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.
Early life Pavel began playing tennis at the age of eight and moved to Germany at sixteen in 1990.
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."
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.
In 2009, he played his last singles match in his homeland tournament in Bucharest against Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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. 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)
ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1–0 Apr 1998 Tokyo, Japan Hard Byron Black 6–3, 6–4Loss 1–1 Apr 1999 Munich, Germany Clay Franco Squillari 4–6, 3–6Loss 1–2 Jun 1999 s’Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Grass Patrick Rafter 6–3, 6–7(7–9), 4–6Win 2–2 May 2000 St. Pölten, Austria Clay Andrew Ilie 7–5, 3–6, 6–2Win 3–2 Jul 2001 Montreal, Canada Hard Patrick Rafter 7–6(7–3), 2–6, 6–3Loss 3–3 Oct 2003 Paris, France Carpet Tim Henman 2–6, 6–7(6–8), 6–7(2–7)Loss 3–4 Apr 2005 Munich, Germany Clay David Nalbandian 4–6, 1–6Loss 3–5 May 2006 Pörtschach, Austria Clay Nikolay Davydenko 0–6, 3–6Loss 3–6 Jul 2007 Umag, Croatia Clay Carlos Moyá 4–6, 2–6
Doubles (6 titles, 5 runners-up)
ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1–0 Sep 1998 Bucharest, Romania Clay Gabriel Trifu George Cosac Dinu Pescariu 7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–4)Loss 1–1 Feb 1999 Saint Petersburg, Russia Carpet Menno Oosting Jeff Tarango Daniel Vacek 6–3, 3–6, 5–7Loss 1–2 Jan 2005 Doha, Qatar Hard Mikhail Youzhny Albert Costa Rafael Nadal 3–6, 6–4, 3–6Win 2–2 Jul 2005 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Leoš Friedl Christophe Rochus Olivier Rochus 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 6–0Loss 2–3 Sep 2005 Bucharest, Romania Clay Victor Hănescu José Acasuso Sebastián Prieto 3–6, 6–4, 3–6Win 3–3 Jan 2006 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Rogier Wassen Simon Aspelin Todd Perry 3–6, 7–5, [4–10]Win 4–3 May 2006 Munich, Germany Clay Alexander Waske Alexander Peya Björn Phau 6–4, 6–2Win 5–3 Jul 2006 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Jiří Novák Marco Chiudinelli Jean-Claude Scherrer 6–3, 6–1Loss 5–4 Feb 2007 Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard Alexander Waske Martin Damm Leander Paes 3–6, 7–6(7–5), [7–10]Win 6–4 Apr 2007 Barcelona, Spain Clay Alexander Waske Rafael Nadal Bartolomé Salvá Vidal 6–3, 7–6(7–1)Loss 6–5 May 2009 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Horia Tecău Marcelo Melo André Sá 7–6(11–9), 2–6, [7–10]
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 8 (4–4) LegendATP Challenger (4–4)ITF Futures (0–0)Finals by surfaceHard (2–0)Clay (2–3)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Scheveningen, NetherlandsChallengerClay Jordi Arrese3–6, 7–6, 4–6Win1–1Montauban, FranceChallengerClay Stephane Huet6–4, 6–3Loss1–2Ljubljana, SloveniaChallengerClay Brett Steven6–7, 2–6Loss1–3Magdeburg, GermanyChallengerCarpet Lars Burgsmuller3–7, 4–6Win2–3Venice, ItalyChallengerClay Slava Dosedel6–2, 6–0Win3–3Dnepropetrovsk, UkraineChallengerHard Karol KucerawalkoverWin4–3Port Louis, MauritiusChallengerHard Lee Hyung-taik6–3, 6–1Loss4–4Tunis, TunisiaChallengerClay Simone Bolelli6–4, 6–7(4–7), 2–6
Doubles: 9 (5–4) LegendATP Challenger (5–4)ITF Futures (0–0)Finals by surfaceHard (1–1)Clay (4–2)Grass (0–1)Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin1–0Prague, Czech RepublicChallengerClay Alex Radulescu Eyal Ran Glenn Wilson6–4, 6–2Win2–0Scheveningen, NetherlandsChallengerClay Eyal Ran Emilio Benfele Álvarez Pepe Imaz6–4, 6–4Win3–0Prostejov, Czech RepublicChallengerClay Glenn Wilson Jeff Belloli Jack Waite7–5, 6–3Loss3–1Zagreb, CroatiaChallengerClay Clinton Ferreira Donald Johnson Jack Waite6–3, 1–6, 0–6Loss3–2Montauban, FranceChallengerClay Clinton Ferreira Gilles Bastie Claude N'Goran4–6, 6–1, 6–7Loss3–3Port Louis, MauritiusChallengerGrass Sander Groen Patrick Baur Joost Winnink1–0 ret.Win4–3Brasov, RomaniaChallengerClay Gabriel Trifu Gheorghe Cosac Dinu-Mihai Pescariu6–2, 6–2Loss4–4Dnepropetrovsk, UkraineChallengerHard Gabriel Trifu Karol Beck Jaroslav Levinsky7–6(7–4), 6–7(4–7), 6–7(2–7)Win5–4Port Louis, MauritiusChallengerHard Gabriel Trifu Jeff Coetzee Rik De Voest6–3, 6–4
Junior Grand Slam finals
Singles: 1 (1 title) ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1992French OpenClay Mose Navarra6–1, 3–6, 6–3
Singles performance timeline
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 OpenAAAAAALQ1RA4RA2R3R1R4R2R2RLQ1R1R11–10 French OpenAAAAAAA2RA1R1R1RQFA2R1R1RLQA1R6–9 WimbledonAAAALQALQ2R1R1R3R1R3RA2R2R2R2RA1R9–11 US OpenAAAALQA1R1R1R1R4R2R1RA4R1R1R2RA1R8–11Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–00–12–40–23–45–32–48–40–18–32–42–42–20–10–434–41 Olympic Games SinglesNH1RNot held1RNot held1RNot held1RNot heldANHN/A ATP Masters Series 1000 Indian Wells MastersAAAAAAAAALQA1R2R1R2R3R1RLQAA Miami MastersAAAAAAAAA3R3R4RQF2RQF1R1RLQAA Monte Carlo MastersAAAAAAAAA2RLQ2R3RA3RAA1RAA Rome MastersAAAAAAAAAA3R1R2RAQF1RAAAA Madrid Masters(Stuttgart)AAAAALQLQLQ2RQFQF2R1RLQ3R1RA1RAA Canada MastersAAAAAAAAAA2RW2RA1R2RAAAA Cincinnati MastersAAAAAAAAA1R1R2R1RA1R1RALQAA Paris MastersAAAAA1RAALQA1R1R1RF3R1RAAA Hamburg MastersAAAAAAAAAASF1R2RA3R1RALQAYear-end ranking4605484893114082141351186841272826691880113751142600NA 2004 US Open counts as 3 wins, 0 losses. Roger Federer walkover in round 4, after Pavel withdrew because of a back injury, does not count as a Pavel loss (nor a Federer win).
References
External links