As the old saying goes, wisdom really comes with age; this is usually true, with a few notable exceptions as we have seen watching the Fed Cup tie between Romania and Great Britain. The 70-year-old Romania’s captain Ilie Nastase has been the talk of the town for the entire weekend, sadly for all the wrong reasons.
For those old enough to have witnessed the tennis of the 70’s, Ilie Nastase has been one of the most controversial, histrionic players on the tour. His tennis skills were magical, but his court antics quickly gave him the nickname “Nasty“.
The 1972 U.S. Open and 1973 Roland Garros singles champion became the ATP first number 1 but his career was also known for his fines and disqualifications: here are our top 3 classic “Nasty” moments.
3) Wimbledon 1977 – Nastase vs Borg
Nastase won almost every major event, but he failed to conquer the Championship, defeated in 1972 final by Stan Smith and in 1976 by Bjorn Borg. A year later he faced again “Ice” Borg in the quarterfinals and quickly lost the 1st set with the humiliating score of 0-6. During the match his on-court shenanigans shocked the tennis establishment, but did not translate into a victory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bymYHEFyif8
2) Masters 1975 – Nastase vs Ashe
The prelude of this unique episode in the tennis history began the evening before the match, when Ilie met Ashe at a cocktail bar and told him “Hey Negroni, tomorrow I will make you sweat”. The day after Nastase showed the full repertoire of his tricks, arguing with the umpire, talking with the crowd and tactically delaying the game in such a way that even the normally unflappable Arthur finally decided he had enough and left the court.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-3Xsc8Qea0
1) U.S. Open 1979 – Nastase vs McEnroe
In the 2nd round of the 1979 U.S. Open, the New York crowd witnessed one of the most bizarre matches ever played, when John “Super Brat” McEnroe faced the thirty-three year old Ilie. The Romanian was in the twilight of his career, but he had not mellowed with age.
Nasty’s behaviour reached an all-time low that night, and even the great umpire Frank Hammond could not do anything but surrender to Ilie’s antics, giving him a game penalty and later on declare the match won by McEnroe by default. The rowdy tennis fans started to throw paper cups and beer cans onto the court. In order to avoid a possible riot, the tournament referee Mike Blanchard replaced Hammond in the chair and the play resumed. McEnroe eventually won the match in 4 set.
