Ilie Nastase

Ilie Nastase

When the ATP switched on its computer rankings on 23 August 1973, the machine's first answer was Ilie Nastase. The Bucharest right-hander held the top spot for the first 40 weeks, earned with touch nobody could teach: drop shots off returns, angles invented mid-point, a game built on improvisation rather than force. His 2 majors came in a rush, the 1972 US Open won from two sets to one down against Arthur Ashe, then the 1973 Roland Garros title without dropping a set, the first man to do that in Paris.

He was "Nasty" too, mimicking opponents, arguing with umpires, playing to the crowd until matches became theatre; the antics and the artistry were the same instinct. He owned the year-end Masters, four titles between 1971 and 1975, and gathered 66 career titles, yet Wimbledon escaped him twice: a five-set final lost to Stan Smith in 1972 and a straight-sets loss to a young Bjorn Borg in 1976.