Romania seize lead over Great Britain in turbulent Fed Cup tie
ByPA Sport
Updated 23/04/2017 at 12:09 GMT
Great Britain's turbulent Fed Cup trip to Romania was poised to end in defeat after Simona Halep comprehensively beat Johanna Konta to give the hosts a 2-1 lead in Constanta.
Jo Konta
Image credit: Getty Images
With Ilie Nastase banned after his outrageous behaviour on Saturday, the attention was at last on the tennis.
But Konta was taught a clay-court lesson at the Tenis Club IDU as Halep thrilled her home-town fans with a 6-1 6-3 victory that lasted just 71 minutes.
Romania now need just one win out of the two remaining rubbers to clinch their place in World Group II next year and send Britain back to the Europe/Africa Zone.
It was not a surprise to see Konta struggle at the start after the events of Saturday, when she was verbally abused first by Romania captain Nastase and then the crowd during her match with Sorana Cirstea.
The contest was stopped - to the annoyance of Cirstea, who later accused her opponent of gamesmanship - before Konta returned to clinch victory.
Konta produced winners on the first three points but that was to prove misleading as Halep, much more at home on the slow clay, responded with a run of 10 consecutive points.
It took the British number one, ranked two places below her rival at seventh in the world rankings, five games to get on the board and the first set was over in 27 minutes.
Konta looked dejected, sitting with head bowed as she talked to captain Anne Keothavong at the change of ends, but she regrouped at the start of the second set and moved into a 3-1 lead.
Monica Niculescu, Romania's fourth player, had taken over on-court captaincy duties in Nastase's absence but Halep soon had things back in her control.
The former French Open finalist was showing what a difference it makes to have grown up on the surface and there was nothing Konta could do to stop the tide.
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