Ilie Nastase was my first tennis hero. I can still remember being disappointed when he lost the 1972 Wimbledon final to the American Stan Smith and even more so when he so tamely lost the 1976 final to the emergent Bjorn Borg. With his wavy hair, saturnine looks and entertaining playing style he was arguably the first new superstar of the Open era. With great movement around the court and a wide range of shots he was equally successful in doubles tennis and until the appearance of young superstars like Borg and Connors was probably the biggest name in the game, as evidenced by his signing the first sportswear contract with Nike way back before that became an everyday occurrence in the sport.
But they don't call him Nasty for nothing. While much of his antics on court were entertaining and served to prick the pomposity of the tennis establishment, he undoubtedly went too far on occasion, as we see him practicing the dark art of gamesmanship, especially on the normally placid Arthur Ashe. He was also guilty more than once of making highly inappropriate remarks off-court, nicknaming Ashe in a racially derogative manner while he was playing and many years later to Serena Williams during her pregnancy.
This near two-hour documentary on his life and times doesn't go into any detail on his childhood years. We're not told anything about his parents or his upbringing with his story really only beginning when he pairs up with his long-term doubles partner, the appreciably older Ion Tiriac and makes his breakthrough in both doubles and especially singles disciplines. We see many examples of his brilliance on court but also a number of his pre-McEnroe-type spats with the game's umpires and administrators.
Certainly, there are no shortage of big-name players, past and present, who line up to mostly pay tribute to his maverick ways, including contemporaries like Smith, Borg, Connors, McEnroe and Billie-Jean King and later stars like Mats Wilander, Boris Becker and Rafa Nadal. In particular, he formed a firm friendship and winning doubles partnership with the equally out-there American superstar Jimmy Connors, who speaks warmly of their time together on the circuit.
While I didn't agree with some of the unsporting stunts he occasionally pulled and certainly a number of the unpleasant things he's said off court, I found it impossible not to be won over by this sometimes infuriating but never dull individual. The point is made throughout that Nastase was the type of player who put bums on seats and got people interested in the game who might otherwise have passed it by.
I could have done without the seemingly voguish but sometimes confusing direction style of going back and forth in time and would have appreciated a bit more insight into his personal background, not only his youth but also into his colourful personal life as we learn he was married five times. Some interesting contemporary context, however, is provided when we see the 1972 Davis Cup staged in Nastase's own, Ceausesco-era, very grey Bucharest, against the Americans, where he buckled under the pressure of the expectations of his fellow countrymen and women. We also get a little insight into his entangled love life where it seems he could no more resist a beautiful woman than they could him. Filled with many nostalgic anecdotes and reminiscences, the picture emerges of a complex individual on and off the court, but one who in comparison with the super-fit emotionless automatons of today's game, certainly enlivened the often musty and privileged old game and helped, for better or worse to usher in the modern era.
