John McEnroe seething over shot-clock drama: ‘Rafael Nadal should be penalised. It’s a joke’

[octobrina10]

Where i am wrong? Did u misinterpret what i told. I just told what Rafa said in his interview that the conditions of both matches were similar. And that he told the umpire he will take more time, it was shown in tv. I never told why Shapo was angry in that match. Thats altogether a different discussion.

Can u watch Rafa s interview before making such statement.

What does this sentence mean: "And that he told the umpire he will take more time, it was shown in tv" ? More time for what ? What was shown on TV?

 

[DariaGT]

I would never speculate about vitamins as I believe the mind is stronger than the body and Nadal is not the only one to have proven that but he takes winning ugly to a whole new level even Meds who is so quick to complain and lose his temper backed off completely in the USO from confronting Nadal all the way about using his hand up to stop him serving during break points.
He is the most exciting player by far yet the most abusive of gamesmanship where he uses dubious tactics that are not technically illegal to win, interrupt or gain serious advantages. There is no doubt that the greatest competitors of any sport have used gamesmanship but are quickly stamped out where in tennis it is probably the slowest to make changes until someone like Sir Murray speaks out.

BTW I think Nadals past team before Moya are all gentlemen who are down to earth and are not to blame for anything as anyone would do the same for their charge or friend.
Also neither is Nadal at fault for being a master of gamesmanship as he is doing what comes natural and part of the reason why his formulas work for him.
Macca playing Nadal today would be hitting officials by bending Rafas water bottles onto them with Messi like precision.

 

[Silverbullet96]

Nadal clearly suffers from OCD. One could argue that an accommodation should be made for his OCD.

Iga or Cilic OTOH...

OCD is a debilitating anxiety disorder which can potentially swallow all your time & mental energy 24/7 every single day leaving you with nothing else in your life, it's not something you have while having an almost 20 year old ATG career on the side. You should inform yourself on what OCD sufferers' are actually like.
Nadal does seem to have a mild version of it, of course I don't know how much it affects him in non-Tennis life, but it's very safe to say it has never hampered his functioning in his Tennis career.

 

[Frenchy-Player]

those crybabies dont understand the art of being an umpire
it is easy to start the clock but a few seconds more may benefit either side and even let players recover to perform better
blind rafa haters without any sense

What is the point of establishing rules if the umpire can decide what he wants "oh the last rallye was long, ok I give 10 seconds more".

 

[octobrina10]

...Shapo, Rosol and Kyrgios are like toddlers driving dodgem cars when it comes to these matters.

Like toddlers:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1161952480986632192

 

[Hitman]

Careful McEnroe....you'll come off as salty.

 

[octobrina10]

What is the point of establishing rules if the umpire can decide what he wants "oh the last rallye was long, ok I give 10 seconds more".

I wonder what was the point of creating this thread that's based on the article (OP) author of which didn't understand what she was writing about.

 

[intrepidish]

You're making excuses for gamesmanship and bad officiating.

Incorrect. The rules about time between points rely entirely on the umpire's interpretation of what a reasonable point in time would be to start the clock (and whether on occasion to stop it again) given the environment and the point just played.

Those are in fact the rules themselves.

 

[catskillthunder]

Here's an idea, institute a 2nd serve timer and these issues will be a non-factor. I am a Nadal fan, and yes he takes full advantage of the time on the 2nd serve. Sometimes I believe he misses the 1st serve intentionally to get that extra time between serves.

 

[Terenigma]

Rafa explained that the conditions are very humid and he was sweating. It was the same as in Australia shapopalov match. He informed the umpire he he will take more time.

"He informed the umpire he will take more time" A new made-up rule that only applies to Nadal when he's sweating because sweating clearly only affects him. Can you imagine a 100+ ranked player trying to say that to an umpire? Think the same allowances will be given then? If it's a especially hot day then the umpire could show some restraint with both players sure but quite frankly the rule is there for a reason. If you're getting too sweaty Nadal, speed up how quickly you towel yourself down, don't ask an umpire to give you more time.

 

[roysid]

What does this sentence mean: "And that he told the umpire he will take more time, it was shown in tv" ? More time for what ? What was shown on TV?

It was shown on tv that rafa is talking with umpire about the condition and taking more time. The commentators quoted Rafa has negotiated with umpire about taking more time.
More time because he will sweat more..and hence will take more time between points to wipe off sweat, to recover etc.

Now strictly speaking Rafa is getting more leeway than other players. But he has reached this legend position and umpires are willing to give more time etc.

The other player zverev waa very patient and didnt let that affect him.

 

[Third Serve]

I don’t think Nadal does this on purpose… seems like more of a force of habit at this point in his long and storied career. But I do think the umpires should try to crack down more on it because it does get a little tiring when it happens every point.

 

[Hitman]

I would never speculate about vitamins as I believe the mind is stronger than the body and Nadal is not the only one to have proven that but he takes winning ugly to a whole new level even Meds who is so quick to complain and lose his temper backed off completely in the USO from confronting Nadal all the way about using his hand up to stop him serving during break points.
He is the most exciting player by far yet the most abusive of gamesmanship where he uses dubious tactics that are not technically illegal to win, interrupt or gain serious advantages. There is no doubt that the greatest competitors of any sport have used gamesmanship but are quickly stamped out where in tennis it is probably the slowest to make changes until someone like Sir Murray speaks out.

BTW I think Nadals past team before Moya are all gentlemen who are down to earth and are not to blame for anything as anyone would do the same for their charge or friend.
Also neither is Nadal at fault for being a master of gamesmanship as he is doing what comes natural and part of the reason why his formulas work for him.
Macca playing Nadal today would be hitting officials by bending Rafas water bottles onto them with Messi like precision.

That's the old court one isn't it?

 

[Thetouch]

McEnroe might be right on this one and he is probably my all time favourite player next to Becker but he is sitting in a glass house. Many of his outbursts hurt the game flow of his rivals and it was often distracting watching it on TV as well. He definitley used some of those outburts on purpose. Becker used to do the same thing before his rivals were about to serve, he simply disrupted them and therefore forced them to serve again and Becker admitted it. Many of you probably know this story: When Becker and Mac met in Paris Bercy in 1989 Becker was coughing a lot on purpose and Mac took offense to that and started coughing too to call him out. Becker said something like "What do you want from me, I have a cold". And Mac replied "You have been having a cold for 4 years". So top players know exactly what they are doing.

 

[roysid]

"He informed the umpire he will take more time" A new made-up rule that only applies to Nadal when he's sweating because sweating clearly only affects him. Can you imagine a 100+ ranked player trying to say that to an umpire? Think the same allowances will be given then? If it's a especially hot day then the umpire could show some restraint with both players sure but quite frankly the rule is there for a reason. If you're getting too sweaty Nadal, speed up how quickly you towel yourself down, don't ask an umpire to give you more time.

Of course a 100 ranked player wont get any favor. Even the current top players like meddy, zverev etc wont get. Only nadal, federer and Djokovic gets. Thats unfair but thats the way it is.

Regarding Nadal sweating more, thats true. Anybody who saw the match can see nadal was sweating like crazy whereas zverev was normal. Nadal was sweating similar in that shapo match also. A 36 year old plus nadals body structure whatever makes him sweat more in hot and humid conditions

 

[helterskelter]

Nadal has always been better at gamesmanship than anyone else on the tour. This has been true for almost 20 years. He has developed it into a very fine art. Admirable in its way.

 

[Terenigma]

Regarding Nadal sweating more, thats true. Anybody who saw the match can see nadal was sweating like crazy whereas zverev was normal. Nadal was sweating similar in that shapo match also. A 36 year old plus nadals body structure whatever makes him sweat more in hot and humid conditions

Then he should spend less time digging into his backdoor Narnia and more time wiping himself down quicker and within the allowed time and stop whining to umpires that the game should be changed to accommodate him.

 

[coolcamden]

Iga is as blatant as Nadal. I particularly dislike the way she slows down the server, when the rules clearly state that receiver plays at the pace of the server.

At 3 different, consecutive times, at 40-30, over 2 different games, when Jessie Pegula was serving, JP was at the line bouncing the ball, in service rhythm, IS walked away to the side to get her towel and wiped. Made JP wait. JP pointed it out, said it went back to Indian Wells match too. Nothing happened. No warning, much less penalty for Swiatek.

 

[Arak]

I will be very honest, and I will be blunt.

Rafael is a legend. And Iga is greatness in the making.

But, You can't tell me that they are not using delays as a strategic step. Nadal basically takes extra time on every single important point. Iga was doing it too at every duece and 30-30 point. I am sorry, but they are definitely doing it deliberately. Anyone denying this is being blind.

Didn’t Iga say a while ago that this is the first thing they teach you at Nadal academy? She said folding the towels correctly while ignoring the boos from the crowd was the toughest part for her, but finally she got the hang for it. The second thing they teach you is to raise your racket when your opponent is just about to serve. She said that she thought that was too unsportsmanlike but she had to do it in order to graduate.

 

[onyxrose81]

Rafa has always done this and he’s too much of a legend and too far in his career to get penalized now. That’s just how it is unfortunately. He spent most of his career without the clock and got comfy.

But Iga? They need to start hammering her. She got that bad habit from Rafa. Her holding up Coco today was ridiculous.

 

[XiP]

OCD is a debilitating anxiety disorder which can potentially swallow all your time & mental energy 24/7 every single day leaving you with nothing else in your life, it's not something you have while having an almost 20 year old ATG career on the side. You should inform yourself on what OCD sufferers' are actually like.
Nadal does seem to have a mild version of it, of course I don't know how much it affects him in non-Tennis life, but it's very safe to say it has never hampered his functioning in his Tennis career.

That was a good edit of your original post.

 

[zagor]

John McEnroe has expressed his outrage after Rafael Nadal went unpunished for apparently exceeding the 25-second time limit between shots, describing it as “a joke”

“He should be penalised,” he said during his Eurosport commentary stint.
“If you are going to do it, do it, otherwise don’t bother. It is like humouring everyone.
“It’s a joke! He takes a look at the clock again… one. He’s edging it, isn’t he? Shouldn’t they have it at 15 seconds on the second serve? 10? Something?
“Or don’t bother. It’s like, you can take as much time as you want on the second serve. How long is this game? 12 minutes? Jeez.”

John McEnroe seething over shot-clock drama: 'Rafael Nadal should be penalised. It's a joke'

John McEnroe has expressed his outrage after Rafael Nadal went unpunished for apparently exceeding the 25-second time limit between shots, describing it as "a joke".

www.tennis365.com

He's 100% right on this.

There's no real defense or argument other than "you're salty/butthurt etc. Rafa hater".

 

[XiP]

At 3 different, consecutive times, at 40-30, over 2 different games, when Jessie Pegula was serving, JP was at the line bouncing the ball, in service rhythm, IS walked away to the side to get her towel and wiped. Made JP wait. JP pointed it out, said it went back to Indian Wells match too. Nothing happened. No warning, much less penalty for Swiatek.

FWIW Nadal would never do that. It's sad to have a #1 that is so bush league.

 

[DariaGT]

That's the old court one isn't it?

Could be but Im sure Messi, Ronaldo or Beckham would never try a hard piece of wood on their precious tootsies
I was surprised though how Nadal kept hitting his shoes quite hard with his racquet in the first few sets to unload clay on them and not risk aggravating his foot injury?

Nadal is like Maradonna with the hand of God but for 20 years fooling officials is GOAT Gamesmanshipper Of All Time yet spends chump change on boats not coke.

 

[Terenigma]

Rafa has always done this and he’s too much of a legend and too far in his career to get penalized now. That’s just how it is unfortunately. He spent most of his career without the clock and got comfy.

But Iga? They need to start hammering her. She got that bad habit from Rafa. Her holding up Coco today was ridiculous.

What utter nonsense. Noone is too big for the rules and the fact anyone can say something like this is extremely worrying. This sort of attitude is what is happening to the world, they think celebs or people in political power are too big to be punished and they just accept that's how it is and if everyone accepts that then things only get worse.

Umpires need to start enforcing this harshly, I don't care if the crowd starts booing because it's happening too much, the umpire is not to blame, the player is. Nadal/Iga might be a good place to start as they're the hot names this year and maybe if everyone sees that it's no longer acceptable for them, matches might actually end in a reasonable 2-3 hours instead of 5. I'm glad someone like John McEnroe is making a big fuss about this because we need a big name to get the ball rolling.

 

[Hitman]

Could be but Im sure Messi, Ronaldo or Beckham would never try a hard piece of wood on their precious tootsies
I was surprised though how Nadal kept hitting his shoes quite hard with his racquet in the first few sets to unload clay on them and not risk aggravating his foot injury?

Nadal is like Maradonna was with the hand of God but for 20 years fooling officials is GOAT Gamesmanshipper Of All Time yet spends chump change on boats not coke.

Nadal is like Maradonna...

 

[Arak]

What utter nonsense. Noone is too big for the rules and the fact anyone can say something like this is extremely worrying. This sort of attitude is what is happening to the world, they think celebs or people in political power are too big to be punished and they just accept that's how it is and if everyone accepts that then things only get worse.

Umpires need to start enforcing this harshly, I don't care if the crowd starts booing because it's happening too much, the umpire is not to blame, the player is. Nadal/Iga might be a good place to start as they're the hot names this year and maybe if everyone sees that it's no longer acceptable for them, matches might actually end in a reasonable 2-3 hours instead of 5. I'm glad someone like John McEnroe is making a big fuss about this because we need a big name to get the ball rolling.

Fully agreed. The rules should apply to everyone. Similarly to the toilet breaks, the high profile players abused them for years without reaction, but when Tsitsipas did it, they immediately made rules about them.

 

[Russeljones]

Incorrect. The rules about time between points rely entirely on the umpire's interpretation of what a reasonable point in time would be to start the clock (and whether on occasion to stop it again) given the environment and the point just played.

Those are in fact the rules themselves.

So yes, you're making excuses. Thank you.

 

[reaper]

If down match point, having missed your first serve, can you simply not hit the second one? Can you stand there until either bad light stops play, or until the 2nd Sunday ends without hitting the 2nd serve?

 

[killerboss]

I can't make heads nor tails of Mac's weird rant. It just sounds like rambling to me. He might even be parodying Nadal's critics - that's what it sounded like when I was listening to it live.

The people talking about Nadal's "cheating" are getting increasingly corny. Under no circumstances is getting a time violation some sort of cheating masterplan lmao.

 

[DariaGT]

Nadal is like Maradonna...

both masters of fooling the fools

 

[Topspin_80]

Mac is right, unless a more pragmatic approach is implemented, the clock is useless and doesn't serve any purpose. My favourite is when Rafa hits a net or misses a first serve after half a minute (which already should be a warning), and then goes on to take another good 20 seconds between 2 serves just bouncing the ball. So, a whole minute passes over and over again, (especially at 30-30 and such important points) and no one says a word. It's so obvious..

What about Djokovic, do you have an unbiased opinion about his serve?

 

[Tennis_Monk]

RP Nadal ofcourse stretches the rules. Many ATP and wta pros do.
Instead of blaming the players, one should blame the authorities and umpires.

 

[Topspin_80]

And you're just ignoring that Nadal breaks the rules by saying "salty salty salty salty" because you can't defend yourself in this situation, shows how much you blindly worship Nadal, going so far as to ignore his faults. Nadal is above rules apparently, isn't it ? God forbid he has to play Tennis with a little extra sweat.

Silverbullet96, can you give us your opinion about the time Djokovic takes before serving?

 

[Arak]

RP Nadal ofcourse stretches the rules. Many ATP and wta pros do.
Instead of blaming the players, one should blame the authorities and umpires.

The ATP and WTA players you are mentioning do actually get penalised. And I have never seen any using the towel and fold it neatly when his opponent is ready to serve,

 

[Topspin_80]

You are effectively communicating that this is a difficult time for you. If fantasizing about the world helps you sublimate the tensions, you have my support.

ROTFLMAO

 

[intrepidish]

So yes, you're making excuses. Thank you.

Incorrect. The rules about time between points rely entirely on the umpire's interpretation of what a reasonable point in time would be to start the clock (and whether on occasion to stop it again) given the environment and the point just played.

Those are in fact the rules themselves.

 

[Shaolin]

Iga is as blatant as Nadal. I particularly dislike the way she slows down the server, when the rules clearly state that receiver plays at the pace of the server.

Ive been noticing this, she does it all the time. Very annoying and total gamesmanship. The players need to call her out on it.

 

[Frenchy-Player]

Nadal is like Maradonna...

 

[XiP]

Who's "Maradonna"?

 

[Rosstour]

So the umpire is basically letting Nadal break the rule time and time again, tell me, how is it wrong to be annoyed about that ? I wasn't the one who made threads about this, but Nadal fans here are just making fun of people for wanting rules to be enforced.

Say anything critical of Nadal and this is what happens. Even when he's clearly in the wrong people will not see it.

 

[Terenigma]

Who's "Maradonna"?

He's a famous volleyball player.

 

[Hitman]

I don't even know how to respond to that.

 

[leodevlin]

I was hurt as well when I had to realize that Rafa will take over Roger as the goat.

 

[Rosstour]

At 3 different, consecutive times, at 40-30, over 2 different games, when Jessie Pegula was serving, JP was at the line bouncing the ball, in service rhythm, IS walked away to the side to get her towel and wiped. Made JP wait. JP pointed it out, said it went back to Indian Wells match too. Nothing happened. No warning, much less penalty for Swiatek.

Winning does a lot. It protects you from a lot of criticism.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees Rafa's behavior for what it is. It's all tactical.

 

[ChaelAZ]

Speaking of jokes…Mac.

 

[octobrina10]

"He informed the umpire he will take more time" A new made-up rule that only applies to Nadal when he's sweating because sweating clearly only affects him. Can you imagine a 100+ ranked player trying to say that to an umpire? Think the same allowances will be given then? If it's a especially hot day then the umpire could show some restraint with both players sure but quite frankly the rule is there for a reason. If you're getting too sweaty Nadal, speed up how quickly you towel yourself down, don't ask an umpire to give you more time.

You repeated the lie created the poster you quoted. This is yet another example of generating and spreading fake stories.

 

[Poisoned Slice]

roflmao.

 

[Terenigma]

You repeated the lie created the poster you quoted. This is yet another example of generating and spreading fake stories.

"I think between games we not go so fast, we have to go for the towel, it's impossible"

Thanks for playing.

 

[Icsa]

McEnroe is pointing out at the double standards that exists in this sport. If it was someone else instead of Rafa, he would have quickly received a warning/penalty.