Fiery words exchange between Nastase and McEnroe in historic tennis clash

Former world number one Ilie Nastase has revealed that America’s John McEnroe abused him during the 1979 US Open clash. The 78-year-old had an impressive career where he won multiple Grand Slams. During his playing days, one of his fiercest competitors was the American tennis star.

The two had an interesting meeting at the US Open in 1979 in the second round, where Nastase was disqualified after a complaint of time waste from McEnroe. The Bucharest-born has been quoted in a report where he explained that he was even abused by the former world number one in that contest and his intention was to ‘annoy’ him when he decided to walk slow which became the primary reason for his disqualification.

"He called me, 'Son of a b*tch.' And I replied, 'Mister son of a b*tch,” he said. “It was in 1979. I was 33 years old. I wanted to annoy him. I started walking slowly, wasting time. The umpire asked me, 'Are you hurt?' I said, 'No, I’m just walking slowly because I’m old. McEnroe was getting angry and he asked the umpire to penalize me. The umpire then disqualified me.”

Nastase won two Grand Slams in his career. He first lifted the US Open in 1972 after beating America’s Arthur Ashe in the final in a five-set thriller with a score of 3–6, 6–3, 6–7(1–5), 6–4, 6–3. He then lifted the French Open next year in 1973 after beating Croatia’s Nikola Pilic in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-3, 6-0.

Overall, McEnroe and Nastase faced each other nine times in professional tennis where the former American tennis star had a clear edge as he emerged victorious on six occasions and suffered defeats on three occasions. Their last meeting was in the Davis Cup first round where McEnroe came out on top in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. Interestingly, both players never played in the final of any event. Their most high-profile meeting was in the semifinal of the Forest Hill and Virginia Beach events. More interestingly, Nastase won all his first three matches against McEnroe but lost the last six.