The good, the bad, the ugly: the weekend in tennis

Well, what a weekend in tennis THAT proved to be.

As the dust settles on all the drama that unfolded across Europe – from Monte Carlo to Romania to Stuttgart – as well as elsewhere, we recap the good, the bad and the ugly.

It was mostly ugly.

But first, we start on a positive note. Rafael Nadal charged to his 10th title in Monte Carlo, becoming the first man in the Open Era to win any title 10 times.

By clinching his 50th claycourt title and extending his near-flawless record in Monaco to 63-4, the Spaniard has positioned himself well for another shot at a dominant claycourt season, especially with Roger Federer out of the picture for the next month and Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray struggling for form.

Here’s vision of Rafa’s victory over compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas. He dropped just four games:

But, now the bad. Nadal perhaps may not have even reached the final, had it not been for the unfortunate intervention of a chair umpire.

In the semifinals, Nadal trailed David Goffin by a break in the opening set and missed a forehand long to fall behind 2-4.

Except that’s not what the scoreline ended up reading. Chair umpire Cedric Mourier hopped out of the chair, found a different mark which had clipped the line, and ordered the point replayed. Goffin, and the crowd, were furious.

The rattled Belgian barely won another game.

Debate raged on twitter as to whether Nadal should have conceded the point. Journalist Peter Bodo discovered that criticising the 14-time major winner on Twitter is not an advisable course of action …

Nadal should have given Goffin that point CM screwed up on; it was so far out he had to know. Disappointing non-sportsmanship

— Pete Bodo (@ptbodo) April 22, 2017

just saw the the incident. LOL at anyone who thinks Nadal should have given Goffin the point. Ball bounced 82 feet away from him.

— Ricky Dimon (@Dimonator) April 22, 2017

Back to some good stuff.

Belarus is in the Fed Cup final for the first time! Aryna Sabalenka’s three-set victory over Swiss Viktorija Golubic gave the hosts nation an unassailable 3-1 lead in Minsk and nearly blew the roof off the Chizhovka Arena.

And that’s when it got bad again. Arriving on court to celebrate with her compatriots after supporting her country from the sidelines, Victoria Azarenka got kicked in the face.

Ouch, Vika got kicked in the face during the celebration???? pic.twitter.com/4of9EbQfjY

— Mike (@mrenzaero) April 23, 2017

And then we turn to the ugly. Which almost solely features the Romania v Great Britain Fed Cup World Group II play-off tie in Constanta, Romania.

Serious question: who didn’t Ilie Nastase offend throughout the course of the tie?

First, he was inappropriate towards British team captain Anne Keothavong, at both the team dinner and later the draw ceremony.

Here's Nastase asking Keothavong for her room number. You'll have to lip read but it's not difficult pic.twitter.com/uft5uzoblK

— Eleanor Crooks (@EleanorcrooksPA) April 21, 2017

Then, he was racist towards Serena Williams. “”Let’s see what colour it has. Chocolate with milk?” he sniped to his Romanian charges as Simona Halep answered a question during pre-tie press about Williams’ pregnancy.

Serena’s agent – as well as the rest of the world – was far from impressed.

That investigation went well!! Keep Serena's name out of your mouth. https://t.co/PjbbSgoBIR

— jill smoller (@jsmoll) April 22, 2017

Then, he was abusive towards a journalist for reporting it.

My second run-in with Ilie Nastase. He then called me ugly off camera, just for good measure pic.twitter.com/pt2begOpTx

— Eleanor Crooks (@EleanorcrooksPA) April 22, 2017

The actual tie descended into chaos when Nastase stormed the court, fired insults at Keothavong and Jo Konta and then was ejected from the stadium before having his credential revoked.

A distraught Konta then burst into tears, leaving the court and seeing the tie suspended.

ICYMI: Here’s video of how the whole Nastase epi unfolded #fedcup #tennis https://t.co/EEbOD7BAQ5

— Lynn Bee (@lynnlovestennis) April 22, 2017

While Halep was comically forced to take the microphone to explain the situation and calm the home fans, fellow Romanian Sorana Cirstea was far from impressed with Konta.

“I’ve played all over the world, they called me from gypsy to bitch to a***hole to idiot. They were doing like (mimes slitting throat) to me,” Cirstea said. “I never cried and left the court, I stay there and I play.”

Wow. You should watch the whole thing …

Retorted Konta:“With all due respect to Sorana, she wasn’t on my side of the court, she didn’t feel verbally threatened, she wasn’t in my shoes. I think there may have been a lack of communication to her about what was going on on my side of the court and I do believe she only had half of the facts but I think nobody should have to put up with – in life or in any way – to feel verbally threatened and subjected to that sort of abuse. I’ve never had anything like that before, I’ve never been in an environment like that before.”

But how sweetly it all ended! Nastase apparently sent a peace-offering to Keothavong in the form of a bunch of flowers.

Said Judy Murray:

????. Like that's going to make everything alright. I know exactly where i'd plant those flowers. https://t.co/t53CI6vrV9

— judy murray (@JudyMurray) April 23, 2017

And all of this came BEFORE what was supposed to be the biggest story of the weekend – Sharapova’s draw in her return to tennis in Stuttgart.

And to think, we're still an hour from the planned dramatic highlight of the day: seeing where Maria Sharapova lands in the Stuttgart draw.

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) April 22, 2017

In the end, it was a rather benign first-round assignment against Roberta Vinci, rather than a spicy clash with vocal critics like Kristina Mladenovic, Dominika Cibulkova or Sam Stosur.

Radwanska, however, could be Sharapova’s second-round assignment, which would be a can’t-miss prospect considering the Polish player’s latest remarks:

Aga #Radwanska about Maria #Sharapova ????
( Interview with @przeglad ) pic.twitter.com/DFAcVL8Hn2

— SpacePova (@SpacePova) April 21, 2017

Well that, apparently, was like a red rag to a bull for Sharapova’s agent Max Eisenbud, who released this statement:

With her return days away, Sharapova's agent Max Eisenbud decided to break his silence after these comments from Radwanska. Here he goes: pic.twitter.com/WXUVxooeK5

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) April 21, 2017

This was met with quite the hostile reaction on twitter, and even prompted this response from doubles star Bruno Soares:

Radwanska and Wozniacki are journeyman? Wowwwww. So if you never won a slam that's what you are? Very kind words from Mr Eisenbud. #img ????????

— Bruno Soares (@BrunoSoares82) April 21, 2017

What a weekend.