2001 IN REVIEW


The Romanian No.1 for a fourth consecutive season finished in Top 30 for second year in a row ... Won biggest ATP title of his career at Tennis Masters Series Montreal during a summer .... Began season slowly with a 3-5 record before reaching SF in Rotterdam ( I. to Federer ) in late February .... Following month , advanced to 4th RD at TMS in Miami ( D. Grosjean , I.to Roddick ) ... Opened European clay court circuit with SF in Estoril ( I. to Mantilla ) and struggled in his next four events ( 1-4 ) before turning in QF at St. Poelten ... Did not win back-to-back matches again until late July when he reached QF in Kitzbuhel ... Following week , returned to hard courts at TMS Montreal and put together impressive victories over Mallise , Clavet , Arazi , Roddik , Haas and Top 10 Rafter in final ... Held 46 consecutive service games and saved 16 of 16 break points until losing serve in first game of second set vs. Rafter .... Afterward moved from 46th to 20th in ATP Champions Race .... Struggled rest of season , not winning consecutive matches and going 6-8 .... Earned a career-high ,714.

Pavel's Dream Comes True in Montreal ( Aug 6, 2001 )


The Romanian defeats Rafter in three sets.

Unseeded Andrei Pavel became the first Romanian to win a Tennis Masters Series title following his 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3 victory over Australia's Patrick Rafter in the final in Montreal.

Pavel, the 27-year-old from Constanta, fell to the ground and kissed the court repeatedly as he sealed the biggest win of his career with an ace.

"I'm so nervous right now," Pavel told the record Montreal crowd. "It's a dream come true. I told myself to keep smiling, to enjoy it and to just go for it. It paid off."

Pavel, who became the first Romanian to win in Canada since Ilie Nastase won in Toronto in 1972, now rises to 20th position in the ATP Champions Race 2001, and adds the TMS Montreal shield to his previous ATP titles in Tokyo 1998 and St. Poelten 2000.

Pavel: "This is the highest of the highest for me right now."

"I'm so nervous right now," Pavel told the record Montreal crowd. "It's a dream come true. I told myself to keep smiling, to enjoy it and to just go for it. It paid off." Pavel, who became the first Romanian to win in Canada since Ilie Nastase won in Toronto in 1972, now rises to 20th position in the ATP Champions Race 2001, and adds the TMS Montreal shield to his previous ATP titles in Tokyo 1998 and St. Poelten 2000.

"This is the highest of the highest for me right now," said Pavel. "I couldn't really believe it. It's amazing. You know, to beat Rafter in the final of the Masters Series, imagine how Goran [Ivanisevic] felt at Wimbledon. It's a huge tournament. It's one of the biggest tournaments on earth, so it's amazing - a very good feeling."

With early victories over Xavier Malisse and Francisco Clavet, Pavel continued his impressive run with back-to-back wins over Hicham Arazi, Andy Roddick and Tommy Haas to reach his first final of the year.

Rafter, the 1998 Toronto champion, was attempting to become only the fourth player to win at both sites since the venue began alternating in 1981. But Pavel had other ideas.

Possessing one of the best backhands in the game, the Romanian took the opening set in the tie-break in 51 minutes and seemed to be in control of the match until Rafter broke the formidable Pavel serve - the first time it had been breached since Clavet achieved the feat in the second round - and opened up a 3-1 lead.

Another break of serve was enough for Rafter to level matters at one set all, but as the match went into the decider, it was Pavel who came out on top after breaking Rafter's serve for the first time in the match in the eighth game.

Rafter, who reached his fifth Tennis Masters Series final with victories over last year's finalist Harel Levy, Magnus Norman, Todd Martin, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Fabrice Santoro, now rises to fourth position in the ATP Champions Race 2001.

"I just wasn't timing the ball as well as I would have liked," said Rafter. "He played well and hit the right shots at the right moment. My serve was too predictable and I put too much pressure on myself towards the end of the match."

Looking ahead, Rafter added: "There's a long year left yet, and fourth [position] won't hold up if the results aren't good. So I have to continue to have the good results and if I do I will be able to cement myself a spot there."

Earlier in the tournament, three-time champion Andre Agassi fell to Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic in the first round, top seed Gustavo Kuerten fell to Roddick in a preview of this week's first round clash in Cincinnati, and defending champion Marat Safin retired injured against Nicolas Escude.

Pavel's march to the title was observed by record crowds all week. The tournament set an all-time attendance record with 165,611 fans on site, 13,889 more than the previous record in 1999. This was the biggest attendance ever for a Canadian tournament, and 12 out of 15 sessions were sold out on Center Court.