Ilie Nastase is currently facing a lengthy ban from tennis right after he was ejected from the UK vs. Romania Fed Cup tie for bad language. After this he broke up with the Tennis Club IDU with parting shots at everybody from the match referee to the UK team and also visiting reporters.
Nastase’s behaviour absolutely overshadowed the matchplay on a day, which should have been about top notch 10 players, including Simona Halep and Johanna Konta. Instead, local TV stations preferred repeating videos of his outrageous departure from the venue.
After a mostly uneventful first play, in which Halep had Heather Watson beaten, the trouble started halfway through the second. It felt like the chair umpire, Jaume Kampistol triggered Nastase’s ire by simply asking for the crowd to be respectful to the sportsmen. Then, Nastase challenged Kampistol using abusive words.
Nastase was warned for his conduct, though as usual, the argument only made him angry. Therefore, Andreas Egli made him leave the court.