Victor Hănescu
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| Country |  Romania |
|
| Residence | Bucharest, Romania | |
| Date of birth | July 21, 1981 | |
| Place of birth | Bucharest, Romania | |
| Height | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | |
| Weight | 85 kg (190 lb) | |
| Turned pro | 2000 | |
| Plays | Right, One-handed backhand | |
| Career prize money | US$1,237,257 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 76-92 (ATP) | |
| Career titles: | 0 (ATP) | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 35 (26 December 2005) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | 2R (2005) | |
| French Open | QF (2005) | |
| Wimbledon | 3R (2003) | |
| US Open | 1R (2005) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 12-19 (ATP) | |
| Career titles: | 0 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 165 (6 February 2006) | |
Victor Hanescu (Romanian: Victor Hănescu; born July 21, 1981 in Bucharest) is a Romanian tennis player.
[edit] Professional Career
The 6'6" Hanescu attained his career high ranking of #35 on December 25, 2005. Six weeks later, in a Davis Cup match against the United States, he suffered a severe rib injury[1], and a subsequent injury sidelined him further in May, 2006. By January, 2007, his ranking had plummeted to #759, before he finally began making progress on a comeback.
[edit] 1999: His Pro Career Begins
Hanescu earned his first ATP singles ranking points in August, 1999, with first round wins 2 weeks in a row at the Romania F1 and F2 Futures tournaments. Although he played 4 more tournaments from September through December, he did not earn any additional points and finished the year ranked #1231.
[edit] 2000: Success In Satellites
In 2000, Hanescu played Satellites and Futures tournaments. His 4th place finish at a Satellite in Croatia in April/May and 3rd place at a Satellite in Portugal in October/November provided him with 36 of the 45 ATP singles ranking points he earned in 2000. He finished the year ranked #477.
[edit] 2001: Futures Wins and Challenger Successes
Hanescu won his first pro tournaments in May, 2001, taking the singles titles in consecutive weeks at the Slovakia F1 and F2 Futures events. A quarterfinal finish at a Challenger in Budapest 2 weeks later put him in the top-400 for the first time. In July, as the #1 seed in consecutive weeks in Bucharest, he reached the final at Romania F1 and won the F2 Futures event to improve his ranking to #319. In August in Challengers in 3 consecutive weeks, he reached the semifinals in Poland and Germany and then the final in Germany to improve to #209. He broke into the top-200 for the first time in October, but went just 4–7 in Challengers after August and finished the year ranked #212.
[edit] 2002: First ATP Quarterfinal, First Challenger Win
Hanescu did not make much career progress in 2002. His highlights were reaching his first career ATP-level quarterfinal at Umag, Croatia in July, and then winning his first Challenger in Portugal in September. He finished the year ranked #172.
[edit] 2003: Top-100, 3rd Round French Open and Wimbledon
Moderate success in Challengers improved Hanescu's ranking to #150 by April, 2003. He then qualified into the ATP tournament in Estoril and reached the 2nd round in April, and into the Rome Masters in May and beat #31 Mikhail Youzhny, his highest ranked win to that point. At the end of May, he qualified into the French Open and reached the 3rd round, losing to Jarkko Nieminen, to break into the top-100 for the first time. He was a Lucky Loser entry into Wimbledon, but reached the 3rd round there also, beating #34 Juan Ignacio Chela before losing to #12 Sjeng Schalken, improving his ranking to #85. He had limited success the rest of the year, losing first round at the US Open to #6 Lleyton Hewitt before reaching the quarterfinal at the ATP event in Bucharest in September. In October, he qualified into his second Masters event of the year in Paris, upsetting #49 Rafael Nadal and #69 Anthony Dupuis, and then upsetting #27 Wayne Ferreira in the first round before losing to #2 Andy Roddick. He finished the year ranked #70.
[edit] 2004: Grand Slam Failures, First ATP Semifinal, First Top-10 Win
Hanescu played almost exclusively at the ATP level in 2004, but with very limited success. He was ranked high enough for direct entry into all 4 Grand Slams and the Olympics, but won only one match total in those 5 events. His successes were his first career ATP semifinal in Scottsdale in March, and several more ATP quarterfinals, including Bucharest again in September and Estoril in April, where he recorded his first-ever win over a top-10 player, #6 Rainer Schuettler. In October, he went back down to the Challenger level and won in Rome, his second career Challenger title. But he finished the year ranked #92, down 22 spots from 2003.
[edit] 2005: His Best Year, French Open Quarters, ATP Semifinals
2005 is Hanescu's best year to date. At the French Open, he beat #32 Juan Ignacio Chela in the 2nd round, and then came back to beat #11 David Nalbandian in five sets 6–3 4–6 5–7 6–1 6–2 in the 4th round before losing to #1 Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. He reached ATP semifinals in New Haven (beating #58 Nicolas Massu and #20 Tommy Robredo before losing to #67 James Blake) and in Bucharest to reach the top-40 for the first time, in September. He also had his 2nd career win over a top-10 player, beating #10 Mariano Puerta in July, and finished the year with a career high ranking of #35.
[edit] 2006: Lost To Injuries
The rib injury in the Davis Cup match and a subsequent back injury in May sidelined him for most of the year, and after starting the year out at #35, he finished up at #646. His lone success was winning the ATP-level exhibition tournament in Houston in April, beating Vince Spadea and Juan Monaco.
[edit] 2007: A Comeback Year, First ATP Final
His ranking continued to plummet due mainly to inactivity, as well as poor results when he did play, until March, when he qualified into a Challenger event in Italy and beat #126 Bjorn Phau to reach the 2nd round. His protected ranking status gave him direct entry into a couple ATP events in April, with little success. So he continued to play Challengers, reaching a semifinal and quarterfinal in May, and then a final in June to get back into the top-300. Finally in August, he won two consecutive Challengers in Romania and Austria to improve to #151 by the start of his home ATP stop in Bucharest in September, where he was a semifinalist in 2005; he went one step farther this time by making the finals, losing in three sets to Gilles Simon. It was his first career final.
In December, the ATP entered Hănescu into the 2007 Centuries Club for advancing hundreds of spaces to regain a spot in the top 100 rankings. Hănescu climbed more ranking positions than any other player in the top 100. He finished the year at number 77.[2]
[edit] Singles titles
| Legend (Singles) |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (0) |
| ATP Masters Series (0) |
| ATP Tour (0) |
| Challengers (5) |
| Futures (3) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | April 30, 2001 | Levice, Slovakia | Clay |  Ivan Beros |
6–4 4–6 6–1 |
| 2. | May 7, 2001 | Prievidza, Slovakia | Clay |  Petr Luxa |
6–2 6–1 |
| 3. | July 9, 2001 | Galaţi, Romania | Clay | Artemon Apostu-Efremov |
7–6 6–4 |
| 4. | September 23, 2002 | Maia, Portugal | Clay |  Oscar Hernandez |
6–1 3–6 6–3 |
| 5. | October 4, 2004 | Rome | Clay |  Francesco Aldi |
7–6 6–2 |
| 6. | July 30, 2007 | Timişoara, Romania | Clay | Santiago Ventura |
7–6 6–3 |
| 7. | August 13, 2007 | Graz, Austria | Clay |  Leonardo Mayr |
7–6 6–2 |
| 8. | September 30, 2007 | Bucharest | Clay | Marcel Pujol |
7–6 6–1 |
[edit] References
- ^ Rib Injury in Davis Cup Match vs. United States
- ^ Association of Tennis Professionals. "11 Players Break into 2007 Century Club", Association of Tennis Professionals, 2007-12-05. Retrieved on 2007-12-06. (English)
