Tennis: Cup ban for Nastase

BRITAIN need concern themselves no longer about courtside antics from Ilie Nastase when they play Romania in the Davis Cup relegation play-off at Manchester a fortnight after Wimbledon. The former terror of the tour was suspended yesterday as the visiting captain, writes John Roberts.

Nastase, 47, was twice warned before being ordered off court by the referee, Britain's Stephen Winyard, for 'audible obscenities and constant abuse and intimidation of officials' during Romania's tie with South Africa in March. The Davis Cup Committee recommended disciplinary action by the International Tennis Federation, which declared Nastase ineligible to captain Romania in the next tie.