Andrei Pavel
Romanian tennis player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 at the 2012 BRD Năstase Țiriac Trophy | |
| Country (sports) |  Romania |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 January 1974 |
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) |
| Turned pro | 1995 |
| Retired | 23 September 2009 |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $5,225,028 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 277–266 |
| Career titles | 3 |
| Highest ranking | No. 13 (25 October 2004) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 4R (1999, 2004) |
| French Open | QF (2002) |
| Wimbledon | 3R (2000, 2002) |
| US Open | 4R (2000, 2004) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Olympic Games | 1R (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 142–136 |
| Career titles | 6 |
| Highest ranking | No. 18 (30 April 2007) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | QF (2005) |
| French Open | SF (2006) |
| Wimbledon | 3R (2004, 2007, 2009) |
| US Open | 2R (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009) |
| Other doubles tournaments | |
| Olympic Games | 1R (1996, 2000, 2004) |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2009) |
| US Open | 1R (2009) |
| Last updated on: 18 April 2025. | |
Early life
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 |  Byron Black |
6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 1. | Apr 1999 | Munich, Germany | Clay |  Franco Squillari |
4–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 2. | Jun 1999 | s’Hertogenbosch, Netherlands | Grass |  Patrick Rafter |
6–3, 6–7(7–9), 4–6 |
| Win | 2. | May 2000 | St. Pölten, Austria | Clay | Andrew Ilie |
7–5, 3–6, 6–2 |
| Win | 3. | Jul 2001 | Montreal, Canada | Hard | Patrick Rafter |
7–6(7–3), 2–6, 6–3 |
| Loss | 3. | Oct 2003 | Paris, France | Carpet |  Tim Henman |
2–6, 6–7(6–8), 6–7(2–7) |
| Loss | 4. | Apr 2005 | Munich, Germany | Clay | David Nalbandian |
4–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 5. | May 2006 | Pörtschach, Austria | Clay |  Nikolay Davydenko |
0–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 6. | Jul 2007 | Umag, Croatia | Clay |  Carlos Moyá |
4–6, 2–6 |
Doubles (6 titles, 5 runners-up)
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 8 (4–4)
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Jul 1995 | Scheveningen, Netherlands | Challenger | Clay | Jordi Arrese |
3–6, 7–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Jul 1996 | Montauban, France | Challenger | Clay |  Stephane Huet |
6–4, 6–3 |
| Loss | 1–2 | May 1997 | Ljubljana, Slovenia | Challenger | Clay |  Brett Steven |
6–7, 2–6 |
| Loss | 1–3 | Mar 1998 | Magdeburg, Germany | Challenger | Carpet |  Lars Burgsmuller |
3–7, 4–6 |
| Win | 2–3 | Jul 1999 | Venice, Italy | Challenger | Clay |  Slava Dosedel |
6–2, 6–0 |
| Win | 3–3 | Nov 2004 | Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine | Challenger | Hard |  Karol Kucera |
walkover |
| Win | 4–3 | Dec 2004 | Port Louis, Mauritius | Challenger | Hard |  Lee Hyung-taik |
6–3, 6–1 |
| Loss | 4–4 | May 2007 | Tunis, Tunisia | Challenger | Clay |  Simone Bolelli |
6–4, 6–7(4–7), 2–6 |
Doubles: 9 (5–4)
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Jul 1994 | Prague, Czech Republic | Challenger | Clay | Alex Radulescu |
 Eyal Ran Glenn Wilson |
6–4, 6–2 |
| Win | 2–0 | Jul 1995 | Scheveningen, Netherlands | Challenger | Clay | Eyal Ran |
Emilio Benfele Álvarez Pepe Imaz |
6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 3–0 | Sep 1995 | Prostejov, Czech Republic | Challenger | Clay | Glenn Wilson |
 Jeff Belloli Jack Waite |
7–5, 6–3 |
| Loss | 3–1 | Jun 1996 | Zagreb, Croatia | Challenger | Clay |  Clinton Ferreira |
Donald Johnson Jack Waite |
6–3, 1–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 3–2 | Jul 1996 | Montauban, France | Challenger | Clay | Clinton Ferreira |
Gilles Bastie  Claude N'Goran |
4–6, 6–1, 6–7 |
| Loss | 3–3 | Nov 1996 | Port Louis, Mauritius | Challenger | Grass |  Sander Groen |
Patrick Baur Joost Winnink |
1–0 ret. |
| Win | 4–3 | Sep 1999 | Brasov, Romania | Challenger | Clay | Gabriel Trifu |
Gheorghe Cosac Dinu-Mihai Pescariu |
6–2, 6–2 |
| Loss | 4–4 | Nov 2004 | Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine | Challenger | Hard | Gabriel Trifu |
 Karol Beck Jaroslav Levinsky |
7–6(7–4), 6–7(4–7), 6–7(2–7) |
| Win | 5–4 | Dec 2004 | Port Louis, Mauritius | Challenger | Hard | Gabriel Trifu |
Jeff Coetzee 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 | Mose Navarra | 6–1, 3–6, 6–3 |
Singles performance timeline
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| 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).
