Mihnea-Ion Năstase (born 7 February 1967) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player from

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. He is a nephew of two-time

Grand Slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

winner

Ilie Năstase Ilie Theodoriu Năstase (; born 19 July 1946) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the inaugural world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 40 weeks. Năstase is one of ten play ...

and his father, Constantin Năstase, was a Romanian

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

representative.

Career

Năstase was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

but grew up in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and went to college in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he played tennis for

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

. Partnering

Leonardo Lavalle Leonardo Lavalle Moreno (born 14 July 1967) is a former tennis player from Mexico, who turned professional in 1985. He represented his native country at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, where he was defeated in the quarterfinals by Spain' ...

, Năstase was a winner in the boys' doubles event at the 1984 US Open. It was his second

final, having finished runner-up to

Mark Kratzmann Mark Edward Kratzmann (born 17 May 1966) is a former Australian professional tennis player. Tennis career Kratzmann was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder in 1983. Juniors As the world's No. 1 ranked junior player in 1984, ...

and

Simon Youl Simon John Arthur Youl (born 1 July 1965) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. Tennis career Youl was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder from 1981 to 1984. Juniors As a junior player, Youl formed a successf ...

in the

1983 Wimbledon Championships The 1983 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 97th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from ...

, with

Olli Rahnasto Olli Rahnasto (born 28 December 1965) is a retired professional tennis player from Finland. Rahnasto turned pro in 1982. During his career, he won two ATP Tour doubles titles and reached a career high doubles ranking of No. 79 in 1986. He was a ...

. In 1984, Năstase became the third member of his family to play for the Romanian Davis Cup team. With

Andrei Dîrzu Andrei Dîrzu is a former Romanian tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), ...

, he took part in Romania's doubles rubber against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in their World Group Relegation Play-off. The West Germans won the match and the tie. Năstase never appeared in the

again.Davis Cup Profile
/ref> The Romanian was primarily a doubles player and it was in the men's doubles that he made his only senior

appearance.ATP World Tour Profile
/ref> It was in the

1989 Wimbledon Championships The 1989 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 103rd edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from ...

, where he and

Lan Bale Lan Bale (born 7 September 1969) is a former professional tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two player ...

lost in the opening round to

Javier Frana Javier Alberto Frana Maggi (; born 25 December 1966) is a former tennis player from Argentina and former tennis commentator for ESPN Latin America. He won 1996 French Open mixed doubles title with compatriot Patricia Tarabini. Tennis career F ...

and his former junior partner Leonardo Lavalle. He was a semi-finalist with

Borja Uribe Borja Uribe-Quintana (; born 24 June 1964) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. Biography Born in Valencia, Uribe attended Louisiana State University and played American collegiate tennis for four years, where he was known by the na ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in 1989 but his best performance came in the

1990 Sanremo Open The 1990 Sanremo Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts held in Sanremo, Italy that was part of the World Series of the 1991 ATP Tour. It was the only edition of the tournament and was held from 30 July to 6 August 1991. S ...

, which he and

Goran Prpic Goran may refer to: Ethnic groups *Gorane, or Goran, an ethnic group of northern Africa *Goran (Kurdish tribe), an ethnic group of the Middle East *Gorani (ethnic group), an ethnic group of southeastern Europe Other uses *Göran, a Swedish name * ...

won.

ATP career finals

Doubles: 1 (1–0)

Challenger titles

Doubles: (3)

References

1967 births Living people Romanian male tennis players US Open (tennis) junior champions Mississippi State Bulldogs men's tennis players Romanian expatriate tennis players in the United States Tennis players from Bucharest Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles 20th-century Romanian sportsmen {{Romania-tennis-bio-stub