Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 27, 1991                   TAG: 9103270192
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

NASTASE, VILAS AMONG INDUCTEES TO TENNIS HALL

Induction ceremonies will be held at the Newport Casino in Newport, R.I., on July 13. The enshrinement of the three will bring the number of Hall of Fame inductees to 154 since its founding in 1954.

Nastase, the Romanian "Bad Boy" of tennis, was ranked in the world's top ten from 1969 to 1977 and finished the 1973 season No. 1 in the world. The holder of 57 career singles titles, he won the United States Open in 1972 and the French Open in 1973.

"I feel I had to play my way, " Nastase said from Paris. "I played my best tennis and my worst tennis."

Considered one of the greatest shot-makers in the history of the game, Nastase, 44, was a member of the Romanian Davis Cup team from 1966 to 1984, compiling a 110-35 record in both singles and doubles. He also won the doubles titles at the French Open in 1970 with Ion Tiriac, the U.S. Open doubles title in 1975 with Jimmy Connors and the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 1970 and 1972 with Rosemary Casals.

Vilas won the French and U.S. Open singles titles in 1977 and the Australian Open singles in 1978 and 1979. A member of the Argentine Davis Cup squad that was runnerup to the United States in 1981, Vilas, now 38, was ranked in the top 10 from 1974 through 1982 and owns 61 career singles titles.

Cooper, now 54, won the Australian singles crown in 1957 and captured three of the four Grand Slam singles titles in 1958 - the Australian, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open championships.

Cooper teamed with Neale Fraser, already in the Hall of Fame, to win the doubles crown at Australia in 1958, the French in 1958 and the U.S. in 1957. He also captured the 1957 French doubles title with Mal Anderson.