CONSTANTA, Romania — Ilie Nastase, the Romania Fed Cup captain and former star player, was expelled from a Fed Cup tie with Britain on Saturday after making abusive comments.
The International Tennis Federation had already launched an investigation into racially offensive comments Nastase apparently made on Friday about Serena Williams’s pregnancy.
On Saturday, with Britain’s Johanna Konta leading Sorana Cirstea by 6-2, 1-2, Nastase became embroiled in a squabble about noise from the crowd. When the umpire appealed for calm, Nastase said: “It’s not the opera. What’s your problem?” The comment included an expletive.
Nastase, who is 70, was heard to hurl expletives at Konta, the British captain Anne Keothavong — who also is pregnant, and whose room number he had publicly asked for — and the umpire.