{"id":504879,"date":"2026-03-31T08:48:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/504879\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T08:48:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:48:12","slug":"ilie-nastase-joins-draw-ceremony-in-bucharest-atp-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/504879\/","title":{"rendered":"Ilie Nastase joins draw ceremony in Bucharest | ATP Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATP Tour
\n ATP No. 1 Club icon Nastase joins draw ceremony in Bucharest<\/p>\n

Main-draw play at ATP 250 to start Tuesday after rain delays qualifying matches<\/p>\n

March 30, 2026<\/p>\n

\"Roberto<\/p>\n

Tiriac Open presented by UniCredit Bank<\/p>\n

Roberto Bautista Agut, Ilie Nastase, Ion Tiriac and Alexander Shevchenko on Saturday in Bucharest.
\n By ATP Staff<\/p>\n

The Tiriac Open presented by UniCredit Bank<\/a> welcomed some Romanian tennis royalty to help launch the 2026 edition of the ATP 250 event. <\/p>\n

The first No. 1 player in PIF ATP Rankings history, Ilie Nastase<\/a>, was in Bucharest on Saturday for the draw ceremony at the clay-court event. Nastase posed for photos with tournament director Ion Tiriac<\/a>, himself a former World No. 55 and five-time tour-level champion, as well as 2026 competitors Roberto Bautista Agut<\/a> and Alexander Shevchenko<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This week on the Tour: Bucharest, Houston and Marrakech \ud83d\ude4c<\/p>\n

Here’s all you need to know \ud83d\udc47https:\/\/t.co\/Ujk91SSg6v<\/a> @emirates<\/a> | #ATPScoutingReport<\/a> | #partner<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ytfGZEb67l<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ATP Tour (@atptour) March 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the most successful performers in Romanian sporting history, Nastase became World No. 1 upon the introduction of the PIF ATP Rankings on 23 August, 1973, and stayed there for 40 weeks. He won 64 tour-level titles across his illustrious career, including two Grand Slam singles titles at the 1972 US Open<\/a> and at Roland Garros<\/a> in 1973, the year he also finished as the first ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF. He also triumphed four times at the Nitto ATP Finals<\/a> (then known as the Masters). <\/p>\n

Nastase and Tiriac were both also top-class doubles players. They won 11 tour-level titles together from 1970 to 1977. The duo was also integral to Romania reaching the Davis Cup Final in 1969, 1971 and 1972. <\/p>\n

Fast-forward to 2026 and it has been a wet start to the week in Bucharest, where rain forced all qualifying matches on Sunday\u2019s schedule to be postponed until Monday. As a result, main-draw play will not begin in the Romanian capital until Tuesday, when fifth seed and 2025 finalist Sebastian Baez<\/a> will be among those in action. <\/p>\n

Baez takes on Vilius Gaubas<\/a> in his opening match, in what will be the pair\u2019s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. Meanwhile his fellow Argentine and seventh seed Mariano Navone<\/a> will kick-start the Central Court schedule with his encounter against Christopher O\u2019Connell<\/a>, while former Top 10 star Bautista Agut competes on Court 2 against Titouan Droguet<\/a>. <\/p>\n