The Nastase Tiriac Trophy is given to the winner of the Romanian Open, the tour stop in Bucharest and the product of the tennis legacies of the two most famous Romanian figures in the sport, Ilie Nastase and Ion Tiriac. The former is most recognized as a great player, the latter as one of the most powerful and shrewd businessmen and operators in global tennis.
It should be an entertaining event but not exactly one that will attract all of the biggest stars in men’s tennis. At this point, we should expect to see at least one player in the Top 25, but possibly not much more than that.
The competition in the 28-player main draw began on Monday, April 18.
Event Details
Event: BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy
Category: ATP 250 Series
Date: April 18 – 24, 2016
Location: Arenele BNR Tennis Complex – Bucharest, Romania
The 2016 Nastase Tiriac Trophy is on the calendar at the same time as the Barcelona Open, a 500-point tournament. This one won’t get as big a field, but it’s still valuable for those who enter it.
With a prize money allotment of 463,520 Euros, the purse is secondary to the goal of getting match play in time for Madrid and Rome, as players jockey for position in terms of being able to either make the qualifying rounds for those Masters tournaments, or to perhaps get a direct-entry slot. The chase is on, and a run to the final means a pretty solid upward move in the rankings tables.
The points structure in a 250-point tournament offers 250 points towards the winner’s ranking. A runner-up finish is worth 150 points. A semifinal result is 90 points, and a quarterfinal appearance offers 45 points.
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2015 – Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Jiri Vesely – 7-6, 7-6
2014 – Grigor Dimitrov def. Lukas Rosol – 7-6, 6-1
2013 – Lukas Rosol def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez – 6-3, 6-2
2012 – Gilles Simon def. Fabio Fognini – 6-4, 6-3
2011 – Florian Mayer def. Pablo Andujar – 7-5, 6-1
Player Info:
Bernard Tomic, ranked at 21 right now (it could be different on Monday), is the top seed. Ivo Karlovic, Federico Delbonis, and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez get byes as the top four seeds. As you can see (by the top four seeds), this isn’t exactly going to be a who’s who of the ATP. However, there is some decent competition here with the aforementioned men as well as the following: Marcos Baghdatis, Guido Pella, Paolo Lorenzi, and Paul Henri-Mathieu, who will round out the top eight seeds.
Pullouts from the tournament include Nicolas Mahut, which isn’t a huge loss to the field. He wasn’t really someone who would have threatened to win it all.
Here’s what’s relevant about this tournament in terms of positioning for the French Open in just over a month: The top 32 players get seeded at the French Open, which should provide a better draw in the first two rounds. Karlovic is ranked 30, Delbonis 36, Garcia-Lopez 38, and Baghdatis 40. Those four players have a realistic chance at a top-32 ranking before the French Open. This begins a series of tournaments in which good performances can lift them into the top 32 and a seed at the French Open. That’s the most tangible prize being fought for – here in Bucharest, but also in the coming weeks at other tour stops. You’ll also want to keep an eye on form. If you’re someone who is going to be betting on the French Open at Roland Garros, then you’ll want to monitor how everyone is doing as we ramp up for the second grand slam of the year.
Arenele BNR
The Arenele BNR is sponsored by the National Bank of Romania, the “BNR” in the name of the facility. The tennis complex in Bucharest has 11 courts, with a stadium court holding 5,000 spectators. The Arenele BNR hosts the WTA Tour version of the Romanian Open in July, after Wimbledon, in a brief extension of the clay-court season following the main spring run on both tours. It’s a wonderful facility and possibly one of the more underrated ones in all of Europe.
Want to give your comments about this article? You can either leave them here or you can join us on the Get More Sports Forum and talk about this article and many more! Brag about your favorite team, argue about an athlete’s performance or tell us about a game you saw. Join a new community of sports fans who live and breathe sports and sports entertainment. It’s free! Join now!
