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Mr Nastase: The Autobiography
The amazing life story of the enfant terrible of tennis in the 1970s and 80s – winner of two Grand Slam titles, three Grand Slam doubles titles and twice a Wimbledon finalist.
It is not an overstatement to say that Ilie Nastase was in part responsible for the explosion of interest in tennis in the seventies. Thanks to his success, his lifestyle, his sex appeal and the controversy that continually surrounded him, Nastase's name was recognisable far beyond the confines of tennis.
Yet, he also had a dark side and he regularly got himself into trouble with umpires and spectators alike. His court-side tantrums and manic questioning of line calls could spiral out of control and, all too often, he found himself fined and disqualified – and making the next day's front pages.
Bjorn Borg had great difficulty adjusting to life after retirement and lost vast amounts of money, while the late Vitas Gerulaitis had a major cocaine problem. Ilie reveals how he helped both of them at a time when their problems were taking a huge toll on their personal lives. He also provides opinions and anecdotes on a host of other characters, including John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe, Henri Leconte, Yannick Noah, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.
As a result of his celebrity status, Nastase moved amongst the beautiful people. His book recalls some of his more memorable encounters and experiences, including dancing the night away in New York's Studio 54 and Castel in Paris with the likes of Bianca Jagger and Claudia Cardinale, and bedding some of the world's most desirable women (an Italian countess and a former Miss UK are among his conquests).
For the many sports fans who followed tennis and followed his career, his stories behind the varied headline-grabbing outbursts will prove fascinating and irresistible.
It is not an overstatement to say that Ilie Nastase was in part responsible for the explosion of interest in tennis in the seventies. Thanks to his success, his lifestyle, his sex appeal and the controversy that continually surrounded him, Nastase's name was recognisable far beyond the confines of tennis.
Yet, he also had a dark side and he regularly got himself into trouble with umpires and spectators alike. His court-side tantrums and manic questioning of line calls could spiral out of control and, all too often, he found himself fined and disqualified – and making the next day's front pages.
Bjorn Borg had great difficulty adjusting to life after retirement and lost vast amounts of money, while the late Vitas Gerulaitis had a major cocaine problem. Ilie reveals how he helped both of them at a time when their problems were taking a huge toll on their personal lives. He also provides opinions and anecdotes on a host of other characters, including John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe, Henri Leconte, Yannick Noah, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.
As a result of his celebrity status, Nastase moved amongst the beautiful people. His book recalls some of his more memorable encounters and experiences, including dancing the night away in New York's Studio 54 and Castel in Paris with the likes of Bianca Jagger and Claudia Cardinale, and bedding some of the world's most desirable women (an Italian countess and a former Miss UK are among his conquests).
For the many sports fans who followed tennis and followed his career, his stories behind the varied headline-grabbing outbursts will prove fascinating and irresistible.
413 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2004
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About the author
Ilie Nastase
5 booksIlie Năstase is a Romanian former professional tennis player, one of the world's top players of the 1970s.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 28, 2015
Ilie Nastase is a man I would have loved to watch in his prime. I doubt we will ever see a generation of entertainers similar to McEnroe, Connors, Nastase and Borg simply because of the modern day players' code of conduct (both written and unwritten) and the current big four's politeness towards each other.
The book itself is a delightful, light-hearted read for tennis fans. It delves deeply into Nastase's relationship with his partner-manager, Tiriac, his modest upbringing in Romania, his many female conquests and his topsy-turvy relationship with the All-England Tennis Club. His rivalry with Borg, French Open victories and relationship with Connors are explored well enough though I would have liked to know more about his take on Connors.
It does not contain enough details of his matches to satisfy me, though his hilarious anecdotes more than make up for the lack of ball-by-ball commentary on his matches over the years.
If you enjoyed this book then I highly recommend McEnroe's latest autobiography and The Outsider: A Memoir by Jimmy Connors.
The book itself is a delightful, light-hearted read for tennis fans. It delves deeply into Nastase's relationship with his partner-manager, Tiriac, his modest upbringing in Romania, his many female conquests and his topsy-turvy relationship with the All-England Tennis Club. His rivalry with Borg, French Open victories and relationship with Connors are explored well enough though I would have liked to know more about his take on Connors.
It does not contain enough details of his matches to satisfy me, though his hilarious anecdotes more than make up for the lack of ball-by-ball commentary on his matches over the years.
If you enjoyed this book then I highly recommend McEnroe's latest autobiography and The Outsider: A Memoir by Jimmy Connors.
January 8, 2020
A belting read! A bloke that you would absolutely love to spend time with and listen to. An absolute hoot! What happened to all of the true 'sports personalities' like Ilie? The world is a duller place without them isn't it??
May 4, 2021
Great book about a great tennis player and a great character that lit up the world of tennis for both good and bad reasons, but was always so very entertaining to watch. He tells the story of his life with great candour, not only about his tennis, but his personal life as well. For Ilie Nastase he was always just being himself.
December 28, 2012
Easy to read book if you love tennis.
July 26, 2025
With a few rare exceptions, today’s elite tennis players are either spoilt, entitled brats or two dimensional automata micro-managed by hordes of support staff. Images carefully controlled by media experts and PR agents. It wasn’t always so, tennis players used to have characters, they were recognisably human, often visibly imperfect. This now rather old autobiography is of one of the greatest of those characters, a man we loved to hate and also simply loved and whose antics on and off courts we were addicted to.
Nastase would delight us one minute, break our hearts the next and make us angry a few moments later. He was not just a temperamental, funny, brilliant player, he was also very much a rogue and was rarely out of the news. His Wimbledon final against Stan Smith is for me the greatest ever. If you get a chance watch it and feel the joy and the pain.
This is an amusing book that tries to be honest and self-critical and mostly succeeds. Far more than just a boring account of matches and tournaments, Nastase was larger than life and revels in his naughtiness.
Nastase would delight us one minute, break our hearts the next and make us angry a few moments later. He was not just a temperamental, funny, brilliant player, he was also very much a rogue and was rarely out of the news. His Wimbledon final against Stan Smith is for me the greatest ever. If you get a chance watch it and feel the joy and the pain.
This is an amusing book that tries to be honest and self-critical and mostly succeeds. Far more than just a boring account of matches and tournaments, Nastase was larger than life and revels in his naughtiness.
April 17, 2025
Not much faith in autobiograpies. This one is pretty average. I did so love Mr Nastase as a player. He mostly glosses over his bad boy image, but its a very good insight into the pre megabucks tour. Not many players even write about their playing days, and most of those are quite pedestrian books.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews