Intruder from the East

Bordered by quietly elegant homes and supported by a highly exclusive membership, the West Side Tennis Club of Forest Hills, N.Y., is a bastion of bourgeois gentility. Last week its manicured grounds were savaged by an intruder from the socialist East, a lank-haired and slightly mad lieutenant of the Rumanian army named Ilie Nastase, 26. Flying about the grass courts like an impassioned Gypsy dancer, Nastase came from behind to defeat Arthur Ashe of Richmond 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 and win the U.S. Open championship. His reward: a check for $25,000 and a stylish Pinto station wagon that should be the talk of Bucharest.

Nastase's mercurial style, on and off the court, has become a topic of controversy in U.S. tennis. "Ilie is a heck of a player," Ashe conceded at the championship awards ceremony, but added: "When he brushes up on his manners, he'll be an even better player." Nastase, standing near by, responded by gleefully waving his winner's check and pressing it to his forehead. But later he displayed a saving touch of remorse: "Arthur is my good friend. I am upset that he said something bad, but maybe he was nervous too. Everyone was nervous."

Everyone who plays against Nastase usually is. Early in the match, Ilie began to get on Ashe's nerves by protesting the linesmen's eyesight and judgment with baroque Balkan--and some internationally known--gestures. Irked by a footfault call, he dropped his racket in disbelief. Later, convinced that a service linesman had robbed him on an out call, Nastase threw a towel toward the official and whacked a ball at him. Such unseemly pique drew boos from the crowd and a rebuke from Ashe, who complained to the umpire.

Default. That was not the first time Nastase has annoyed his fellow touring pros. In Paris last December he used similar antics to needle Cliff Richey into flubbing a match. A month later Nastase ran into an American with a temperament equal to his own: Clark Graebner. The two traded insults; suddenly, Graebner leaped over the net and grabbed Nastase. Order was restored and the set completed, but the rattled Rumanian then walked off the court and defaulted the match.

While some of Nastase's comrades are less than enthusiastic about his behavior, no one denies his talent. "Ilie's best shot," says Ashe, "is his athletic ability. He's so fast with his feet and hands." Nastase, the son of a bank cashier, began to display that ability at the age of eight on Bucharest's slow clay courts. As his career soared he teamed with glowering Ion Tiriac to make Rumania a formidable threat* in big-league tennis. Before last week, Nastase was acknowledged as the world's best on clay. His victory over Ashe--coupled with his close battle against U.S. Champion Stan Smith at Wimbledon last July--proves that he is a top contender for the position last held by Rod Laver: the game's premier player on any surface.

*Rumania will meet the U.S. next month in the Davis Cup finals.

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