YOU NASTY MAN
Racist jibe at Serena... sexist slur at GB’s Anne
TENNIS legend Ilie Nastase is being investigated after making a racist jibe about the colour of Serena Williams’ unborn baby and asking Great Britain Fed Cup captain Anne Keothavong for her hotel room number.
The International Tennis Federation are probing comments made by Nastase at a media event ahead of Romania’s World Group II play-off against Great Britain here on the Black Sea coast.
Romania’s No 1 Simona Halep was asked to comment on Williams expecting her first child with white fiance Alexis Ohanian. As Halep answered in English, Nastase said in Romanian: ‘Let’s see what colour it has. Chocolate with milk?’
The 70-year-old former world No 1 also asked 33-year-old Keothavong, who is 18 weeks pregnant, for her room number as the pair had a picture taken together. Nastase (right) then said to her: ‘We keep being attracted.’
THE Great Britain team had been warned to expect erratic behaviour from a man who was nicknamed Nasty as a player and is known for loud and unseemly outbursts courtside.
But even that could not prepare them for the disturbing behaviour of Romania’s Fed Cup captain Ilie Nastase at a pre-tournament media conference here in this Black Sea resort.
Romania’s No 1 player Simona Halep was asked for her reaction to the announcement this week that 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams is 20 weeks pregnant.
News that reigning Wimbledon champion Williams is expecting her first child with fiance Alexis Ohanian, who is white and of Armenian descent, came as a surprise especially as she won the Australian Open while eight weeks pregnant.
Halep said: ‘I think it’s a good thing for her. It’s nice to have a kid. I wish her the best in life, she was a great player and in my opinion she will come back and win more tournaments.’
But while she was answering in English, Nastase said, as an aside in Romanian: ‘Let’s see what colour it has. Chocolate with milk?’
The other three players in the Romania squad at the press conference — Irina-Camelia Begu, Sorana Cirstea and Monica Nicu- lescu — had little choice but to smile politely. It comes two weeks after Nastase, who has been Fed Cup captain since October, made unsubstantiated and outrageous comments about Williams’ physique resembling that of a doper.
Nastase has a history of making seemingly racist remarks.
In 2010 he was fined by Romania’s National Council Against Discrimination for saying French president Nicolas Sarkozy was right to deport Roma people. He has also admitted calling Arthur Ashe ‘negroni’ when the pair played together, although in his autobiography Mr Nastase, he insisted this was intended as a term of endearment.
The 70-year-old, who has been married four times and has boasted of sleeping with 800 to 900 women, also admitted treating female players differently. ‘I don’t get angry, especially with the girls,’ he said. ‘If I was with the boys, maybe, but because I am with the girls I have to behave.’
The two-time Slam champion is also being investigated by the International Tennis Federation after asking Anne Keothavong, 33, for her hotel room number while the pair were having a photograph taken together at a pre-event press conference.
Nastase swung his arm tightly round the GB captain and said: ‘We keep being attracted.’
Keothavong was already aware of Nastase’s problematic character, stating in an interview last month: ‘Don’t worry. I come from a Hackney council estate and I can give as good as I get.’
She dismissed him with a withering smile and looked uncom- fortable, though not rattled. Of more concern was the miserable weather on Romania’s southeastern coast which has interrupted the team’s practice schedule since they arrived on Tuesday.
The wind and rain-lashed clay court at the IDU tennis club is expected to have recovered in time for play to start an hour behind schedule.
With all the Romanian women playing on their favoured clay surface and in front of a home crowd, Keothavong is aware Britain face a huge challenge as they attempt to end a 24-year wait to reach the elite level of the Fed Cup. ‘It’s going to be tough,’ she said. ‘It’s the first matches on clay for everyone, we’re playing away with what I understand is a sell-out crowd but it’s something we’re all going to embrace.
‘The Romanians will feel the pressure and it’s up to us to take advantage of that and give it a good shot,’ she added. ‘I don’t see any reason why an upset isn’t possible this weekend because we have players who are more than capable of producing great tennis on any given day.’
An ITF Statement said: ‘ The ITF does not tolerate discriminatory and offensive language and behaviour of any kind. We are aware of alleged comments made by Romanian captain Ilie Nastase and have begun an immediate investigation.’ NOVAK DJOKOVIC last night suffered a shock 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 defeat by Belgium’s world No 13 David Goffin in the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals.
Let’s see what colour it has. Chocolate with milk?