He was ranked as the inaugural world No. He also won four Masters Grand Prix year-end championships. He was the first professional sports figure to sign an endorsement contract with Nike , doing so in They represented Romania in the Davis Cup competition, being runners up in , , and His first victories against top players happened in in Stockholm , where he defeated Tony Roche and Stan Smith. Indoor Open in Salisbury, Maryland. In , he became the No. This tournament was the only event of the year in which all the best players participated.
He was the world No. He also won the 'Martini and Rossi' Award, voted for by a panel of journalists [ 9 ] and was ranked No. The Romanian, however, lost the final to Guillermo Vilas in five sets. Since this incident, umpires have always used a courtesy title when addressing the players directly. Nastase later became the title of his autobiography.
He was still one of the 20 best players in ; at Wimbledon , he again reached the quarterfinals. Then Pohmann began cramping badly in his leg. The racket was known for creating large amounts of top spin and unpredictable bounces.
Vilas quit the match in protest of the racket. A near-riot followed as the crowd disagreed with the umpire's decision, throwing beer cans and cups on court. The match was restarted, with the umpire being replaced, before McEnroe won. During the second rubber, after the crowd had been told to respect the players, he said to match umpire Andreas Egli: "It's not the opera, what's your fucking problem?
He additionally sent flowers to the British team. Williams released a statement on social media branding the comments about her unborn child as racist, noting that it saddened her that we live in a society where these comments can be made. After about 30 occasions of this happening, Shriver asked him to stop asking that, which he did. Even during a crucial phase of a match, he was likely to do something bizarre that would entertain the crowd. One of the fastest players, he is remembered for his magnificent lobs and retrieves.
