A great Romanian tennis champion has just retired from competition

36-year old Horia Tecau retires from competition

Florin Orban, 19.11.2021, 13:45

Romania’s best men’s doubles tennis player of all
time, 36-year old Horia Tecau, has announced he retires from competition. Tecau’s
career includes 38 wins in ATP tournaments, participation in three Grand Slam
finals and a silver medal he won in the Olympics.

The Romanian tennis player Horia Tecau has announced
his retirement from competition. Tecau made the announcement on Thursday, after
the last match he played as part of the Champions Tournament in Turin. Here is what
Horia Tecau posted on his Facebook page, QUOTE The flow of emotions is
literally overwhelming, right now. I am grateful. For my trail, for what I have
experienced, for the people I met. Sports was my playground, my school, it taught
me to dream, to be confident and to perfect myself, in time. The energy of the
tennis court as well as that of the tennis lovers offered a big reward and I shall
keep that feeling in my heart forever. Time has come for me to enjoy life differently
and turn the whole amount of that energy into a new form UNQUOTE.

Horia Tecău and the German Kevin Krawietz ended
their trail in this year’s edition of the ATP tournament in Turin with a 6-3,
6-7,10-6 win against Spanish-Argentinean pair made of Marcel Granollers and Horacio
Zeballos. Tecau and Krawietz had been defeated in the first two matches they
played in Turin, so the recent win was not enough for them to make headway into
the competition. In the tournament’s previous editions, pairing up with Robert
Lindstedt of Sweden, Horia Tecau competed twice, while jointly with Dutch
tennis player Jean-Julien Rojer, the Romanian fought in the tournament four
times. We recall Tecau and Rojer emerged as winners in 2015.

Horia Tecău was born in Brasov on January 19, 1985. He
has been playing tennis since he was 7. In 2002, Tecau and another Romanian, Florin
Mergea, were men’s doubles juniors’ champions in Wimbledon. Horia Tecau turned
pro in 2003. Since July 2008, Horia Tecau has earned his place among the world’s
top 100 tennis players according to the men’s doubles rankings. Since November
2009, Tecau earned his position among the world’s top 50 tennis players. His
progress according to the world’s doubles rankings has since been steady, and
in November 2015, Horia Tecau was 2nd-placed in the world. His
career includes 38 men’s double wins in ATP tournaments. Also, Horia Tecau
reached as far as the finals 24 times. In the men’s doubles, Horia Tecau twice
won two Grand Slam tournaments, in Wimbledon, in 2015 and in the 2017 edition
of the US Open. Tecau was pairing up with Dutch tennis player Jean-Julien Rojer
in both events. The Romanian’s record also includes a mixed doubles title. We
recall that in the Australian Open in 2012, Horia Tecau emerged as winner, pairing up with
US tennis player Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The Romanian also reached as far as the
Grand Slam tournaments finals five times, but he was defeated. Horia Tecau
played three Wimbledon finals in 2010, 2011 and 2012, jointly with Robert
Lindstedt. In the Australian Open in 2014, Horia Tecau was pairing up with
Indian tennis player Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles’ version of the
competition. Also in the Australian Open, in 2016, Tecau played the final jointly
with US tennis player CoCo Vandeweghe. In the Olympic Games in Rio, in 2016,
Horia Tecau walked away with silver, a medal he won alongside Florin Mergea. The
Romanian has been Romania’s Davis Cup team member since 2003. Back then Tecau
and Mergea managed to put Romania in the World Group, after a dramatic confrontation
against Ecuadorian challengers, brothers Giovanni and Nicolas Lapentti. Also in
a Davis Cup fixture, Tecau will play for the last time in his career against
Peru, in Cluj Napoca on November 27 and 28.

(Translation by Eugen Nasta)