Andrei Pavel

Andrei Pavel
Pavel at the 2012 BRD Năstase Țiriac Trophy
Country (sports) Romania
Born (1974-01-27) 27 January 1974
Constanța, SR Romania
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro1995
Retired23 September 2009
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$5,225,028
Singles
Career record277–266
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 13 (25 October 2004)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open4R (1999, 2004)
French OpenQF (2002)
Wimbledon3R (2000, 2002)
US Open4R (2000, 2004)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games1R (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Doubles
Career record142–136
Career titles6
Highest rankingNo. 18 (30 April 2007)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenQF (2005)
French OpenSF (2006)
Wimbledon3R (2004, 2007, 2009)
US Open2R (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games1R (1996, 2000, 2004)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Wimbledon2R (2009)
US Open1R (2009)
Last updated on: 18 April 2025.

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.

Pavel in 2009 during his last singles match

Early life

Pavel began playing tennis at the age of eight and moved to Germany at sixteen in 1990.[1]

Career

In 2001, he won the biggest title of his career, the 2001 Canada Masters in Montreal, defeating Patrick Rafter in the final.

In 2002, while he was about to play a quarterfinal at Roland Garros, he jumped into a car and made an express round-trip to Germany to attend the birth of his son. It equalled to 1000 miles in 24 hоurs, in the pouring rain with... Àlex Corretja waiting for his return on the Central. "It's a bit odd that these two events overlapped, said the Romanian. But no matter the sporting challenge: I would not have missed the birth of Marius for the world. The whole story with the rain was a godsend for the press, but for me, it didn’t really made a difference: I would have gone no matter what."[2]

In 2006, Pavel played what John McEnroe considers to be the best first round match at a Grand Slam he has ever seen at the US Open in August 2006, where he lost to Andre Agassi in four sets; 6–7(4), 7–6(8), 7–6(6), 6–2; taking three and half hours. Had Pavel won, it would have been Agassi's last match in a professional tournament.[3]

In 2009, he played his last singles match in his homeland tournament in Bucharest against Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.[4] At the same tournament, he also played two more exhibition matches, one facing Goran Ivanišević, while in the other he paired up with Ilie Năstase against Mansour Bahrami and Yannick Noah.[5]

He attended the Olympic Games five times, and played for 20 years on the Romania Davis Cup team. He became the captain of the team in 2009.[6]

After retirement

After retiring from professional tennis in 2009, Pavel moved into coaching and worked with several ATP and WTA players as well as Romanian prospects. Some notable players he has coached include Benjamin Becker, a former ATP Top 40 player; Marius Copil, whom he coached during part of Copil’s rise into the Top 100; and Horia Tecău, the Romanian doubles specialist and Grand Slam champion.

On the WTA Tour, Pavel worked with several prominent players, including former world No. 1 Simona Halep, joining her coaching team in 2017 alongside Darren Cahill. Earlier in his coaching career he also coached former world No. 1 Jelena Janković and collaborated with Tamira Paszek on the WTA Tour. In addition, he worked with Romanian WTA players such as Sorana Cîrstea and Monica Niculescu during parts of their careers.

He is currently coaching Nicholas David Ionel, Ștefan Paloși and Sebastian Gima.[7]

Personal life

Pavel was married to a German woman, Simone, from 1994 to 2014, and they have two children: a daughter, Caroline, and a son, Marius.[8]

In 2010, after spending 20 years in Germany, he relocated to Arizona, United States, where he co-founded the Pavel Blackwood Tennis Academy. Since 2018, he has been in a relationship with Adriana Vărbanciu, and in April 2023, they welcomed their daughter, Andreea.[9] He currently resides in Bucharest, Romania.

Career finals

Singles (3 wins, 6 losses)

Legend (singles)
Grand Slam (0-0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0-0)
ATP Masters Series (1-1)
ATP International Series Gold (1-0)
ATP Tour (1-5)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. Apr 1998 Tokyo, Japan Hard Zimbabwe Byron Black 6–3, 6–4
Loss 1. Apr 1999 Munich, Germany Clay Argentina Franco Squillari 4–6, 3–6
Loss 2. Jun 1999 s’Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass Australia Patrick Rafter 6–3, 6–7(7–9), 4–6
Win 2. May 2000 St. Pölten, Austria Clay Australia Andrew Ilie 7–5, 3–6, 6–2
Win 3. Jul 2001 Montreal, Canada Hard Australia Patrick Rafter 7–6(7–3), 2–6, 6–3
Loss 3. Oct 2003 Paris, France Carpet United Kingdom Tim Henman 2–6, 6–7(6–8), 6–7(2–7)
Loss 4. Apr 2005 Munich, Germany Clay Argentina David Nalbandian 4–6, 1–6
Loss 5. May 2006 Pörtschach, Austria Clay Russia Nikolay Davydenko 0–6, 3–6
Loss 6. Jul 2007 Umag, Croatia Clay Spain Carlos Moyá 4–6, 2–6

Doubles (6 titles, 5 runners-up)

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. Sep 1998 Bucharest, Romania Clay Romania Gabriel Trifu Romania George Cosac
Romania Dinu Pescariu 		7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–4)
Loss 1. Feb 1999 Saint Petersburg, Russia Carpet Netherlands Menno Oosting United States Jeff Tarango
Czech Republic Daniel Vacek 		6–3, 3–6, 5–7
Loss 2. Jan 2005 Doha, Qatar Hard Russia Mikhail Youzhny Spain Albert Costa
Spain Rafael Nadal 		3–6, 6–4, 3–6
Win 2. Jul 2005 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Czech Republic Leoš Friedl Belgium Christophe Rochus
Belgium Olivier Rochus 		6–2, 6–7(5–7), 6–0
Loss 3. Sep 2005 Bucharest, Romania Clay Romania Victor Hănescu Argentina José Acasuso
Argentina Sebastián Prieto 		3–6, 6–4, 3–6
Win 3. Jan 2006 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Netherlands Rogier Wassen Sweden Simon Aspelin
Australia Todd Perry 		3–6, 7–5, [4–10]
Win 4. May 2006 Munich, Germany Clay Germany Alexander Waske Austria Alexander Peya
Germany Björn Phau 		6–4, 6–2
Win 5. Jul 2006 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Czech Republic Jiří Novák Switzerland Marco Chiudinelli
Switzerland Jean-Claude Scherrer 		6–3, 6–1
Loss 4. Feb 2007 Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard Germany Alexander Waske Czech Republic Martin Damm
India Leander Paes 		3–6, 7–6(7–5), [7–10]
Win 6. Apr 2007 Barcelona, Spain Clay Germany Alexander Waske Spain Rafael Nadal
Spain Bartolomé Salvá Vidal 		6–3, 7–6(7–1)
Loss 5. May 2009 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Romania Horia Tecău Brazil Marcelo Melo
Brazil André Sá 		7–6(11–9), 2–6, [7–10]

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 8 (4–4)

Legend
ATP Challenger (4–4)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–0)
Clay (2–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 1995 Scheveningen, Netherlands Challenger Clay Spain Jordi Arrese 3–6, 7–6, 4–6
Win 1–1 Jul 1996 Montauban, France Challenger Clay France Stephane Huet 6–4, 6–3
Loss 1–2 May 1997 Ljubljana, Slovenia Challenger Clay New Zealand Brett Steven 6–7, 2–6
Loss 1–3 Mar 1998 Magdeburg, Germany Challenger Carpet Germany Lars Burgsmuller 3–7, 4–6
Win 2–3 Jul 1999 Venice, Italy Challenger Clay Czech Republic Slava Dosedel 6–2, 6–0
Win 3–3 Nov 2004 Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine Challenger Hard Slovenia Karol Kucera walkover
Win 4–3 Dec 2004 Port Louis, Mauritius Challenger Hard South Korea Lee Hyung-taik 6–3, 6–1
Loss 4–4 May 2007 Tunis, Tunisia Challenger Clay Italy Simone Bolelli 6–4, 6–7(4–7), 2–6

Doubles: 9 (5–4)

Legend
ATP Challenger (5–4)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–1)
Clay (4–2)
Grass (0–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Jul 1994 Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Clay Germany Alex Radulescu Israel Eyal Ran
New Zealand Glenn Wilson 		6–4, 6–2
Win 2–0 Jul 1995 Scheveningen, Netherlands Challenger Clay Israel Eyal Ran Spain Emilio Benfele Álvarez
Spain Pepe Imaz 		6–4, 6–4
Win 3–0 Sep 1995 Prostejov, Czech Republic Challenger Clay New Zealand Glenn Wilson United States Jeff Belloli
United States Jack Waite 		7–5, 6–3
Loss 3–1 Jun 1996 Zagreb, Croatia Challenger Clay South Africa Clinton Ferreira United States Donald Johnson
United States Jack Waite 		6–3, 1–6, 0–6
Loss 3–2 Jul 1996 Montauban, France Challenger Clay South Africa Clinton Ferreira France Gilles Bastie
Ivory Coast Claude N'Goran 		4–6, 6–1, 6–7
Loss 3–3 Nov 1996 Port Louis, Mauritius Challenger Grass Netherlands Sander Groen Germany Patrick Baur
Netherlands Joost Winnink 		1–0 ret.
Win 4–3 Sep 1999 Brasov, Romania Challenger Clay Romania Gabriel Trifu Romania Gheorghe Cosac
Romania Dinu-Mihai Pescariu 		6–2, 6–2
Loss 4–4 Nov 2004 Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine Challenger Hard Romania Gabriel Trifu Slovakia Karol Beck
Czech Republic Jaroslav Levinsky 		7–6(7–4), 6–7(4–7), 6–7(2–7)
Win 5–4 Dec 2004 Port Louis, Mauritius Challenger Hard Romania Gabriel Trifu South Africa Jeff Coetzee
South Africa Rik De Voest 		6–3, 6–4

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1992 French Open Clay Italy Mose Navarra 6–1, 3–6, 6–3


Singles performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 W ‑ L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A A A LQ 1R A 4R A 2R 3R 1R 4R 2R 2R LQ 1R 1R 11–10 52
French Open A A A A A A A 2R A 1R 1R 1R QF A 2R 1R 1R LQ A 1R 6–9 40
Wimbledon A A A A LQ A LQ 2R 1R 1R 3R 1R 3R A 2R 2R 2R 2R A 1R 9–11 45
US Open A A A A LQ A 1R 1R 1R 1R 4R 2R 1R A 4R[a] 1R 1R 2R A 1R 8–11 42
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 2–4 0–2 3–4 5–3 2–4 8–4 0–1 8–3 2–4 2–4 2–2 0–1 0–4 34–41 45
Olympic Games
Singles NH 1R Not held 1R Not held 1R Not held 1R Not held A NH N/A
ATP Masters Series 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A A A A A LQ A 1R 2R 1R 2R 3R 1R LQ A A
Miami Masters A A A A A A A A A 3R 3R 4R QF 2R QF 1R 1R LQ A A
Monte Carlo Masters A A A A A A A A A 2R LQ 2R 3R A 3R A A 1R A A
Rome Masters A A A A A A A A A A 3R 1R 2R A QF 1R A A A A
Madrid Masters(Stuttgart) A A A A A LQ LQ LQ 2R QF QF 2R 1R LQ 3R 1R A 1R A A
Canada Masters A A A A A A A A A A 2R W 2R A 1R 2R A A A A
Cincinnati Masters A A A A A A A A A 1R 1R 2R 1R A 1R 1R A LQ A A
Paris Masters A A A A A 1R A A LQ A 1R 1R 1R F 3R 1R A A A
Hamburg Masters A A A A A A A A A A SF 1R 2R A 3R 1R A LQ A
Year-end ranking 460 548 489 311 408 214 135 118 68 41 27 28 26 69 18 80 113 75 1142 600 NA

a 2004 US Open counts as 3 wins, 0 losses. Roger Federer walkover in round 4, after Pavel withdrew because of a back injury,[10] does not count as a Pavel loss (nor a Federer win).

References

  1. ^ Nicolae, Razvan (22 October 2018). "Andrei Pavel, ultimul tenismen român care a câştigat un turneu Masters! Sfertfinalist la Roland Garros în 2002". Fanatik.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  2. ^ Willecoq, Guillaume (14 May 2014). "The day Andrei Pavel left a match to see the birth of his son". We Are Tennis. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  3. ^ Clarey, Christopher (29 August 2006). "Agassi Survives Three Tie Breakers". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  4. ^ "The statistical tribute to Andrei Pavel (1990-2009)". MensTennisForums. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Adio Andrei Pavel!** „Cneazul" s-a retras după un meci cu Goran Ivanisevic". ProSport.ro (in Romanian). 26 September 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  6. ^ "Andrei Pavel". ATPTour.com. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
  7. ^ "Coaches". ATPTour.com. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  8. ^ Conțescu, Daniel (20 December 2018). "Cum arată copiii lui Andrei Pavel. Fiul "Cneazului", Marius, practică voleiul". Libertatea (in Romanian). Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  9. ^ Focșăneanu, Iulian (2 April 2023). "Andrei Pavel a fost asaltat cu mesaje după ce iubita lui a născut o fetiţă. Sorana Cîrstea şi fiul lui Ion Ţiriac, printre primii care l-au felicitat!". AS (in Romanian). Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Agassi sets up Federer tie". BBC Sport. September 6, 2004. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
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