# Tennis in Romania

Tennis is one of the most popular sports in Romania. The Romanian Tennis Federation (Romanian: Federația Română de Tenis or FRT), a member of ITF, is the sport's national governing body.

## History

Tennis was introduced to Romania in the late 19th century by students returning from their time abroad.
Also, the Romania Davis Cup team made the finals of the competition in three editions: 3 (1969, 1971 and 1972) losing each time by the hands of the United States Davis Cup team.
Men's tennis saw its best period during the beginning of the Open Era when Ilie Năstase reached the number 1 ranking in 1973 after winning the US Open in 1972 and the French Open in 1973.
Women's tennis, in particular, has seen tremendous successes both in the 20th and 21st centuries, with the advent of Florența Mihai, Virginia Ruzici, Irina Spîrlea and Simona Halep. Three of these women reached the Top 10 of the WTA rankings in singles, namely Ruzici, Spîrlea and Halep whilst Mihai, Ruzici and Halep reached Grand Slam finals with Ruzici winning the French Open in 1978 and Halep winning the same tournament in 2018.
Tournaments held in Romania on the men's tour every year included Romanian Open from 1993 until 2016. The women have the Bucharest Open held between 2014 and 2019, and the Transylvania Open from 2021.

## List of Romanian singles tennis players (Open Era only)

Only includes players ranked in the top 100. Bold names indicate currently active players
| Highest ranking | Name | Birth | Place of Birth | Turned pro | Titles |
| No. 1 | Ilie Năstase | 1946 | Bucharest | 1969 | 58 |
| No. 13 | Andrei Pavel | 1974 | Constanța | 1995 | 3 |
| No. 26 | Victor Hănescu | 1981 | Bucharest | 2000 | 1 |
| No. 36 | Adrian Voinea | 1974 | Focșani | 1993 | 1 |
| No. 55 | Ion Țiriac | 1939 | Brașov | 1968 | 1 |
| No. 56 | Marius Copil | 1990 | Arad | 2008 | 0 |
| No. 73 | Florin Segărceanu | 1961 | Bucharest | 1980 | 0 |
| No. 74 | Răzvan Sabău | 1977 | Bucharest | 1993 | 0 |
| No. 75 | Dinu Pescariu | 1974 | Bucharest | 1990 | 0 |
| No. 75 | Victor Crivoi | 1982 | Bucharest | 2003 | 0 |
| No. 79 | Adrian Ungur | 1985 | Pitești | 2003 | 0 |
| Highest ranking | Name | Birth | Place of Birth | Turned pro | Titles |
| No. 1 | Simona Halep | 1991 | Constanța | 2006 | 24 |
| No. 7 | Irina Spîrlea | 1974 | Bucharest | 1990 | 4 |
| No. 8 | Virginia Ruzici | 1955 | Câmpia Turzii | 1975 | 12 |
| No. 15 | Ruxandra Dragomir | 1972 | Bucharest | 1990 | 4 |
| No. 20 | Mihaela Buzărnescu | 1988 | Bucharest | 2004 | 1 |
| No. 21 | Sorana Cîrstea | 1990 | Târgoviște | 2004 | 2 |
| No. 22 | Irina-Camelia Begu | 1990 | Bucharest | 2005 | 5 |
| No. 26 | Alexandra Dulgheru | 1989 | Bucharest | 2004 | 2 |
| No. 28 | Monica Niculescu | 1987 | Slatina | 2002 | 3 |
| No. 29 | Florența Mihai | 1955 | Bucharest | 1975 | 1 |
| No. 36 | Mariana Simionescu | 1956 | Târgu Neamț | 1974 | 2 |
| No. 39 | Ana Bogdan | 1992 | Sinaia | 2007 | 0 |
| No. 49 | Lucia Romanov-Stark | 1959 | Bucharest | 1979 | 0 |
| No. 51 | Elena-Gabriela Ruse | 1997 | Bucharest | 2015 | 1 |
| No. 53 | Raluca Olaru | 1989 | Bucharest | 2003 | 0 |
| No. 54 | Edina Gallovits-Hall | 1984 | Timișoara | 1999 | 0 |
| No. 56 | Patricia Maria Țig | 1994 | Caransebeș | 2009 | 1 |
| No. 57 | Jaqueline Cristian | 1998 | Bucharest | 2015 | 0 |
| No. 59 | Cătălina Cristea | 1975 | Bucharest | 1990 | 0 |
| No. 59 | Alexandra Cadanțu | 1990 | Bucharest | 2005 | 0 |
| No. 68 | Andreea Mitu | 1991 | Bucharest | 2006 | 0 |
| No. 91 | Raluca Sandu | 1980 | Bucharest | 1994 | 0 |

## List of Romanian doubles tennis players (Open Era only)

Only includes players ranked in the top 100 or that have won at least one ATP or WTA title. Bold names indicate currently active players
| Highest ranking | Name | Birth | Place of Birth | Turned pro | Titles |
| No. 2 | Horia Tecău | 1985 | Constanța | 2003 | 38 |
| No. 7 | Florin Mergea | 1985 | Craiova | 2003 | 7 |
| No. 10 | Ilie Năstase | 1946 | Bucharest | 1969 | 45 |
| No. 18 | Andrei Pavel | 1974 | Constanța | 1995 | 6 |
| No. 19 | Ion Țiriac | 1939 | Brașov | 1968 | 22 |
| No. 49 | Florin Segărceanu | 1961 | Bucharest | 1980 | 1 |
| No. 64 | Victor Vlad Cornea | 1993 | Sibiu | 2016 | 0 |
| No. 92 | Victor Hănescu | 1981 | Bucharest | 2000 | 2 |
| No. 94 | Adrian Ungur | 1985 | Pitești | 2003 | 1 |
| No. 97 | Gabriel Trifu | 1975 | Bucharest | 1994 | 1 |
| No. 114 | Dinu Pescariu | 1974 | Bucharest | 1990 | 1 |
| No. 159 | Mihnea-Ion Năstase | 1967 | Bucharest | 1986 | 1 |
| No. 182 | Marius Copil | 1990 | Arad | 2008 | 1 |
| Highest ranking | Name | Birth | Place of Birth | Turned pro | Titles |
| No. 11 | Monica Niculescu | 1987 | Slatina | 2002 | 12 |
| No. 16 | Irina Spîrlea | 1974 | Bucharest | 1990 | 6 |
| No. 21 | Ruxandra Dragomir | 1972 | Bucharest | 1990 | 5 |
| No. 22 | Irina-Camelia Begu | 1990 | Bucharest | 2005 | 9 |
| No. 24 | Mihaela Buzărnescu | 1988 | Bucharest | 2004 | 2 |
| No. 30 | Raluca Olaru | 1989 | Bucharest | 2003 | 11 |
| No. 32 | Elena-Gabriela Ruse | 1997 | Bucharest | 2015 | 0 |
| No. 35 | Sorana Cîrstea | 1990 | Târgoviște | 2006 | 5 |
| No. 40 | Andreea Ehritt-Vanc | 1973 | Timișoara | 1992 | 2 |
| No. 40 | Cătălina Cristea | 1975 | Bucharest | 1990 | 1 |
| No. 41 | Alexandra Dulgheru | 1989 | Bucharest | 2005 | 0 |
| No. 56 | Irina Bara | 1995 | Ștei | 2010 | 1 |
| No. 63 | Edina Gallovits-Hall | 1984 | Timișoara | 1999 | 3 |
| No. 69 | Andreea Mitu | 1991 | Bucharest | 2006 | 4 |
| No. 70 | Virginia Ruzici | 1955 | Câmpia Turzii | 1975 | 16 |
| No. 71 | Simona Halep | 1991 | Constanța | 2006 | 1 |
| No. 79 | Elena Bogdan | 1992 | Craiova | 2009 | 1 |
| No. 101 | Alexandra Cadanțu | 1990 | Bucharest | 2005 | 1 |
| N/A | Florența Mihai | 1955 | Bucharest | 1975 | 1 |