0 | Jul 1995 | Lillehammer, Norway | Challenger | Clay | ![]() |
6–3, 6–2 |
Win | 2–0 | Dec 1995 | Perth, Australia | Challenger | Hard | ![]() |
7–6, 6–4 |
Loss | 2–1 | Jun 1998 | Prostejov, Czech Republic | Challenger | Clay | ![]() |
2–6, 2–6 |
Win | 3–1 | Jun 1998 | Biella, Italy | Challenger | Clay | ![]() |
6–7, 6–4, 6–4 |
Win | 4–1 | Jul 1998 | Ostend, Belgium | Challenger | Clay | ![]() |
6–2, 6–2 |
Loss | 4–2 | Jul 1999 | Ulm, Germany | Challenger | Clay | ![]() |
6–7, 3–6 |
Win | 5–2 | Apr 2000 | Paget, Bermuda | Challenger | Clay | ![]() |
4–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
Win | 6–2 | Feb 2003 | USA F4, Brownsville | Futures | Hard | ![]() |
6–7(4–7), 6–3, 6–4 |
Doubles: 2 (0–2)
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Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 0–1 | Jul 1995 | Lillehammer, Norway | Challenger | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–3, 3–6, 3–6 |
Loss | 0–2 | Oct 1999 | Tel Aviv, Israel | Challenger | Hard | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
3–6, 2–6 |
Performance timeline
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Singles
Tournament | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | SR | W–L | Win % | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | Q1 | Q1 | 1R | 1R | Q1 | 3R | 4R | 3R | 4R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 8 | 10–8 | 56% | ||||||||
French Open | A | A | 3R | Q3 | A | 3R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 6 | 7–6 | 54% | ||||||||
Wimbledon | A | Q1 | A | 1R | A | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | A | 0 / 4 | 1–4 | 20% | ||||||||
US Open | A | Q1 | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | A | Q1 | 0 / 4 | 1–4 | 20% | ||||||||
Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 4–3 | 6–4 | 3–4 | 4–4 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0 / 22 | 19–22 | 46% | ||||||||
ATP Masters Series | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Indian Wells | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% | ||||||||
Miami | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | 2R | Q1 | 2R | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | 50% | ||||||||
Monte Carlo | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 2R | A | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | 33% | ||||||||
Hamburg | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 3R | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | 50% | ||||||||
Rome | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 1R | A | A | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% | ||||||||
Canada | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | A | A | 0 / 4 | 2–4 | 33% | ||||||||
Cincinnati | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 0–3 | 0% | ||||||||
Paris | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||||||
Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–6 | 1–3 | 4–6 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 17 | 7–17 | 29% |
References
- Collins, Bud (24 August 1999), "Ilie has things covered in opener", The Boston Globe: E8
- AIS at the Olympics Archived 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- Wertheim, L. Jon; Albert Kim; Mark Mravic (28 May 2001), "Passion Play", Sports Illustrated, 94 (22): 30–31
- "Profiles: Andrew Ilie". Tennis Australia. Archived from the original on 11 October 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
- Collins, "Ilie has things covered in opener"
- Schlink, Leo (6 November 2004), "Injuries force Ilie to call it quits", Melbourne Herald Sun: 72