Andrew Ilie
Andrew Ilie ( born April 18, 1976 in Bucharest, Romania ) is a former Australian tennis player.
Life and career
Andrew Ilie was born in Bucharest in Romania. His family fled with him when he was 10 years old. They spent after a year in a refugee camp in Austria before being allowed to emigrate to Australia.
In Australia, Ilie was able to develop his tennis talent. In 1994 he reached the final of the Australian Open Juniors and finished the year as number 8 of the junior world rankings.
In 1995, he first drew international attention when he, the then number 15 Richard Krajicek in the second round threw out the competition at the French Open. By the end of the year he won two Challengerturniere ( in Lillehammer and Perth ). But in 1998 he managed the real breakthrough, as he celebrated his first tournament victory in Coral Springs on the ATP Tour. Ilie improved within one year from rank 473 to 59 in the ATP world rankings.
In the following years, Ilie improved although not decisive in the world rankings, but acquired primarily for the Australian audience sympathy for his sometimes incredible beats in distress. Jon Wertheim, an Australian sports journalist, calling him a " cult emerging players ." The French audience he inspired by the shirt ripped after a five-set win over Jonas Bjorkman from the body. This ritual he repeated after a further tight five-set victory against Martín Rodríguez in the 2nd round. Only Dominik Hrbatý could the Australians in the third round to stop at the French Open 1999 ( in five sets ).
In 2000, he won the tournament in Atlanta and reached the finals in St. Pölten.
As of 2001, left the services of Ilie, also due to injury (especially by a pubic bone inflammation), according to. Despite the slowing performance he was invited Cup match against Argentina in February 2002 to Davis. There he had to sand but against the strong players Gaudio and Chela no chance.
In 2004, he ended his career and moved with his wife to Hong Kong.