Horia Tecău

2.1. Birthplace and Early Life

Horia Tecău was born on January 19, 1985, in Constanța, Romania. He started playing tennis at the age of seven, showing early promise in the sport. He is right-handed and employs a two-handed backhand.

2.2. Junior Career

Tecău had a distinguished junior career, particularly in doubles. He notably partnered with fellow Romanian Florin Mergea to win the Wimbledon Championships boys' doubles title twice consecutively, in 2002 and 2003. They defeated Brian Baker and Rajeev Ram in the 2002 final, and Chris Guccione and Adam Feeney in the 2003 final. Additionally, Tecău and Mergea reached the finals of the Australian Open boys' doubles in both 2002 and 2003, finishing as runners-up on both occasions.

3.1. Debut and Early Career

Tecău officially turned professional in 2003. His early professional years saw him competing primarily in Challenger and Futures events. He secured his first ATP doubles title on January 16, 2010, at the Auckland Open, partnering with Marcus Daniell. This victory marked a turning point in his career.

In 2010, Tecău began a fruitful partnership with Robert Lindstedt. Together, they won two doubles titles early in the year at Marrakech (Challenger) and Casablanca (ATP 250 Series). They continued their strong form, winning their second title together at 's-Hertogenbosch. At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, Tecău reached his first Grand Slam doubles final with Lindstedt, where they were defeated by Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner. They went on to win two more titles in 2010 at the Swedish Open and the Connecticut Open. In mixed doubles at Wimbledon that year, he and his partner, fellow Romanian Monica Niculescu, lost in the second round.

In 2011, Tecău and Lindstedt reached the final of the Brisbane International but were forced to retire due to Lindstedt's calf injury. Despite this setback, Tecău won the Zagreb Indoors with Dick Norman and the Mexican Open (an ATP 500 event) with Victor Hănescu. He and Lindstedt successfully defended their title at Casablanca and reached the Wimbledon final for a second consecutive year, losing to the Bryan brothers. They also defended their Swedish Open title.

In 2012, Tecău and Bethanie Mattek-Sands won the Australian Open mixed-doubles final on January 29. He reached the semifinals in men's doubles with Lindstedt and lost to Bob and Mike Bryan in a close three-setter. Together they also reached the final of a Masters 1000 for the first time at the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open. At the Summer Olympics, Tecău and teammate Adrian Ungur lost in the first round. In August 2012, Tecău and Lindstedt won the biggest title together, the Masters 1000 title at the 2012 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Tecău and Lindstedt separated in September 2012 after a fruitful three-year relationship where they won a total of 10 titles.

Tecău paired up with Max Mirnyi for 2013. They reached five finals and won three of them. From 2014 to 2019, Tecău and his partner Jean-Julien Rojer won the 2015 Wimbledon and the 2017 US Open. He won the 2016 BRD Năstase Țiriac Trophy and the silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro with Florin Mergea. In 2020-2022, he qualified with his new partner German Kevin Krawietz for the 2021 ATP Finals with whom he won his 38th title in Halle. Tecău played his last match at the 2021 ATP Finals before his retirement. However he postponed his retirement when he was called back to play doubles in the 2022 Davis Cup with Marius Copil where they won their match against Spain duo Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Pedro Martínez (tennis).

3.2. Major Tournament Successes

Tecău's career is marked by significant victories and deep runs in the most prestigious tennis tournaments, including Grand Slams, the ATP Finals, Masters 1000 events, and the Olympic Games.

3.2.1. Grand Slam Doubles

Horia Tecău achieved two men's doubles titles at Grand Slam tournaments. He won the 2015 Wimbledon Championships with Jean-Julien Rojer, defeating the pair of Jamie Murray and John Peers in the final. Two years later, he and Rojer triumphed at the 2017 US Open, beating Feliciano López and Marc López in the final.

Prior to these victories, Tecău reached three consecutive men's doubles finals at Wimbledon with Robert Lindstedt from 2010 to 2012. They were runners-up in 2010 to Melzer and Petzschner, in 2011 to the Bryan brothers, and in 2012 to Jonathan Marray and Frederik Nielsen. He also reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2012 and 2015, and the semifinals of the French Open in 2015.

3.3. Career High Rankings

Horia Tecău achieved his career-high doubles ranking of World No. 2 on November 23, 2015, following a successful season that included a Wimbledon title and an ATP Finals victory. While primarily a doubles specialist, he also reached a singles career-high ranking of World No. 326 on April 4, 2005.

4.1. Overall Doubles Record

Horia Tecău concluded his professional career with an impressive overall doubles record of 473 wins and 286 losses in ATP Tour and Grand Slam main-draw matches, as well as in Davis Cup ties. He won a total of 38 doubles titles and 1 mixed doubles title on the ATP Tour.

His doubles titles are categorized as follows:

• Grand Slam tournaments:** 2 titles (3 runner-ups)
• ATP World Tour Finals:** 1 title (1 appearance)
• ATP World Tour Masters 1000:** 3 titles (3 runner-ups)
• Olympic Games:** 0 titles (1 silver medal)
• ATP World Tour 500 Series:** 10 titles (9 runner-ups)
• ATP World Tour 250 Series:** 22 titles (8 runner-ups)

He achieved titles across various surfaces: 18 on hard courts, 14 on clay courts, and 6 on grass courts. In terms of setting, 32 of his titles were won outdoors, and 6 indoors.

4.2. Career Prize Money

Throughout his professional career, Horia Tecău earned a total prize money exceeding 5.88 M USD. His earnings fluctuated year by year, reflecting his tournament participation and success, with his highest annual earnings coinciding with his peak performance years.