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Mansour Bahrami

Mansour Bahrami
Mansour Bahrami RG 2009.jpg
Country (sports) Iran Iran, France France
Residence Paris, France
Born (1956-04-26) April 26, 1956 (age 60)
Arak, Iran
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Turned pro 1974
Retired 2003
Plays Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money $368,780
Singles
Career record 22–46 (ATP, Grand Prix, WCT, Grand Slam & Davis Cup)
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 192 (9 May 1988)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open Q1 (1977)
French Open 2R (1981)
Wimbledon Q1 (1976)
Doubles
Career record 108–139 (ATP, Grand Prix, WCT, Grand Slam & Davis Cup)
Career titles 2
Highest ranking No. 31 (6 July 1987)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 1R (1977Jan)
French Open F (1989)
Wimbledon 2R (1988)
US Open 3R (1987)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Wimbledon 1R (1990)

Mansour Bahrami (Persian: منصور بهرامی‎‎) (born April 26, 1956) is a retired professional tennis player. He is Iranian with dual France nationality since 1989. While only moderately successful on the main ATP tour, his showmanship has made him a long-standing and popular figure in invitational tournaments.

The time came when the Iranian team was short of players and Bahrami was finally permitted to play the game on a tennis court. His talent was obvious and he reached the Davis Cup team (and helped the team to victory at the age of just sixteen) but in the late 1970s the Islamic Revolution within Iran led to tennis being viewed as a capitalist and elitist sport. He spent the next three years playing backgammon as all tennis courts were closed down. In desperation he fled to France with his life savings, which he gambled in a casino and lost.

While his best days were already behind him, and never having maximized his potential in singles, he became a successful doubles player who even reached the French Open doubles final in 1989 with Eric Winogradsky.

Bahrami has been a mainstay of the seniors invitational tennis circuit for about 20 years. Bahrami is considered to have "found his niche" on the ATP Champions Tour, where his flamboyant style and propensity for trick shots chimed with the tour's more entertainment-oriented remit. In reference to his showmanship, his 2009 English-language autobiography was titled The Court Jester.


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Wikipedia

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