The Open Era
West Germany · born Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 1968 · right-handed · grass champion at Bristol and Rosmalen
All playersBack to the rankings
2
Tour singles titles, both on grass
60
Career-high singles ranking, March 1988
4R
Wimbledon 1992, as a qualifier
4R
Australian Open 1988
1986
German junior champion, and the year he turned professional
Saceanu was born in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, on 8 July 1968, the son of a professor of neurosurgery. He took up tennis at nine and was Romania's top-ranked 14-and-under before his family moved to West Germany. In 1986 he won the German junior title and turned professional, and from 1987 he worked in Günther Bosch's group of young players; Bosch had coached Boris Becker. He reached his first tour final at Livingston in 1987, losing to Johan Kriek, and in 1988 reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and a career-high No. 60. That June he won his first title on the grass at Bristol.
He added Challenger titles in Croydon, Bristol and Hong Kong in 1990, then won his second tour title on grass at Rosmalen in June 1991, beating Michiel Schapers in the final. At Wimbledon in 1992 he came through qualifying to the fourth round, where he lost to the eventual champion Andre Agassi. He played club tennis in Germany for Blau-Weiss Neuss and DTG Blau-Weiss Dinslaken, helping Dinslaken to promotion to the Bundesliga in 1996.
| Bristol 1988 | Beat Paul Wekesa, Jérôme Potier, Matt Anger and Derrick Rostagno 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, then Ramesh Krishnan 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in the final |
|---|---|
| Rosmalen 1991 | Beat Michiel Schapers 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in the final |
| Wimbledon 1992 | Qualifier. Beat Guillermo Markus, Cédric Pioline 4-6, 6-4, 0-6, 7-5, 7-5 and Jakob Hlasek 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, then lost to Andre Agassi 7-6, 6-1, 7-6 in the fourth round |
| Grass Challengers | Won Bristol in 1990, beating Arnaud Boetsch 6-3, 6-7, 6-3; runner-up at Manchester in 1995 to Chris Wilkinson 6-4, 6-4 |
| Bristol (West of England) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Men's singles Bristol Open | |
| 's-Hertogenbosch (Rosmalen) | ||
| 1991 | Men's singles Rosmalen Grass Court Championships | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
The person behind the player.
Cluj-Napoca, 1968 to 1980s
Saceanu's father, Alexander, was a professor of neurosurgery and his mother, Ana-Cornelia, a nurse of German descent. The family left Romania for West Germany in the 1980s, and he was naturalised four months after arriving.
Source: German WikipediaNeuss, 1987
Günther Bosch, Becker's former coach, took Saceanu into his group of young players. Bosch judged him less hard mentally than Becker: "Saceanu was able to practice for eight hours and ask me if it was enough. But he could not play under pressure."
Source: Treizeci ZeroWimbledon 1992
Saceanu's run ended against Andre Agassi, who won the title a week later. Agassi recalled: "I started to dial in my game by the time I faced Saceanu, in the fourth round, where I hit a clean ball." Saceanu took two sets to tie-breaks but lost 7-6, 6-1, 7-6.
Source: ATP TourFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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