A Fed Cup tennis game between Great Britain and Romania was suspended for a time today, after the Romanian captain was sent off the court for verbal abuse.
Great Britain's Johanna Konta was playing against Sorana Cirstea, when captain Ilie Nastase launched a foul-mouthed outburst in response to complaints about crowd noise.
Play was halted for about 25 minutes and Konta was left in tears after Nastase directed some of the abuse at her. The Guardian reports that he allegedly called the Great Britain captain, Anne Keothavong, and Konta "f***ing b****es," after they complained about noise from the crowd.
Quand Ilie Nastase insulte l'arbitre puis Johanna Konta lors du match de #FedCup entre la Roumanie et la Grande-Bretagne pic.twitter.com/h4BFpZVVPD
— Paul Rouget (@PLRGT) April 22, 2017
He was also heard to have said: "What's your f***ing problem?" to the umpire. The Romania captain was then escorted back to the locker room, while Romania player Simona Halep called for calm in the crowd.
Nastase was linked with controversy earlier in the day, after he was heard making racist comments about Serena Williams' pregnancy at a press conference yesterday.
Konta lost her serve in the next game to go 3-1 down before the umpire suspended play. The Great Britain player was comforted by teammates before the match resumed, which she went on to win 6-2, 6-3 and level the tie.
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