Nastase will lose best seat in house
ILIE NASTASE is set to be banned from Wimbledon’s Royal Box over his sexist tirades that marred Great Britain’s Fed Cup defeat in Romania at the weekend.
Nastase was expelled from the arena after swearing at officials and at rival captain Anne Keothavong and world No7 Johanna Konta.
He was heard to call Keothavong and Konta “f ****** bitches” after the British team had complained about calls from the crowd during points.
He also launched an astonishing rant at a journalist.
Two-time finalist Nastase is a popular and regular figure at Wimbledon. He was in the Royal Box in 2015 wearing a military-style Romanian uniform.
The All England Club have stopped short of blacklisting him but it is inconceivable he would be welcomed back after his rant earned him a provisional suspension by the International Tennis Federation.
An All England Club spokesman said: “Invitations to the Royal Box are at the discretion of the chairman and committee of management, who will take into account a range of factors, including any suspensions, when determining the guest list for the Championships.”
DAN EVANS held his nerve to claim his first ATP Tour win on clay in the first round of the Barcelona Open.
Earlier this month, Evans had bemoaned his failure to get to grips with the surface after Great Britain lost to France in the Davis Cup quarter-final.
But he rose to the occasion against Thiago Monteiro of Brazil, storming through a final-set tiebreak to win 6-7, 6-2, 7-6.
Evans rallied to break Monteiro three times in the second set and won the first five points of the ensuing tiebreak to set up a second-round clash with Mischa Zverev.
Fellow Briton Kyle Edmund continued his fine form on the surface as he brushed aside Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round in Barcelona.
The British No2, who pushed legendary Spaniard Rafael Nadal to three sets in Monte Carlo last week, will now head into a match against Dominic Thiem.