Brad Gilbert on Medical Timeouts

C

chatt_town

Hall of Fame
I think Brad hit it on the head. He said you should never be allowed to take a medical timeout on the opponents serve. I agree. Not only did Azarenka take a medical. She took two at the same time(10 minutes). She then basically came out and admitted it was to gather herself because she could feel herself choking the match away. You could tell the crowd didn't like what she did as you could hear a rat pi$$ on cotton while she was interviewing after the match. I think they need to change that rule as soon as the tourney is over. It's pretty bad when a player uses this type of tactic because it's within the rules and then comes out and basically admits that is what she did. I feel for Sloane because while she wasn't always playing her best tennis, she was finding a way to get back into the match only to have what she was doing haulted by faulty injury claims. I have lost all respect for Azarenka after seeing that. People complained about Serena playing through her injury...now did anyone see the tweet of her ankle the size of a grapefruit last night and she took 1 3 minute timeout and I think it was for her back and not her ankle. So I don't want to hear anything else about Serena's injuries...you can clearly see she had an issue. Azarenka will be playing in the finals because she could not allow herself to lose a match where she was choking..."ahhgain" as she did at the U.S Open.

Chatt_town
 
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I hear ya....but she played through it and didn't pi$$ and moan and steal a match from a 19 year old woman. Veteran my @$$. Azarenka is bad for women's tennis...and she is suppose to be the world number 1...what a joke.

QUOTE=DrpShot!;7157512]Azarenka took one out of Roddick's old playbook, definitely a bit shady.[/QUOTE]
 
Someone call Nadal up and tell him to turn his last FO title back in because he MTO cheated Fed out of it in the first set. :lol:

I'm amazed the pros are just as bad as league players are when they want to win. League players just call a ball out when it's in and pros just take MTOs. :lol:
 
What reason did she give the umpire?

BG doesn't know what it takes to win a Slam, so he is really not qualified to talk about Azarenka.
 
There will always be gamesmanship in tennis, at all levels. Roger Federer is a class act in my book, as is Nadal and company. Anyone remember this match and the medical timeout that Federer took?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq3MszzI98s

What was that for break that Federer took for exactly? I don't have a problem with it really, but I do agree that perhaps there should be some modifications in the rule in order to make it more difficult to use the MTO to basically ice an opponent.
 
Agassi pulled this stunt in a Washington D.C. final years ago against Edberg. Near the end of the final set, under very hot and humid conditions, he bolted to the air-conditioned bathroom illegally for a breather. Edberg sat there and questioned the umpire, but the ump did nothing. Agassi came back and won the final pretty quickly.
Well, yesterday, all Stevens said was, "Maybe Azarenka needs an oxygen tank."
 
sureshs said:
She should have just quit like Tanko Retiravich
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Did you hear pat Mac dissing azi? He is the most unworthy person to accuse a slam champion of using a bush league tactic. Azi "might" of bent the rules but p Mac needs to shut up.

Also brad gilbert should understand the head games. He was all about that.
 
GS said:
Agassi pulled this stunt in a Washington D.C. final years ago against Edberg. Near the end of the final set, under very hot and humid conditions, he bolted to the air-conditioned bathroom illegally for a breather. Edberg sat there and questioned the umpire, but the ump did nothing. Agassi came back and won the final pretty quickly.
Well, yesterday, all Stevens said was, "Maybe Azarenka needs an oxygen tank."
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Stephens did not say that.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...-sloane-stephens/story-e6frg6n6-1226561187745
 
The commentators should not get too upset about this. Serena has been doing such stuff for years. Have the ever called her out?
 
Azarenka pulled a bush league move and the fans could tell it wasnt on the up n up by the way they were responding after the match. The announcer said "lets hear it for Azarenka" and the crowd didnt hardly respond at all.
 
borg number one said:
There will always be gamesmanship in tennis, at all levels. Roger Federer is a class act in my book, as is Nadal and company. Anyone remember this match and the medical timeout that Federer took?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq3MszzI98s

What was that for break that Federer took for exactly? I don't have a problem with it really, but I do agree that perhaps there should be some modifications in the rule in order to make it more difficult to use the MTO to basically ice an opponent.
Click to expand...

IIRC, Federer took a toilet break at a set break. Yeah, he said that it also was about the sun, but if he went to the toilet, how is that against the rules? Oh wait, it's not.
 
woodrow1029 said:
IIRC, Federer took a toilet break at a set break. Yeah, he said that it also was about the sun, but if he went to the toilet, how is that against the rules? Oh wait, it's not.
Click to expand...

And allowing time for the sun to go down would benefit both players would it not?
 
chatt_town said:
I think Brad hit it on the head. He said you should never be allowed to take a medical timeout on the opponents serve. I agree. Not only did Azarenka take a medical. She took two at the same time(10 minutes). She then basically came out and admitted it was to gather herself because she could feel herself choking the match away. You could tell the crowd didn't like what she did as you could hear a rat pi$$ on cotton while she was interviewing after the match. I think they need to change that rule as soon as the tourney is over. It's pretty bad when a player uses this type of tactic because it's within the rules and then comes out and basically admits that is what she did. I feel for Sloane because while she wasn't always playing her best tennis, she was finding a way to get back into the match only to have what she was doing haulted by faulty injury claims. I have lost all respect for Azarenka after seeing that. People complained about Serena playing through her injury...now did anyone see the tweet of her ankle the size of a grapefruit last night and she took 1 3 minute timeout and I think it was for her back and not her ankle. So I don't want to hear anything else about Serena's injuries...you can clearly see she had an issue. Azarenka will be playing in the finals because she could not allow herself to lose a match where she was choking..."ahhgain" as she did at the U.S Open.

Chatt_town
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This +1. Agreed Chatt_town.

However, a simple request:
find (and use) the "Enter" key every couple of sentences .... ;-)
 
I'm not completely convinced that Azarenka is telling the truth.

Stephens immediately dropped her serve, leaving the defending champion four points away from the final. Serve it out, Vika, and you are home and hosed. But she couldn’t. Five match points came and went until finally, Stephens broke again. Gulp. It was now 5-4 and the American teenager had the chance to serve to stay in the match. At which point, Azarenka called for the trainer and after a brief assessment, left the court for treatment.

Nine minutes later, she was back and as Stephens’ serve faltered again, Azarenka was through to the final on her sixth match point.

And that is when all hell broke loose.

Asked in her on-court interview why she had left the court and how she was feeling now, Azarenka opened a can of worms.

“I almost did the choke of the year right now,” she said. “At 5-3, having so many chances and I couldn't close it out. I was a bit overwhelmed realising I was one step away from the final. Nerves got into me, for sure."

That was when the Twitterers, the Facebookers and the bloggers went wild. Surely this was blatant gamesmanship? Leaving the court because you are choking?

As it turned out, Azarenka claimed that she was literally choking. She could not breathe. A rib and back problem had been bothering her for a couple for days and suddenly got worse during the second set, round about the time when she dropped her serve in the seventh game.

“I'm telling you what happened right now honestly, that my back was bothering me,” she said in her post-match press conference.

“It took me too long of a time to call the trainer, which was my mistake. I took it to the point where I couldn't breathe, which was causing from my back problem, and I couldn't really figure out what was going on on the court. When the trainer told me that was the rib that was blocking that, my back, that's what happened.

“When you cannot breathe you start to panic. I was really panicking, not because I couldn't convert my match point. That's not the case. I mean, I'm experienced enough to go over those emotions. But when you cannot breathe, when something's really blocking you, the stress, that was the stress I was talking about. I just couldn't realise what was going on with me.”

As for her response to the on-court interview question by Channel 7’s Sam Smith, she felt that was a simple misunderstanding.

“I think I just really misunderstood what she asked me because the question was I had few difficulties and why I went off,” Azarenka explained.

“I completely thought of a different thing, why I couldn't close out of match, you know, that I had few difficulties. So I understand the whole situation right now, but it just really simple misunderstanding of a question.”

So Azarenka lives to fight another day, and Stephens is heading for the airport. But the American will be back.
 
GS said:
I'm alittle curious. How do you see it?
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Not sure. Just guessing that this does not sound accusing:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226561187745

To her credit, 19-year-old Stephens refuse to criticise Azarenka and actually wished the world No.1 would win tomorrow's final against Li Na.

Stephens admitted she wouldn't even know how to call a medical time out and when told it was a breathing issue she said: "You just get an oxygen tank or something.

"If it was one of my friends I would say, 'Oh my god that sounds like a PP,' which is a personal problem," Stephens said.
 
realplayer said:
As for her response to the on-court interview question by Channel 7’s Sam Smith, she felt that was a simple misunderstanding.

“I think I just really misunderstood what she asked me because the question was I had few difficulties and why I went off,” Azarenka explained.

“I completely thought of a different thing, why I couldn't close out of match, you know, that I had few difficulties. So I understand the whole situation right now, but it just really simple misunderstanding of a question.”

So Azarenka lives to fight another day, and Stephens is heading for the airport. But the American will be back.
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I believe that. Her answer on court was so horrible that I thought she just admitted to faking it. But then I thought she is not that stupid. So yes she did misunderstand the question to be about her difficulties in closing out the match.
 
PU!

arche3 said:
Did you hear pat Mac dissing azi? He is the most unworthy person to accuse a slam champion of using a bush league tactic. Azi "might" of bent the rules but p Mac needs to shut up.
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Why should PMac shut up? The dirty, filthy tramp cheated plain and simple. Just because you condone blatant cheating and are giving Azarenka a free pass in all of your posts is clearly an attempt to "project & deflect" attention away from the core issue here: Skank-arenka couldn't handle choking her ass off so she--without a shread of sportsmanship--cheated her way out of a tight spot.

"MEDICAL" timeout? Yeah, and I'm the King of Prussia, PA. :rolleyes:

arche3 said:
Also brad gilbert should understand the head games. He was all about that.
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Just more projecting & deflecting attention away from the core cheating issue. Let's call a spade a spade: when you break it all down, you're condoning her cheating simply because you have a major jag for that bulbous-nosed gawk.

Watching (AND LISTENING) to the replay of Azarenka walking off the court: if she claimed she needed a bathroom break, I would've given her a pass because replaying it again and again (I have a very good sound system), you can hear her farting repeatedly with every step she took and I know it wasn't her sneakers squeaking. I just hope she doesn't start farting during the finals, heaven knows her distracting "whoooooo!" howling is bad enough. But if she does, knowing Azarenka's character *cough* she'll probably blame it on someone else.
Victoria Azarenka: Cheat. Fart layer. Fact.
That is all.
 
I agree with the OP's premise, and also that it was unfair what Azarenka did, but some of the articles i'm reading, they make it sound like Azarenka took a MTO at 6-5 down in the third set or something. Things like, potentially the "choke of the year"? Really?
 
woodrow1029 said:
IIRC, Federer took a toilet break at a set break. Yeah, he said that it also was about the sun, but if he went to the toilet, how is that against the rules? Oh wait, it's not.
Click to expand...

Gamesmanship, that's all. What was against the rules with Azarenka that can be proven? There's room in both situations to basically ice the opponent. Azarenka likely did it and so did Federer with the "sun" problem.
 
Many here love Mac and he put the freeze on players by complaining. He didn't do this when he had a big lead.

I think it would be better for a player to learn to stay warm & focused despite the tricks. I wonder if it's legal to practice serves during an opponent's MTA. --that would be cool!
 
borg number one said:
Gamesmanship, that's all. What was against the rules with Azarenka that can be proven? There's room in both situations to basically ice the opponent. Azarenka likely did it and so did Federer with the "sun" problem.
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So if someone actually need to go to the bathroom and request to take a leak between set is gamesmanship? :confused:

You're suggesting that every player can only go to the bathroom when the match is over(even if his/her urinary bladder is about to burst).
 
Whether a player takes a bit longer for a bathroom break to have the sun not bother him or whether a player takes a MTO for a injury that perhaps could have waited, it's gamesmanship. Federer even admitted as such when asked about it. He has every right to take a bathroom break like that under the rules. If you watched the match and saw the reactions about that break, it was pretty clear that there was a reason when that bathroom break occurred. Pretty obvious. Azarenka also has the right to take a MTO if she thinks there could be a physical issue. Both are ok under the rules. Enforcement in such situations, even if you have rule modifications will always be an issue. Players use things like that to try and disrupt flow and when that happens the other player just has to deal with it and not allow it to impact the level of play.
 
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An easy rule change would be to allow one timeout per set. You can use it in between any game for whatever you like: regain your composure, ice your opponent, treat an injury, use the toilet etc. Then it would be like a timeout in other sports. No one would need to pretend to be injured, exaggerate an injury, pretend to need the toilet etc.

Years ago the NBA replaced the "injury" timeout with a 20 second timeout. Previous to that it was embarrassing to watch players pretend to be injured for a few seconds so they could call an injury timeout. The rule change was a huge improvement. It's just too difficult for players and officials to have to determine when someone is injured enough or needs the toilet enough to justify stopping play.
 
perhaps if there is a dire need for a medical timeout on the opponents serve, the player with the injury should concede the opponents service game so the timeout could take place before the injured player's own service game.
 
Rabbit's Rule:

If you're cramping you either play or default
If you're hurt you either play or default
If you've suffered any loss of conditioning you play or default

The injury time out is the worst "innovation" in tennis and should be completely removed. The Japanese player, Shuzo Matsuoka, who cramped at the US Open had two choices, play or default. To his credit, he did everything he could to continue but couldn't. Whether or not he was in pain and suffering is not the issue. He could have defaulted. He had a choice.

The rule that was put in force to help a player like that is now being abused by players who think anything is fair and don't consider the nature of the game or ethics. The rule now gives the players a whole different choice. They can just stop play and claim an injury and ice their opponent.
 
Rabbit said:
Rabbit's Rule:

If you're cramping you either play or default
If you're hurt you either play or default
If you've suffered any loss of conditioning you play or default

The injury time out is the worst "innovation" in tennis and should be completely removed. The Japanese player, Shuzo Matsuoka, who cramped at the US Open had two choices, play or default. To his credit, he did everything he could to continue but couldn't. Whether or not he was in pain and suffering is not the issue. He could have defaulted. He had a choice.

The rule that was put in force to help a player like that is now being abused by players who think anything is fair and don't consider the nature of the game or ethics. The rule now gives the players a whole different choice. They can just stop play and claim an injury and ice their opponent.
Click to expand...

Medical timeouts were put in place before the Matsuoka incident.

MTO's for cramping were put into place after the Matsuoka incident.

MTO's for cramping are once again now now allowed.

Azarenka's issue was not cramping.
 
woodrow1029 said:
Medical timeouts were put in place before the Matsuoka incident.

MTO's for cramping were put into place after the Matsuoka incident.

MTO's for cramping are once again now now allowed.

Azarenka's issue was not cramping.
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Thank you. I still don't think there is any place for medical time outs in tennis. You either play or you don't simple as that.
 
sureshs said:
He need not shut up if he had been willing to say the some thing about Serena in the past
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Fair enough sureshs, a very valid point you bring up:

"Hey Rambo Williams, about that bathroom break at the 2010 AO finals!!"


Victoria's Secret: I think she was simply too embarrassed to own up to the out-of-control flattuce that I (and others) clearly heard as she was walking off the court; it was in perfect sync with each step she took..bwaff!..bwaff!..bwaff!...

That said, it still was a sneaky (& stinky) move by the big lllama.
_________________
 
arche3 said:
Did you hear pat Mac dissing azi? He is the most unworthy person to accuse a slam champion of using a bush league tactic. Azi "might" of bent the rules but p Mac needs to shut up.

Also brad gilbert should understand the head games. He was all about that.
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Now suddenly the rules need changing, right? Until the next time when an MTO benefits our player.

It's always unfortunate when this type of thing happens against American opponents, because then we have to inevitably endure the American tennis press/establishment stomp their hypocritical little feet over it.
 
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