Andrew Ilie

Country (sports)	Australia
Residence	Melbourne, Australia
Born	(1976-04-18) 18 April 1976 (age 47) Bucharest, SR Romania
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro	1994
Retired	2003
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,327,838
Singles
Career record	89–116
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 38 (29 May 2000)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (1999, 2001)
French Open	3R (1995, 1998, 1999)
Wimbledon	2R (1999)
US Open	2R (2001)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	1R (2000)
Doubles
Career record	3–13
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 296 (12 June 2000)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	1R (1995, 2000, 2001)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2000, 2001)
Last updated on: 19 October 2021.

Andrew Ilie (born 18 April 1976) is a former tennis player. Ilie fled Romania at age 10 with his family, spending a year at a refugee camp in Austria before emigrating to Australia.^[1] He turned professional in 1994 and became a citizen of Australia. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.^[2] He won two ATP Tour singles titles (Coral Springs in 1998 and Atlanta in 2000), as well as five Challenger Series tournaments. Ilie reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 38 on 29 May 2000.

Career

Juniors

He reached the finals of the Australian Open Jrs in 1994.

Pro Tour

Ilie never progressed past the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament, but was a fan-favorite, especially in Australia. Described in 2001 by tennis writer Jon Wertheim as "an emerging cult hero", Ilie developed an avid following whenever he played at the Australian Open in Melbourne.^[3] He became well known for adventurous and occasionally outrageous shots, and by ripping his shirt in glee whenever he won a particularly important or hard-fought match.^[4] The latter ritual began at the French Open in 1999, as Ilie celebrated his first-round victory in five sets over Jonas Bjorkman, and then repeated the gesture after his second-round victory, also in five sets, over Martin Rodriguez.^[5]

The last years of Ilie's career were marred by persistent injuries, including chronic osteitis pubis, which hampered his play. Ilie retired in November 2004.^[6] Following retirement, Ilie married and settled in Hong Kong.^[4]

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1994	Australian Open	Hard	Ben Ellwood	7–5, 3–6, 3–6

ATP career finals

Singles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-ups)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	May 1998	Coral Springs, United States	World Series	Clay	Davide Sanguinetti	7–5, 6–4
Win	2–0	Apr 2000	Atlanta, United States	International Series	Clay	Jason Stoltenberg	6–3, 7–5
Loss	2–1	May 2000	St. Polten, Austria	International Series	Clay	Andrei Pavel	5–7, 6–3, 2–6

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 8 (6–2)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Jul 1995	Lillehammer, Norway	Challenger	Clay	Christian Ruud	6–3, 6–2
Win	2–0	Dec 1995	Perth, Australia	Challenger	Hard	Michael Geserer	7–6, 6–4
Loss	2–1	Jun 1998	Prostejov, Czech Republic	Challenger	Clay	Richard Fromberg	2–6, 2–6
Win	3–1	Jun 1998	Biella, Italy	Challenger	Clay	Jean-Baptiste Perlant	6–7, 6–4, 6–4
Win	4–1	Jul 1998	Ostend, Belgium	Challenger	Clay	Martin Rodriguez	6–2, 6–2
Loss	4–2	Jul 1999	Ulm, Germany	Challenger	Clay	Younes El Aynaoui	6–7, 3–6
Win	5–2	Apr 2000	Paget, Bermuda	Challenger	Clay	Michal Tabara	4–6, 6–3, 6–2
Win	6–2	Feb 2003	USA F4, Brownsville	Futures	Hard	Doug Bohaboy	6–7(4–7), 6–3, 6–4

Doubles: 2 (0–2)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Jul 1995	Lillehammer, Norway	Challenger	Clay	Todd Larkham	Thomas Johansson Lars-Anders Wahlgren	6–3, 3–6, 3–6
Loss	0–2	Oct 1999	Tel Aviv, Israel	Challenger	Hard	Amir Hadad	Noam Behr Eyal Ran	3–6, 2–6

Performance timeline

Singles