BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) Madrid Open organizer and former tennis player Ion Tiriac says he won’t award any more trophies at his tournament because he is upset by the way his friend Ilie Nastase has been treated.
In an open letter to WTA CEO Steve Simon, Tiriac says he has decided not to hand out gold, diamond and solid silver replicas to winners of the women’s event following ”aggressive public commentaries” by the WTA.
Romanian player Simona Halep won the Madrid Open in May. Nastase was photographed next to her.
Simon called Nastase’s presence ”irresponsible and unacceptable.