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Will you still need him, now that he's 64?
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"I am a little crazy," Ilie Nastase once said of himself, "but I try to be a good boy."
Nastase turned 64 years old Monday, meaning it's somehow been 41 years since he put Romania on the map in Davis Cup play, and 37 years since he was known as the best player in the world - winning 15 titles in 31 tournaments in 1973.
Nastase won two Grand Slam singles titles - the US in 1972 and the French in 1973. He added two mixed doubles Slams and three in doubles, two with American
Jimmy Connors, the third with countryman Ion Tiriac.
Nastase was equal parts genius and clown, on the court and off it. He enjoyed a period in the early to mid 1970s when it was hard to argue that any one player was better, but also went through bouts of suspensions, fines and court walk-offs.
Despite all his impressive stats on the court, his most eye-popping number was revealed in his 2004 autobiogaphy. The book claimed that Nastase had slept with 2,500 women, a number that prompted Maxim magazine to list him among their
"Living Sex Legends."
In an interview after the release of the book, Nastase claimed the estimate was over-exaggerated to promote book sales. and that he had "only" slept with 800-900 women.
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