Injury Time-Outs Are a Tour Epidemic

[WillAlwaysLoveYouTennis]

Originally Posted by jamesblakefan#1
I don't think they should be outlawed, but players do use them quite liberally. The rule should be 1 injury timeout per 3 set match, and 2 allowed per 5 set match. If you go over, you default the match.


I think that's a great idea and should be incorporated onto the men's tour in some way. One remembers well the incident with the Japanese guy cramping so badly, and understand why they changed things then, but after viewing the match with Del Potro and Murray the other day, it was simply ridiculous.

On one hand I can agree with the commentator who said, Del Potro really looks wiped out but wasn't going to quit during a 1000 match. He was very slow in everything taking well over 40 seconds in between points. In fact at one point the umpire told him to let the ballkids bring his towel to him instead of his strolling over to get it, taking up too much time.

Yet on the other hand, if someone is not fit enough and has to abuse the system with slow play, bathroom breaks, medical timeouts etc. over and over again....Like Murray said, "Are you going to give him a penalty for taking too much time in between points?" This stuff has got to be enforced in even a passably consistent manner.

It was really irritating the slowness with which Del Potro played. I know he'd played a lot of tennis over the past weeks, but so had a lot of other players, Murray included, and he wasn't "beat" like that. Fitness and conditioning. I know Del Potro can look down and out and still come back and win, as he did the week before last, but there are times when he just looks totally out also.

To address a further comment below: I don't think Del Potro was faking an injury. He was just flat out tired and sore. Maybe whatever he told the trainer was made to seem an injury, but seriously everyone in the stands, the umpire, his opponent and the viewers knew that old boy was beat. His actions were distinctly unfair to his opponent imo. He was tired, and nothing the trainer could have done was going to give him a 2nd wind. Del Potro was just wasting everyone's time.

 

[Fedfan1234]

There's nothing wrong with the injury time out system...
The game cannot continue without the players, the game is faster and more physical than ever before, so an injury time out shouldn't be a big deal...
If the ATP really wanted to do something about this, they'd shorten the season.. But NNNNOOOO!!!!!
Players play up to 25 tournaments a year, plus they do training and they are constantly travelling, so you have the stresses of jet lag to contend with...
If you ask me, the "injury timeout" pandemic that McEnroe calls it is only one symptom of a greater problem.
THE SEASON IS TOO LONG. Davis Cup is played EVERY YEAR.
It's time the players started saying NO and started playing the schedule they feel is best for the body, with a decent rest every year..
At the moment the only player who does this within the confines of the ATP's rules is Federer, which is no wonder since he's been successful for so long...

As for the schedule you said it yourself, players make their own schedule. If you are forced into the tournament you can always lose in the first round. So no matter how you put it players choose to play this much matches. But how many do they play really? Not all players reach the latter stages of a tournament, thus playing less matches per tournament!! I think this also enables most players(thus not Federer, Nadal and Murray) to play more tournaments, without playing too much.
As for the fact that the game is more physical these days I can only say I doubt it. In the 90's there were a lot of injuries every tournament. Sampras, Krajicek, Ivanisevic, etc. they all got injured from time to time. Maybe it is just me but I feel like in the last couple of years the number of injuries were reduced in comparison to the 90's? If the game has become more physical and they play too much matches we would expect at least an equal amount of injuries in comparison to the 90's. I don't think this is the case, but maybe I am wrong in which case provide me with the information. And I will agree on this point.

But the fact that the ATP is overscheduling is besides the point, some injuries might be justified but some clearly are not. We are discussing if it is right that some players are corrupting the system by faking an injury. Thus situations in which a player is clearly focussing at diminishing the other players momentum or form. I do think there is something wrong with this fact even although it is not something new, it happened quite frequently in the past as well. I think at least some action should be taken against this type of behaviour.

 

[Gen]

tells us more about that player from your country!

Wrong. My country is different, though I don't have any problems with liking Serbia and its players. You've missed the point just once again. It' not about Tipsarevic, it's about Federer. And, please, don't call me swiss, I may take it as an insult.

 

[Deleted member 21996]

Wrong. My country is different, though I don't have any problems with liking Serbia and its players. You've missed the point just once again. It' not about Tipsarevic, it's about Federer. And, please, don't call me swiss, I may take it as an insult.

HUH? i wasnt even talking to you Gen... i was talking to Country Hill Billy...

(or Daddy as he used to be!)

 

[coloskier]

Is this for all medicals? What if a player rolls an ankle in a final set tiebreak? Now instead of being able to tape an obvious injury and try to tough out the tiebreak, they lose the match?

I don't think that's the right solution.

Is it the other players fault that he rolled his ankle? You just play on, simple as that, just like Pete did when he was blowing chunks on the court. Or when Agassi played with a back that was obviously out of whack and never took an injury timeout.

 

[Underhand]

McEnroe wants to ruin the career of Đoković and Janković...