Ilie Nastase Quotes
- Mini Bio
- Name: Ilie Năstase
- Born: 19th July 1946, Bucharest, Romania
- Occupation: Tennis player
- Grand Slam titles: Ilie won 7 grand slam titles; 2 singles, 3 doubles and 2 mixed doubles
- ATP Titles: He is in the top 10 players for winning Association of Tennis Professionals titles with his record standing at 103 being made up of 58 singles and 45 in doubles
- Nicknames: Nasty and the Bucharest Buffoon
- Famous firsts: He was the first male tennis player to have won the French Open title without dropping a set during his 1973 triumph in Paris
"I was always rather nasty. I was willing to be friends with the Devil, just to cross the bridge"
Ilie Nastase"I don't need this. I'm 70 years old. I don't even get paid for being team captain. I don't give a sh1t if they fine me or don't let me sit in the captain's chair"
Ilie Nastase"In 1973, when everyone else refused to play at Wimbledon but I did - does that not count for something?"
Ilie Nastase"The player who wants to conquer the summit cannot afford to be kind ... He must want to kill"
Ilie Nastase"What does Wimbledon have to do with what I said about Serena and at the match in Romania?"
Ilie Nastase"They should send Borg to another planet. We play tennis. He plays something else"
Ilie Nastase"I haven't reported my missing credit card to the police because whoever stole it is spending less than my wife"
Ilie Nastase"I was president of the Romanian Tennis Federation for 13 years but now I have moved on"
Ilie Nastase"Why write a news story like this? Just to have a scandal? There are many more important things going on"
Ilie Nastase"As long as I can get angry then I play well"
Ilie Nastase"I don’t regret it and they can send me to prison if they want - I don’t care"
Ilie Nastase"If you have confidence you have patience. Confidence, that is everything"
Ilie Nastase"Anything I say, I am the bad boy"
Ilie Nastase"I don't believe you can compare eras. It's not right"
Ilie Nastase"It’s not an opera it’s a game"
Ilie Nastase
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Ilie Nastase Biography
Bio By: Michael Joseph Farrelly
Ilie Nastase was the original bad boy of tennis whose on court antics and temper tantrums won him nearly as many critics as the ATP trophies he accumulated. He was a natural athlete that was gifted with a velvet touch whenever he grasped a tennis racket.
He was equally adept at the baseline as he was attacking the net but it was his elegant stroke play coupled with his on court speed and delicate touch that saw him rise to the top of the tennis world in the early 1970's.
It was not just his tennis that made headlines as his film star good looks drew as much interest from the ladies as it did from the tabloids. Nastase proved there was life after tennis as he has penned 8 books including novels and his own autobiography and he has kept his indomitable spirit which still captures tabloid headlines.
Without doubt he was one of the most gifted players of his generation as well as being one of the most out spoken, meaning he was always good for a one liner, so here is my compilation of 15 of the best Ilie Nastase quotes.
Quotes About Ilie Nastase
The sports journalist Rino Tommasi commented: "Tennis would need a Nastase every generation"
The tennis legend Björn Borg kept his cool: "I can't get mad at Nastase when he gives the numbers. When we leave the field, everything returns to its place and we are friends as before"
The sports writer Gian Luca Favetto called him: "The happy gypsy, great champion of unpredictability, quick and light, provocative temperament and histrionic whims"
Jimmy Connors knew it was the end: "When the fines got tougher than the prizes we were winning, I told myself that it was time to end the partnership"
The Romanian footballer Mihai Stoica defended his compatriots outburst in the Fed Cup tie: “Ilie Nastase is perhaps the most talented sportsman in the history of Romanian sports and it hurts me when a man of such value - because he did nothing - can be attacked"
The Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci was just as sympathetic: "Ilie is very patriotic and sometimes he says things that he doesn't really mean - it's just Ilie, and he will always be my friend"
