The Romanian Open (also known as Țiriac Open ) is a professional men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts . It was the successor event to the earlier Romanian International Championships (1930–1983). It is part of the ATP 250 tournaments of the ATP Tour . It was held annually in Bucharest , Romania, between 1993 and 2016 and revived in 2024. Its name is taken from Romania's famous tennis players Ilie Năstase and Ion Țiriac .
35-399: The tournament never saw a Romanian winner in singles (though the 2005 edition saw two Romanian players reaching the semifinals, and the 2007 edition saw Victor Hănescu reach the finals), but a Romanian pair ( Andrei Pavel and Gabriel Trifu ) took home the doubles title in 1998. Also, Horia Tecău took three consecutive doubles titles at the tournament (2012, 2013 & 2014), each time with
70-521: A gypsy , a highly derogatory term in Romania. Frustrated due to the injury and crowd behavior, he responded by spitting toward some spectators and received a warning from the umpire. He then deliberately made four service foot faults to lose two points, giving Brands a 3–0 lead in the final set, before retiring. Four spectators were later arrested by police under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. Hănescu
105-674: A Challenger event in Italy and beat No. 126 Björn Phau to reach the second 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 a 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 No. 151 by
140-520: A Grand Slam final, at the Australian Open, since Michael Stich was the runner-up at Roland Garros in 1996. En route to the final, which he lost in straight sets to Andre Agassi , he defeated Andy Roddick who would end the season as world No 1. In 2004, Schüttler reached his first career ATP Masters Series final in Monte Carlo by beating Gustavo Kuerten in the first round, Lleyton Hewitt in
175-634: A career-high ranking of No. 35. 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 No. 35, he finished up at No. 646. His lone success was winning the ATP-level exhibition tournament in Houston in April, beating Vince Spadea and Juan Mónaco . His ranking continued to plummet due mainly to inactivity, as well as poor results when he did play, until March, when he qualified for
210-457: A different partner. The organizers announced that from 2012, the ATP World Tour 250 series tournament would be scheduled to take place in April, thus ending a period of 19 years when it took place in the last week of September. The last edition of the tournament was in 2016, as ATP has relocated it to Budapest . The tournament moved to Belgrade in 2021 and to Banja Luka in 2023. In 2024,
245-654: A second round berth against Ernests Gulbis . He lost 6–7, 7–6, 4–6 in a close match. In 2010, Schüttler and his former Davis Cup companion Alexander Waske founded the Schüttler Waske Tennis-University , a tennis academy for professional tennis players. Schüttler started the tour at the Qatar Open where he confronted Teymuraz Gabashvili in the singles, but lost 3–5, 6–7. He also played doubles with Guillermo García López confronting Marco Chiudinelli and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga , to whom they lost 1–6, 2–6. At
280-657: A top-10 player, No. 6 Rainer Schüttler . In October, he went back down to the Challenger level and won in Rome, his second career Challenger title. He finished the year ranked No. 92, down 22 spots from 2003. 2005 was Hănescu's best year to date. At the French Open, he beat Michal Tabara in the first round then No. 32 Juan Ignacio Chela in the second round, and then Luis Horna in the third round before he came back to beat No. 11 David Nalbandian in five sets 6–3, 4–6, 5–7, 6–1, 6–2, in
315-474: The 2008 Wimbledon Championships . He won an Olympic silver medal in doubles at the 2004 Athens Olympics , and achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 5 in April 2004. He began playing tennis at the age of nine. He resides in Switzerland. In 2003, Schüttler became the first German since Boris Becker in 1989 to advance to the fourth round at all Grand Slam tournaments . He became the first German to reach
350-777: The Australian Open , he played ninth seed Fernando Verdasco in the first round, but lost 1–6, 3–6, 2–6. He then played several Challenger series tournaments. At Wimbledon , he defeated Thomaz Bellucci in the first round, but lost to Feliciano López in the second 6–7, 7–6, 2–6, 2–6. Schüttler officially retired in October 2012. After retirement, he began his coaching career and has coached Janko Tipsarević , Sergiy Stakhovsky and Vasek Pospisil . Since November 2018, he coached former world No. 1 , Angelique Kerber . In July 2019, Kerber announced they had split on social media. In 2014 Rainer met Serbian Jovana Sesevic, whose sister Biljana
385-574: The Chennai Open , beating Prakash Amritraj 6–2, 4–6, 6–1. In the second round, he beat Simon Greul 6–4, 6–2, and in the quarterfinals Björn Phau , 6–2, 7–5. Unfortunately Schuettler had to withdraw from his semifinal match against Somdev Devvarman because of a wrist injury. He also withdrew from the tournament in Sydney . At the Australian Open, he was seeded 30th but lost in the first round to Israeli Dudi Sela 1–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–4. He also participated in
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#1732883389812420-681: The MercedesCup , after saving two match points in the second-set tiebreaker. Hănescu was defeated in the second round in Chennai by Canadian Milos Raonic , 1–6, 4–6. He also went out in the second round in São Paulo to Nicolás Almagro , who had beaten him in the final in Nice the previous year. He was defeated in the second round in Buenos Aires by upcoming Japanese star Kei Nishikori in three sets. He reached
455-473: The 2009 French Open. In the first round, he eliminated Steve Darcis 7–6, 7–6, 7–6, in the second round Mikhail Youzhny 7–5, 7–5, 7–5, and in the third round he upset seventh seed Gilles Simon 6–4, 6–4, 6–2. He next played Fernando González and lost 2–6, 4–6, 2–6. At Wimbledon, he was seeded 31st. In the first round, he won a grueling match against Iván Navarro 6–3, 6–7, 6–4, 6–7, 12–10. Then he played Nicolas Devilder and won 6–2, 6–3, 6–1, to advance in
490-730: The Slovakia F1 and F2 Futures events. A quarterfinal finish at a Challenger in Budapest two weeks later put him in the top 400 for the first time. In July, as the top seed in consecutive weeks in Bucharest, he reached the final at Romania F1 and won the F2 Futures event to improve his ranking to No. 319. In August in Challengers in three consecutive weeks, he reached the semifinals in Poland and Germany, and then
525-612: The United States, he suffered a severe rib injury, and a subsequent injury sidelined him further in May 2006. By January 2007, his ranking had plummeted to No. 759, before he finally began making progress on a comeback. Hănescu earned his first ATP singles ranking points in August 1999, with first-round wins two weeks in a row at the Romania F1 and F2 Futures tournaments. Although he played four more tournaments from September through December, he did not earn any additional points and finished
560-688: The doubles with Lu Yen-hsun , but they were defeated by Łukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach . In the first round in Rotterdam, he lost to Mario Ančić . He played the Open 13 in Marseille, defeating Laurent Recouderc in the first round 6–1, 6–4. He competed at the ARAG World Team Cup in Germany, helping his country reach the final, where they lost to Serbia. In the second round at Wimbledon, though seeded 18th, he
595-558: The final in Germany to improve to No. 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 No. 212. Hănescu 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
630-507: The fourth round. He lost to No. 1 Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. He reached the ATP semifinals in New Haven (beating No. 58 Nicolás Massú and No. 20 Tommy Robredo , before losing to No. 67 James Blake ) and in Bucharest to reach the top 40 for the first time in September. He also had his second career win over a top-10 player, beating No. 10 Mariano Puerta in July, and finished the year with
665-592: The quarterfinals in Doha, where he lost to Andy Roddick . In Auckland, Hănescu lost in the first round to Juan Mónaco . He reached the second round of the Australian Open, after defeating Jan Hernych , but then fell to Dudi Sela . Hănescu reached the second round in Zagreb. In Dubai, he lost his first-round match. In Miami, he lost to Michael Russell in the first round. Hănescu reached the quarterfinals in Casablanca. He competed at
700-495: The second round to World No. 1 Roger Federer 2–6, 3–6, 2–6. He then played at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open , where he won his first-round match against Juan Ignacio Chela 6–3, 7–6, and then lost again to Roger Federer 3–6, 7–6, 1–6. At the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia , he defeated Michael Berrer 6–2, 6–7, 6–3, in the first round, then Juan Mónaco 7–6, 6–4, to lose in the next round to eventual winner Rafael Nadal 3–6, 2–6. In Casablanca , Morocco, on April 5, 2010 he
735-620: The semifinals of the Challenger in Marrakech , going down against Slovak Martin Kližan , 5–7, 4–6. He reached the quarterfinals in Barletta, losing to Potito Starace , 5–7, 2–6. He qualified in Monte Carlo and Madrid but went out in the first round. He failed to qualify in Rome. At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, Hănescu was booed and taunted by a group of spectators during his third-round loss to Daniel Brands of Germany. The group allegedly called him
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#1732883389812770-431: The start of his home ATP stop in Bucharest in September, where he was a semifinalist in 2005; he went one step further 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
805-661: The third round, Tim Henman in the quarterfinal and Carlos Moyá in the semifinal. In the final, he lost to Guillermo Coria . That week, he would reach a career-high ranking of No. 5. Schüttler won a silver medal for Germany in men's doubles with partner Nicolas Kiefer at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. 2004 was the sixth straight year in which he finished in the ATP top 50. Schüttler reached his first career semifinal at Wimbledon by beating Santiago Ventura , James Blake , Guillermo García López , Janko Tipsarević , and Arnaud Clément 6–3, 5–7, 7–6, 6–7, 8–6. His match with Clément
840-415: The third round, where he lost to eighth-seeded Gilles Simon 2–6, 5–7, 2–6. At the 2009 MercedesCup, he reached the final by defeating Dominik Meffert , Rainer Schüttler , Alexandre Sidorenko , and Fabio Fognini in the semifinals. He lost in the final to Jérémy Chardy 6–1, 3–6, 4–6. At the 2010 Australian Open , he won his first-round match against Juan Ignacio Chela 6–4, 6–3, 7–6, but then lost in
875-504: The top 100 for the first time. He was a lucky loser entry at Wimbledon and reached the third round there also, beating No. 34 Juan Ignacio Chela before losing to No. 12 Sjeng Schalken , improving his ranking to No. 85. He had limited success the rest of the year, losing in the first round at the US Open to No. 6 Lleyton Hewitt , before reaching the quarterfinals in Bucharest in September. In October, he qualified for his second Masters' event of
910-569: The top 100. He finished the year at No. 77. Hănescu reached the fourth round of the French Open , where he lost to Fernando González 2–6, 4–6, 2–6. He reached the final of the Stuttgart Outdoor in July, only to lose to Jérémy Chardy 6–2, 3–6, 4–6. He reached the quarterfinals in St. Petersburg, losing to Igor Kunitsyn 3–6, 6–3, 6–7. He finished at No. 50. Hănescu started off the year by reaching
945-416: The tournament returned to Bucharest. 44°25′52″N 26°04′37″E / 44.431°N 26.077°E / 44.431; 26.077 Victor H%C4%83nescu Victor Hănescu (born 21 July 1981) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world no. 26. Hănescu attained a career-high singles ranking of No. 26 on 6 July 2009. In a Davis Cup match against
980-855: The year in Paris, upsetting No. 49 Rafael Nadal and No. 69 Anthony Dupuis , and then upsetting No. 27 Wayne Ferreira in the first round, before losing to No. 2 Andy Roddick . He finished the year ranked No. 70. Hănescu played almost exclusively at the ATP level in 2004, but with very limited success. He was ranked high enough for direct entry into all four Grand Slams and the Olympics but won only one match total in those five 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 win over
1015-591: The year ranked No. 1231. In 2000, Hănescu played Satellites and Futures tournaments. His fourth-place finish at a Satellite in Croatia in April/May and third 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 No. 477. Hănescu won his first pro tournaments in May 2001, taking the singles titles in consecutive weeks at
1050-521: The year ranked No. 172. Moderate success in Challengers improved Hănescu's ranking to No. 150 by April 2003. He then qualified for the ATP tournament in Estoril and reached the third round of the Rome Masters in May and beat No. 31 Mikhail Youzhny , his highest-ranked win to that point. At the end of May, he qualified for the French Open and reached the third round, losing to Jarkko Nieminen , to break into
1085-703: Was defeated by Denis Istomin in the second round of Wimbledon in five sets. At the quarterfinal of the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles, Schüttler could not manage to close out the match against Querrey despite serving for it at 5–4 and 6–5 in the deciding set. He was knocked out in the first round of the US Open losing to Benoît Paire . At the Thailand Open in Bangkok, Schüttler beat Ricardo Mello in round one for
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1120-413: Was fined US$ 15,000 for his behavior, the first of its kind in his career. Current through 2015 Wimbledon Championships . Current till US Open . Rainer Sch%C3%BCttler Rainer Schüttler ( German pronunciation: [ˈraɪnɐ ˈʃʏtlɐ] ; born 25 April 1976) is a German former professional tennis player. Schüttler was the runner-up at the 2003 Australian Open and a semifinalist at
1155-427: Was over five hours, completed in two days to reach the semifinals, in which Schuettler saved a match point at 6–5 down in the fifth set. He was defeated by eventual champion Rafael Nadal 1–6, 6–7, 4–6. His achievement was a big surprise, since he entered the tournament ranked 94th and with a streak of 13 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments without making it past the second round. His 2009 season Schüttler started off at
1190-454: Was runner-up, losing in the final to Stanislas Wawrinka . Hănescu reached the semifinals in Casablanca, losing there to Potito Starace , 1–6, 7–6, 6–7. He reached the final in Nice, where he lost to Nicolás Almagro , 6–7, 3–6, 3–6. He went out in the second round at the French Open and Wimbledon and had little success for the rest of the year. In July, he broke an 11-match losing streak to beat then-world No. 7 and top seed Gaël Monfils at
1225-642: Was upset by Dudi Sela, 7–6, 6–3, 6–2. [1] He reached the second round of the Australian Open defeating Sam Querrey in four sets. However he lost to Feliciano López in four sets, too. At the French Open , he again suffered a first-round exit, this time against Guillermo García López in straight sets. He reached the semifinal of the Aegon Championships at the Queens Club in London but lost to Sam Querrey in three sets 7–6, 5–7, 3–6. Despite his good form he
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