He is not playing with "Colm", thats for sure. The nervousness totally unsettles you as a fan.
It is amazing what a tennis player can do
- Thread starter yuccachix
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He is not playing with "Colm", thats for sure. The nervousness totally unsettles you as a fan.
Wilander Fan
Hall of Fame
Firstly, its an important rule now because tennis is so physically demanding. Make no mistake, Nadal takes that extra time to get a breather. He does not get a lot of free points on his serve and every point is basically a grind for him. Fatigue is a big part of the game now so it is not really fair for a player to get a breather before his most important shot (the serve).
A parallel would be Edberg and his foot faults. He got called a ton for these because umpires started watching him. Again, in that era, that extra half foot was the difference between a good half volley and getting passed. I dont think he was doing it on purpose but he was definitely pushing the limits as much as possible. But because it was such a critical rule for the time of S&V, it would not have been fair to let him get away with it over and over again.
A parallel would be Edberg and his foot faults. He got called a ton for these because umpires started watching him. Again, in that era, that extra half foot was the difference between a good half volley and getting passed. I dont think he was doing it on purpose but he was definitely pushing the limits as much as possible. But because it was such a critical rule for the time of S&V, it would not have been fair to let him get away with it over and over again.
pame
Hall of Fame
The admonition that tennis must be played at a continuous pace has existed since at least Spalding's roll out of the rule book around 1929. Up to 1979, umpires determined whether a player was stalling and could actually disqualify that player.
In 1979, the ATP/ITF instituted the 30/25 seconds rule, but largely in part to Lendl's flagrant abuse of the 30 second rule, and games going overly long, they were amended around 1995 to 25 seconds for the ATP tour, and 20 seconds for the ITF arena.
The funadamental rules of tennis also provide a clear caveat: extra time should not be given for recovery.
it doesnt matter if he 'cant' control it. Those are the rules and you cant just let someone go above the rules
HRB
Hall of Fame
If tennis was a major sport in the US I wouldn't need to Stream! As it is the sport is at a pitiful low....I'm excited for Roland Garros kicking off on Memorial Day because I'm off of work, and NO ONE else even realizes that it's opening day.
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
If tennis was a major sport in the US I wouldn't need to Stream! As it is the sport is at a pitiful low....I'm excited for Roland Garros kicking off on Memorial Day because I'm off of work, and NO ONE else even realizes that it's opening day.
I feel your pain and agree with every word.
HRB
Hall of Fame
Up the time limit...not just for Rafa, but for everyone. A reasonable few more seconds to adjust for the fact that the modern game is more physical than tennis has ever been.
The strings and slowed courts cause endless rallies..give the players a damn break..let them recover! Maybe then they'll have the energy to put away a quick winner and THUS speed up the match in the long run.
The strings and slowed courts cause endless rallies..give the players a damn break..let them recover! Maybe then they'll have the energy to put away a quick winner and THUS speed up the match in the long run.
TommyA8X
Hall of Fame
HRB
Hall of Fame
Ummm, OK? So what is misleading or not plausible about requesting a bit more time since the game is clearly more demanding physically then ever?
I'm not suggesting it is needed after a DF, or a 3 rally unforced error, but then again that'd be too complicated to make it specific to the point.
Also, no "hidden agenda" lest you take me wrong...not even rooting for Rafa, I'm a Murray Fan! Respect the hell out of Rafa, but just give me a new Dirt Ball Champion...repeat winners bore the hell out of me after a certain point (I'll take 2 more for Maria though!:twisted
heninfan99
Talk Tennis Guru
It should be like the NBA. The refs give superstars like Jordan special calls/treatment. A good ref knows to treat the Jordans and Nadals differently, with some leeway. Also not to call it the warning at a big moment.
I must admit, though, how I enjoyed the speed of a Federer vs. Kyrgios match.
I must admit, though, how I enjoyed the speed of a Federer vs. Kyrgios match.
Steve0904
Talk Tennis Guru
There's no hate there. I just thought some people would get a laugh. So I said it. It's the truth (apart from the obvious exaggeration) isn't it?
Candide
Hall of Fame
The whole "he's a slow player" argument seems naive. It discounts the possibility that this is a tactical approach to maximise his chances against players who have moulded the rhythm of their game around the required tempo of the sport.
We know he loves the 40-50 shot rally. We know that players like Federer would love to finish the point within 8 shots. It's fine to play a grinding game but to then transgress the rules in order to give yourself time to suck air up for another long rally is more than not in the spirit of the game - to me it is a form of cheating. It deprives the brisker player of the opportunity to strike back for the wasteful use of resources spent by his opponent. This is having your cake and eating it too.
If a boxer chooses to swing haymakers for a whole round and blow himself out - he has to live with the consequences. He can't expect the referee to protect him from the inevitable energetic counter attack from the more efficient fighter because he's tired or he's getting all sweaty and needs a particularly thorough toweling off. This is way worse than the coaching from the stands or the metronomic MTOs - this is clearly going outside the parameters of the game to gain an advantage. The case with Bernardes shows that he has done this over the years because of the certainty that he can swing more status and weight than an umpire because of his profile. Looks like he was right. Just because he's gotten away with it doesn't mean we have to like it.
We know he loves the 40-50 shot rally. We know that players like Federer would love to finish the point within 8 shots. It's fine to play a grinding game but to then transgress the rules in order to give yourself time to suck air up for another long rally is more than not in the spirit of the game - to me it is a form of cheating. It deprives the brisker player of the opportunity to strike back for the wasteful use of resources spent by his opponent. This is having your cake and eating it too.
If a boxer chooses to swing haymakers for a whole round and blow himself out - he has to live with the consequences. He can't expect the referee to protect him from the inevitable energetic counter attack from the more efficient fighter because he's tired or he's getting all sweaty and needs a particularly thorough toweling off. This is way worse than the coaching from the stands or the metronomic MTOs - this is clearly going outside the parameters of the game to gain an advantage. The case with Bernardes shows that he has done this over the years because of the certainty that he can swing more status and weight than an umpire because of his profile. Looks like he was right. Just because he's gotten away with it doesn't mean we have to like it.
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Ummm, OK? So what is misleading or not plausible about requesting a bit more time since the game is clearly more demanding physically then ever?
I'm not suggesting it is needed after a DF, or a 3 rally unforced error, but then again that'd be too complicated to make it specific to the point.
Also, no "hidden agenda" lest you take me wrong...not even rooting for Rafa, I'm a Murray Fan! Respect the hell out of Rafa, but just give me a new Dirt Ball Champion...repeat winners bore the hell out of me after a certain point (I'll take 2 more for Maria though!:twisted
I don't think this kind of reasoning would work. The game is as physical players make it to be. If you prolong the rule, you would make the game even more physical. But, if you make the rule short, you would make players think and they would change their style to be more aggressive.
Why do players play this way? They are forced by external factors, like string technology and rules.
Actually, it would be better for everybody if the rule was just 10 seconds. This is even the best for players. They would have to punish their bodies a lot less, plus it would be a lot better for spectators too, since matches won't be as long, nobody wants to see long delays.
So, I don't know why anyone would be against less time between points, it's a win-win situation for everyone.
Wilander Fan
Hall of Fame
They definitely should not give more time for players to recover between serves. That kind of play is incredibly boring. As it is, any combination of Nole, Murray, Nadal on a slow court is almost unwatchable...at the AO it is unwatchable. They might as well just have them race a 10k while dribbling a tennis ball with their racket to decide the match.
Long Face
Semi-Pro
I also think 25 seconds are reasonable and should be enforced better.
But I can't think of a way to better enforce the rule without disrupting the concentration the players need when he/she is getting ready to serve. Any "beep" or spectators yelling countdown would ruin it.
Maybe a soft chime at 15 seconds, as a reminder? This is when the player is supposed to get back to the baseline and start the pre-serve routines. If the player shows no sign of getting ready to serve at the soft chime, the umpire can remind the player: "Next point, please."
If the player is so quick and actually starting to serve at/before 15 seconds, the chair umpire can manually disable the chime for that player.
But I can't think of a way to better enforce the rule without disrupting the concentration the players need when he/she is getting ready to serve. Any "beep" or spectators yelling countdown would ruin it.
Maybe a soft chime at 15 seconds, as a reminder? This is when the player is supposed to get back to the baseline and start the pre-serve routines. If the player shows no sign of getting ready to serve at the soft chime, the umpire can remind the player: "Next point, please."
If the player is so quick and actually starting to serve at/before 15 seconds, the chair umpire can manually disable the chime for that player.
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Murrayjuannow
Banned
As a tennis player, I am embarrassed by the corruption of pro tennis world. Shame on you tennis.
Read this article below, comparing NFL and tennis:
Why is Rafael Nadal allowed to blackball an umpire?
Tennis, with its $3,000 fine for Venus Williams skipping a press conference, is often a big joke.
By CHRIS CHASE May 27, 2015 8:42 am ET
Not that a deflated tennis ball would benefit anybody, but let’s say for the sake of argument that it did and a top player was caught deflating balls before a match at the French Open. Whereas the NFL would go for the strictest possible punishment — a four-game suspension — tennis would give the equivalent of a slap on the wrist. Come to think of it, a slap on the wrist is too much, as the slap still stings for an instant. No, tennis would give the equivalent of a gentle caress of the wrist and then issue the sort of fine you get for speeding in a school zone. It’s a complete joke.
This speaks to the complete lack of structure in tennis, which has been displayed so well by Rafael Nadal’s continued blackballing of chair umpire Carlos Bernardes, due to a series of minor run-ins that are inconsequential but came to a head during a match this winter when Bernardes gave Nadal a time violation during a match while the Spaniard was changing his shorts backwards on a changeover. The overarching theme is that Bernardes is the rare chair umpire unafraid of actually enforcing the time-between-points rule all other umps ignore.
As The Telegraph first reported and Nadal himself later confirmed, he later asked for Bernardes not to work his matches and his request was accepted. “Yes, it was my request,” Nadal to the newspaper, as if his demand was something routine. “I consider him [Bernardes] a great umpire and a good person, but I think when you have some troubles with the same umpire, sometimes it’s easy to stay for a while away, no?”
This is a pathetic display from a sport with non-existent rules enforcement. Since the governing bodies (the ATP and WTA, respectively) are basically impotent and operate at the whims of tournaments, you can see things like Nadal making the absurd request to ban a highly respected umpire from his matches and actually getting his wish.
Imagine a football team getting to tell the NFL they didn’t want a referee (I just assume it’d always be Jeff Triplette) working their games. The NFL would laugh and then randomly take away a fourth-round draft pick just for having the gall to question the judgment of the Great Goodell. Although, then again, the NFL did let Mike Carey, last seen predicting every replay challenge result incorrectly in the CBS booth, not work Washington Redskins games because he found their name objectionable, so perhaps there is precedent for bigger, more authoritative leagues to let players and refs make their own schedule.
But Nadal’s peers don’t like this one bit. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was asked about the situation and basically said that while he wishes some umpires wouldn’t work his matches, he’d never ask for them to be banned from sitting in the chair while he played because it would be “unfair.”
Is Nadal so emotionally fragile he can’t do his job with Bernardes in the chair? Of course not and tournaments should assign Bernardes to match as they normally would. But they won’t, because tennis kowtows to its biggest stars and to no one else. (Imagine a player ranked No. 30 making a similar request. It’d be treated with laughs.)
The relationship between player and officials, which The Telegraph described “as all too cosy” is essentially one of equals. It was proved definitively when Venus Williams skipped a press conference and was fined $3,000, barely a pittance of the approximately $47,000 she made for her first-round loss at Roland Garros, not to mention the $30.5 million she’s brought home on the court during her career.
Venus’s sister Serena once stood on a court and angrily threatened to shove a ball down a lineswoman’s throat (except she said it in an R-rated rant that included a variety of curse words) and her fine was $82,500, which sounds like a lot but is couch-cushion money for someone as rich as Serena. A message was clearly sent: Threatening of officials will force you to pay a small fine, nothing more.
The sport has a problem. There is no all-encompassing governing body to oversee things, which is how you get Rafael Nadal getting special treatment and Venus Williams practically inviting all players to skip press conferences because of how cheap it is to do so. Get it together, tennis.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/05/raf...work-matches-shorts-video-venus-williams-fine
Read this article below, comparing NFL and tennis:
Why is Rafael Nadal allowed to blackball an umpire?
Tennis, with its $3,000 fine for Venus Williams skipping a press conference, is often a big joke.
By CHRIS CHASE May 27, 2015 8:42 am ET
Not that a deflated tennis ball would benefit anybody, but let’s say for the sake of argument that it did and a top player was caught deflating balls before a match at the French Open. Whereas the NFL would go for the strictest possible punishment — a four-game suspension — tennis would give the equivalent of a slap on the wrist. Come to think of it, a slap on the wrist is too much, as the slap still stings for an instant. No, tennis would give the equivalent of a gentle caress of the wrist and then issue the sort of fine you get for speeding in a school zone. It’s a complete joke.
This speaks to the complete lack of structure in tennis, which has been displayed so well by Rafael Nadal’s continued blackballing of chair umpire Carlos Bernardes, due to a series of minor run-ins that are inconsequential but came to a head during a match this winter when Bernardes gave Nadal a time violation during a match while the Spaniard was changing his shorts backwards on a changeover. The overarching theme is that Bernardes is the rare chair umpire unafraid of actually enforcing the time-between-points rule all other umps ignore.
As The Telegraph first reported and Nadal himself later confirmed, he later asked for Bernardes not to work his matches and his request was accepted. “Yes, it was my request,” Nadal to the newspaper, as if his demand was something routine. “I consider him [Bernardes] a great umpire and a good person, but I think when you have some troubles with the same umpire, sometimes it’s easy to stay for a while away, no?”
This is a pathetic display from a sport with non-existent rules enforcement. Since the governing bodies (the ATP and WTA, respectively) are basically impotent and operate at the whims of tournaments, you can see things like Nadal making the absurd request to ban a highly respected umpire from his matches and actually getting his wish.
Imagine a football team getting to tell the NFL they didn’t want a referee (I just assume it’d always be Jeff Triplette) working their games. The NFL would laugh and then randomly take away a fourth-round draft pick just for having the gall to question the judgment of the Great Goodell. Although, then again, the NFL did let Mike Carey, last seen predicting every replay challenge result incorrectly in the CBS booth, not work Washington Redskins games because he found their name objectionable, so perhaps there is precedent for bigger, more authoritative leagues to let players and refs make their own schedule.
But Nadal’s peers don’t like this one bit. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was asked about the situation and basically said that while he wishes some umpires wouldn’t work his matches, he’d never ask for them to be banned from sitting in the chair while he played because it would be “unfair.”
Is Nadal so emotionally fragile he can’t do his job with Bernardes in the chair? Of course not and tournaments should assign Bernardes to match as they normally would. But they won’t, because tennis kowtows to its biggest stars and to no one else. (Imagine a player ranked No. 30 making a similar request. It’d be treated with laughs.)
The relationship between player and officials, which The Telegraph described “as all too cosy” is essentially one of equals. It was proved definitively when Venus Williams skipped a press conference and was fined $3,000, barely a pittance of the approximately $47,000 she made for her first-round loss at Roland Garros, not to mention the $30.5 million she’s brought home on the court during her career.
Venus’s sister Serena once stood on a court and angrily threatened to shove a ball down a lineswoman’s throat (except she said it in an R-rated rant that included a variety of curse words) and her fine was $82,500, which sounds like a lot but is couch-cushion money for someone as rich as Serena. A message was clearly sent: Threatening of officials will force you to pay a small fine, nothing more.
The sport has a problem. There is no all-encompassing governing body to oversee things, which is how you get Rafael Nadal getting special treatment and Venus Williams practically inviting all players to skip press conferences because of how cheap it is to do so. Get it together, tennis.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/05/raf...work-matches-shorts-video-venus-williams-fine
Yeah soccer is doing very well with FIFA as the governing body. Or the cycling governing body whatever it is called.
Comparing rule enforcement in unionized US sports to tennis is wrong. The big US sports provide all kinds of benefits to the players, including medical benefits and pay when benched. They have also had their fair share of looking the other way about PEDs and wife-beating.
Tennis is an individual international sport with no guarantees. You lose, you go home. Nobody pays your medical bills. It is obvious that the loyalty of players to the governing bodies will also be similarly self-serving and tenuous.
Comparing rule enforcement in unionized US sports to tennis is wrong. The big US sports provide all kinds of benefits to the players, including medical benefits and pay when benched. They have also had their fair share of looking the other way about PEDs and wife-beating.
Tennis is an individual international sport with no guarantees. You lose, you go home. Nobody pays your medical bills. It is obvious that the loyalty of players to the governing bodies will also be similarly self-serving and tenuous.
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