Mansour Bahrami ( fa, منصور بهرامی; born 26 April 1956) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. He is

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

with dual

French nationality French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nationality, ''jus sanguinis'' ( ...

since 1989. While only moderately successful on the

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...

, his showmanship has made him a long-standing and popular figure in invitational tournaments.

Tennis career

Mansour Bahrami reached the Davis Cup team at the age of 16. But following Iran's Islamic Revolution in the late 1970s, tennis was viewed as a

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

and elitist sport and therefore banned. Because all tennis courts in Iran were closed down, he spent the next three years playing

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...

. In desperation, he fled to France with his life savings, which he gambled in a casino and lost. With his best days behind him and his potential in singles never fully realized, he became a successful doubles player, winning two tournaments and reaching the 1989 French Open doubles final with

Éric Winogradsky Éric Winogradsky (born 22 April 1966) is a French former professional tennis player. He never reached a final in singles on the ATP Tour, but was much more successful in doubles, winning two titles and finishing runner-up at the 1989 French Op ...

Senior tournaments

Bahrami has been a mainstay of the seniors invitational tennis circuit for more than 25 years. Bahrami is considered to have "found his niche" on the ATP Champions Tour,ATP profile
/ref> where his flamboyant, humorous style and propensity for trick shots make him a crowd favorite in the tour's more entertainment-oriented sphere. In reference to his showmanship, his 2009 English-language autobiography was titled ''The Court Jester''. His comic turns on the court often include faking serves, slow-motion miming, hitting balls backwards between his legs, over his shoulder or from the back, and playing while laying down or seated.

ATP career finals

Doubles: 12 (2–10)

Challenger finals

Doubles: 5 (3–2)

Bibliography and filmography

* * * ''The Man behind the Moustache'', DVD (2009).

Notes

References

External links

* * * *
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahrami, Mansour French male tennis players Iranian emigrants to France Iranian male tennis players Naturalized citizens of France People from Arak, Iran Sportspeople of Iranian descent 1956 births Living people