Personal

Coached by Max Pace...Favorite surface was clay...Parents are Dumitru, a modern pentathlon coach, and Georgeta, a designer; has younger brother, Daniel...Enjoys listening to music, swimming, soccer and watching NBA basketball...Speaks fluent Italian...Favorites include the book Gone With the Wind, the color red and Italian foods...Likes to visit Switzerland because of its beautiful mountains and lakes...Admired Steffi Graf when growing up...Picks Carl Lewis as world's best athlete.

Career Highlights

SINGLES
Winner (4): 1998 - Strasbourg; 1996 - Amelia Island; 1995 - Palermo; 1994 - Palermo.
Finalist (6): 1999 - Cairo; 1998 - Hilton Head; 1997 - Indian Wells; 1995 - Jakarta; 1994 - Taranto; 1993 - Sapporo.

DOUBLES
Winner (6): 1999 - Paris [Indoors], Luxembourg, Linz (all w/Vis); 1996 - Rome (w/Sanchez-Vicario); 1995 - Jakarta (w/Porwik); 1994 - Taranto (w/van Lottum).
Finalist (7): 1999 - Gold Coast (w/Kunce), Cairo (w/Vis); 1998 - Leipzig (w/Bollegraf); 1997 - Madrid (w/Gorrochategui); 1996 - Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (w/de Swardt), Oakland (w/Tauziat); 1995 - Zagreb (w/L. Golarsa).

ADDITIONAL
Romanian Fed Cup Team 1991-92. Romanian Olympic Team 1992.

Career in Review

1994 - Won first WTA Tour title at Palermo, upsettin top-seed Schultz-McCarthy 64 16 76(75) in final (defended title in 1995)
1996 - Broke into world Top 10 on December 23, the first Romanian woman to do so since Ruzici in 1981; as world No. 22, won Amelia Island by d. No. 14 Pierce in the final; d. Pierce again at Eastbourne; toppled world No. 2 Sanchez-Vicario for second time at Italian Open in QF for her best-ever win; qualified for season-ending championship
1997 - At Australian Open, reached first career Grand Slam QF, the first Romanian woman to reach QF at Australian Open since Ruzici in 1980; surpassed $1 million in career prize money; reached first Grand Slam SF at US Open; seeded No. 11, upset No. 2 seed Seles and No. 6 seed Coetzer en route to SF, falling in a third-set tie-break to V. Williams; world ranking moved up to tie a then-career high of No. 9; avenged US Open SF loss to V. Williams two monthslater in 1r at Philadelphia, and d. No. 5 Seles for second time to reach SF; reached first Tier I-level final at Indian Wells, d. world No. 4 top seed Sanchez-Vicario in SF; capped off best year yet on the tour by qualifying for the season-ending Championships as one of the best 16 players of the year; saved 3mp to d. MJ Fernandez to reach SF
1998 - D. two Top 10 players - Davenport and Seles - in back-to-back third-set tie-breaks to reach final at Hilton Head, saving 3mp against Davenport in the QF; avenged two earlier losses to S. Williams by d. her 63 06 75 3r of US Open in a night match played in a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium; reached season-ending championships SF again in 1998 after upsetting world No. 4 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 1r
1999 - Finalist in singles and doubles at Cairo; saved 2mp in 2r singles match against Boogert, and avenged loss earlier in the year to Pierce; upset No. 6 seed Kournikova to reach QF at Linz before falling to top seed Pierce in 3s; captured first doubles title in three years at Paris [Indoors] w/Vis and won Luxembourg and Linz w/Vis, too; qualified for season-ending championships in doubles
2000 - Upset No. 8 seed Van Roost in straight sets at Paris [Indoors] en route to QF, falling to No. 4 seed Kournikova in 3s