Mansour Bahrami


Mansour Bahrami is a former professional tennis player. He is Iranian with dual French nationality since 1989. While only moderately successful on the ATP Tour, his showmanship has made him a long-standing and popular figure in invitational tournaments.

Tennis career

When the Iranian team was short of players, Bahrami was permitted to play the game on a tennis court. His talent was obvious and he reached the Davis Cup team 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, of 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 Éric Winogradsky.

Senior tournaments

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.

ATP career finals

Doubles: 12 (2–10)

ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–11986ATP BordeauxClay Ronald Agénor Jordi Arrese
David de Miguel
5–7, 4–6
Loss0–21986MercedesCupClay Diego Pérez Hans Gildemeister
Andrés Gómez
4–6, 3–6
Loss0–31986Paris MastersCarpet Diego Pérez Peter Fleming
John McEnroe
3–6, 2–6
Loss0–41987Monte-Carlo MastersClay Michael Mortensen Hans Gildemeister
Andrés Gómez
2–6, 4–6
Loss0–51987Geneva OpenClay Diego Pérez Ricardo Acioly
Luiz Mattar
6–3, 4–6, 2–6
Win1–51988Geneva OpenClay Tomáš Šmíd Gustavo Luza
Guillermo Pérez Roldán
6-4 6-3
Loss1–61988Toulouse Grand PrixHard Guy Forget Tom Nijssen
Ricki Osterthun
3–6, 4–6
Loss1–71989French OpenClay Éric Winogradsky Jim Grabb
Patrick McEnroe
4–6, 6–2, 4–6, 6–7
Loss1–81989Geneva OpenClay Guillermo Pérez Roldán Andrés Gómez
Alberto Mancini
3–6, 5–7
Win2–81989Toulouse Grand PrixHard Éric Winogradsky Todd Nelson
Roger Smith
6–2, 7–6
Loss2–91990ATP BordeauxClay Yannick Noah Tomás Carbonell
Libor Pimek
3–6, 7–6, 2-6
Loss2–101991Copenhagen OpenCarpet Andrei Olhovskiy Todd Woodbridge
Mark Woodforde
3–6, 1–6

Challenger finals

Doubles: 5 (3–2)