Victor Hănescu (born 21 July 1981) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world no. 26.

Victor Hănescu
Country (sports) Romania
ResidenceBucharest, Romania
Born (1981-07-21) 21 July 1981 (age 43)
Bucharest, Romania
Height1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Turned pro2000
Retired2016
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$4,330,340
Singles
Career record201–244
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 26 (6 July 2009)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2005, 2009, 2010, 2014)
French OpenQF (2005)
Wimbledon3R (2003, 2009, 2010)
US Open2R (2008, 2010)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games2R (2008)
Doubles
Career record43–72
Career titles2
Highest rankingNo. 92 (30 January 2012)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (2012, 2013)
French Open2R (2012)
Wimbledon2R (2005, 2008, 2009)
US Open2R (2005, 2010)
Last updated on: 22 March 2023.

Professional career

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Hănescu attained a career-high singles ranking of No. 26 on 6 July 2009. 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 No. 759, before he finally began making progress on a comeback.

1999: Pro career begins

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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 the year ranked No. 1231.

2000: Success in Satellites and Futures

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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.

2001: Futures wins and Challenger successes

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Hănescu 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 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 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.

2002: First ATP quarterfinal, first Challenger win

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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 the year ranked No. 172.

2003: Top 100, French Open and Wimbledon third rounds

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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 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 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.

2004: Grand Slam failures, first ATP semifinal, first top-10 win

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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 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: Best year, French Open quarterfinals, ATP semifinals

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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 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 a career-high ranking of No. 35.

2006: Lost to injuries

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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.

2007: A comeback year, first ATP final

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His ranking continued to plummet due mainly to inactivity, as well as poor results when he did play, until March, when he qualified for 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 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 the top 100. He finished the year at No. 77.[2]

2008

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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.

2009: Wimbledon third round

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Hănescu started off the year by reaching 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 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 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.

2010 : Consecutive Wimbledon third round

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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 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 was runner-up, losing in the final to Stanislas Wawrinka.[3]

2011: Fifth ATP final

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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 the MercedesCup, after saving two match points in the second-set tiebreaker.[4]

2012

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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 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.

Controversy

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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 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.[5] 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.[6] Hănescu was fined US$15,000 for his behavior, the first of its kind in his career.

ATP career finals

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Singles: 5 (1 title, 4 runners-up)

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Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (1–4)
Titles by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (1–4)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome W–L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 0–1 16 September 2007 BCR Open Romania, Bucharest, Romania Clay   Gilles Simon 6–4, 3–6, 2–6
Winner 1–1 13 July 2008 Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad, Gstaad, Switzerland Clay   Igor Andreev 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 1–2 12 July 2009 MercedesCup, Stuttgart, Germany Clay   Jérémy Chardy 6–1, 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 1–3 11 April 2010 Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco Clay   Stanislas Wawrinka 2–6, 3–6
Runner-up 1–4 21 May 2011 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, Nice, France Clay   Nicolás Almagro 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 3–6

Doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

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Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (2–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (0–2)
Titles by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (2–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome W–L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 0–1 18 September 2005 BCR Open Romania, Bucharest, Romania Clay   Andrei Pavel   José Acasuso
  Sebastián Prieto
3–6, 6–4, 3–6
Winner 1–1 14 July 2008 Austrian Open, Kitzbühel, Austria Clay   James Cerretani   Lucas Arnold Ker
  Olivier Rochus
6–3, 7–5
Runner-up 1–2 13 July 2009 MercedesCup, Stuttgart, Germany Clay   Horia Tecău   František Čermák
  Michal Mertiňák
5–7, 4–6
Winner 2–2 26 February 2011 Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico Clay   Horia Tecău   Marcelo Melo
  Bruno Soares
6–1, 6–3

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

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Singles: 21 (11–10)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (8–8)
ITF Futures (3–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (11–9)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 May 2001 Slovakia F1, Levice Futures Clay   Ivan Beros 6–4, 4–6, 6–1
Win 2–0 May 2001 Slovakia F2, Prievidza Futures Clay   Petr Luxa 6–2, 6–1
Loss 2–1 Jul 2001 Romania F1, Bucharest Futures Clay   Konstantinos Economidis 7–6(7–2), 2–6, 1–6
Win 3–1 Jul 2001 Romania F2, Bucharest Futures Clay   Artemon Apostu-Efremov 7–6(7–2), 6–4
Loss 3–2 Sep 2001 Freudenstadt, Germany Challenger Clay   Albert Montañés 0–6, 3–6
Win 4–2 Sep 2002 Maia, Portugal Challenger Clay   Óscar Hernández 6–1, 3–6, 6–3
Loss 4–3 May 2003 Rome, Italy Challenger Clay   Giorgio Galimberti 2–6, 4–6
Win 5–3 Oct 2004 Rome, Italy Challenger Clay   Francesco Aldi 7–6(7–4), 6–2
Loss 5–4 Jun 2007 Milan, Italy Challenger Clay   Santiago Ventura 3–6, 5–7
Win 6–4 Aug 2007 Timișoara, Romania Challenger Clay   Santiago Ventura 7–6(7–2), 6–3
Win 7–4 Aug 2007 Graz, Austria Challenger Clay   Leonardo Mayer 7–6(7–4), 6–2
Win 8–4 Sep 2007 Bucharest, Romania Challenger Clay   Marcel Granollers 7–6(8–6), 6–1
Loss 8–5 Nov 2008 Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine Challenger Hard   Fabrice Santoro 2–6, 3–6
Loss 8–6 Jul 2012 Arad, Romania Challenger Clay   Facundo Bagnis 4–6, 4–6
Win 9–6 Jul 2012 Timișoara, Romania Challenger Clay   Guillaume Rufin 6–0, 6–3
Loss 9–7 Jul 2012 Bercuit, Belgium Challenger Clay   Thiemo de Bakker 4–6, 6–3, 5–7
Loss 9–8 Aug 2012 Sibiu, Romania Challenger Clay   Adrian Ungur 4–6, 6–7(1–7)
Win 10–8 Sep 2012 Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina Challenger Clay   Andreas Haider-Maurer 6–4, 6–1
Win 11–8 Sep 2012 Szczecin, Poland Challenger Clay   Íñigo Cervantes 6–4, 7–5
Loss 11–9 Sep 2015 Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina Challenger Clay   Dušan Lajović 6–7(5–7), 6–7(5–7)
Loss 11–10 Feb 2016 USA F7, Plantation Futures Clay   Juan Carlos Sáez 3–6, 6–2, 6–7(5–7)

Doubles: 5 (4–1)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (2–1)
ITF Futures (2–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (4–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 May 2001 Slovakia F2, Prievidza Futures Clay   Viktor Bruthans   Mariusz Fyrstenberg
  Didac Perez-Minarro
2–6, 6–2, 6–0
Win 2–0 Jul 2001 Romania F2, Bucharest Futures Clay   Victor Ioniță   Marius Calugaru
  Mark Eberling
6–4, 6–1
Win 3–0 Jun 2002 Turin, Italy Challenger Clay   Óscar Hernández   Denis Golovanov
  Vadim Kutsenko
6–4, 6–3
Win 4–0 Aug 2002 Geneva, Switzerland Challenger Clay   Leonardo Olguín   Andrés Schneiter
  Orlin Stanoytchev
1–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss 4–1 Sep 2015 Alphen, Netherlands Challenger Clay   Adrian Ungur   Tobias Kamke
  Jan-Lennard Struff
6–7(1–7), 6–3, [7–10]

Performance timelines

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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.

Singles

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Current through 2015 Wimbledon Championships.

Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R 2R A 4–11
French Open Q1 3R 2R QF A 1R 2R 4R 3R 2R 1R 3R 1R Q2 16–11
Wimbledon A 3R 1R 2R A A 2R 3R 3R 2R A 1R 1R Q1 9–9
US Open A 1R 1R 1R A A 2R 1R 2R 1R A 1R A 2–8
Win–loss 0–0 4–3 1–4 6–4 0–1 0–2 3–4 6–4 6–4 2–4 0–2 2–4 1–3 0–0 31–39
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells A A 2R 1R A A 2R 1R 2R 2R A 1R 2R 2R 6–9
Miami A A 1R 2R 1R A 1R 1R 1R 1R A 2R 1R Q1 2–9
Monte Carlo A A A 3R 1R A A 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R A A 3–7
Rome A 2R A 2R 1R Q1 Q1 1R 3R 1R Q2 A A A 4–6
Madrid A A A 2R A A 2R 1R 3R 1R 1R A A A 4–6
Canada A A A A A A A 3R 3R A A A A 4–2
Cincinnati A A A A A A A 1R 1R A A A A 0–2
Shanghai Not Masters Series 1R A A A 1R A 0–2
Paris A 2R 2R 1R A A A 1R A A 2R Q2 A 2–5
Hamburg A A 2R A A A Q1 Not Masters Series 1–1
Win–loss 0–0 2–2 2–4 5–6 0–3 0–0 2–3 3–9 7–7 1–5 0–3 1–4 1–2 1–1 25–49

Doubles

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Current till US Open.

Tournament 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open 1R A 1R A 1R A 1R 2R 2R A 2–6
French Open A 1R A A A 1R 1R 2R 1R A 1–5
Wimbledon A 2R A 2R 2R A A A A A 3–3
US Open A 2R A 1R 1R 2R 1R A 1R A 2–6
Win–loss 0–1 2–3 0–1 1–2 1–3 1–2 0–3 2–2 1–3 0–0 8–20

References

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  1. ^ Rib Injury in Davis Cup Match vs. United States
  2. ^ Association of Tennis Professionals (2007-12-05). "11 Players Break into 2007 Century Club". Association of Tennis Professionals. Archived from the original on 2007-12-08. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
  3. ^ ATP World Tour website, Grand Prix Hassan II, Place:Morocco Date:05.04.2010 – 11.04.2010 Draw:28 Surface:Clay Prize Money:€398,250, Retrieved 8–17–10.
  4. ^ "News". ATP World Tour.
  5. ^ Rothenberg, Ben (June 25, 2010). "Wimbledon: Victor Hanescu Spits At Crowd, Quits In Third Round Match; Spectators Arrested". sbnation.com.
  6. ^ "The Latest News from the UK and Around the World". news.sky.com. Archived from the original on 2010-06-28.
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