59. "Autobiography of Mr. Năstase", translated by Mihai Dan Pavelescu, Bucharest, 2004, with the signature and handwritten dedication of the athlete

Ilie Năstase is one of the greatest tennis players in history, the world leader of the '70s. He won over 100 ATP titles, 64 singles and 45 doubles. Among the 58 singles titles that Ilie Năstase won throughout his career are the US Open in 1972, and Roland Garros in 1973. In doubles, he won the Wimbledon tournaments in 1973, Roland Garros in 1970 and US Open in 1975. He also won four times the Champions Tournament in 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1975. For the Romanian Davis Cup team, he played a total of 146 singles and doubles matches over 18 years, winning 109 of them. Alongside Ion Țiriac, he was a Davis Cup finalist three times, in 1969, 1971 and 1972. He was in second place in the singles competition at Wimbledon twice, in 1972, playing the final against Stan Smith, and in 1976, against Björn Borg. Năstase was known for his arena jokes, but also for his reputation of using aggressive tactics, many of which were successful, thus receiving the nickname "Nasty". Ilie Năstase was persuaded by Horst Dassler, the son of Adidas founder, to sign with the sports equipment manufacturing company, in 1973. On the day he went to conclude the contract, Năstase was the protagonist of an amusing episode, mistakenly reaching Puma, a company that has its headquarters in the same city as Adidas, Herzogenaurach, located in the southern region of Germany, 200 km north of Munich.

Dimensions

width 13 cm, height 20.5 cm

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