Athlete of the Week: Tennis Player Horia Tecau

The Romanian-Dutch team Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer have won the mens doubles final at Wimbledon, in a three set match, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 against Jamie Murray of the UK and John Peers of Australia.

Ștefan Baciu, 14.07.2015, 13:25

The Romanian-Dutch team Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer have won the mens doubles final at Wimbledon, in a three set match, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 against Jamie Murray of the UK and John Peers of Australia.

This is the first time that Tecau wins at Wimbledon, and not for lack of trying. He got to the finals three times in a row, in 2010, 11 and 12, playing alongside Swedish Robert Lindstedt. Tecau thus becomes the second Romanian to win a mens title in a Grand Slam in the doubles, after Ilie Nastase won in the US Open in 1975, playing alongside Jimmy Connors. Tecau and Rojer have played 13 finals since they paired up in 2014, winning ten of them. For his accomplishments, Horia Tecau is RRIs choice for Athlete of the Week.

As he himself said upon returning home after the competition, the Wimbledon title was the loftiest dream. He said: “I have to come back to my senses, enjoy this trophy and find the next dream. I think the next dream for me will be the US Open title. I have to have another dream, another motivation, to go forward.

Horia Tecau and Jean Julien Rojer have now reached the top of the ATP Race standings, published on Monday, for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Tecau and Rojer have gone up three places, and have more than 600 points over their closest competitors, Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil. The best eight pairs of the year take part in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals between November 15 and 22, played on a hard court.

Horia Tecau was born in Brasov on January 19, 1985. He started tennis when he was seven. In 2002 he won the Wimbledon title in the junior doubles, next to Florin Mergea. He turned pro in 2003. Since July 2008 he has been in the top 100 players in the world in the doubles, moving to the top 50 in November 2009. In the summer of 2012, he reached the top five of players in the world, the best placed Romanian player in the double formula in the history of the ATP, before this last great accomplishment.