Strange tournament match

[Heck]

I joined a tournament over the holiday and it was open and way out my 3.5 level. We got lucky with a buy and then a good chance to win the pair we faced.
The match turned into a circus midway when we started to lead.

My partner and I called a ball wide on a serve. The problem player asked if we were sure and ask us to show him the mark. This is on hard courts.
We said no and he wanted to come over and show us because he says the courts are dirty and it leaves marks. My partner says he can't come over lol.
At this point, I felt I needed a lawyer. So the ref comes over and explains how it is our call and such and to play on.

So we move on to the change over where he starts to argue about the showing of the mark issue with my partner. He is male and my partner if female.
Now I feel he is disrupting us from the match. So I went over to tell him to stop talking to my partner about it because it's over. The ref comes by again.
I tell the ref he is arguing about an old settled point and it's distracting. The ref said she will handle it and we step away. 10 min of the ref telling him
to calm down follows.

We start playing again and he seems annoyed that my partner took a few more extra seconds to serve as she started to miss a few first serves.
The ref is staying till the end of the match at this point and he complains to her that she is taking too long to serve. Is he looking for serve time penalty WTH?
The ref is not buying it as she has seen the whole game.

Another strange call from the ref on me was almost made. I got a warning for my feet being close to the line. No foot fault was called just a warning. I never heard of that lol.
No problem I moved 2 inches back.

Now I am serving for the match and I made a close call out on his shot at the baseline. The ref backed me up and I got a match point. I guess he was upset and his next shot
hit the back curtain. No big celebration as we just go to the net for the handshake. I find out later that he brushed away my partner's hand lol.

It was a test of our emotions as we kept playing our game and I did not start to play angry despite the sideshow.

 

[ChaelAZ]

Rec tennis is life man.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

I joined a tournament over the holiday and it was open and way out my 3.5 level. We got lucky with a buy and then a good chance to win the pair we faced.
The match turned into a circus midway when we started to lead.

My partner and I called a ball wide on a serve. The problem player asked if we were sure and ask us to show him the mark. This is on hard courts.
We said no and he wanted to come over and show us because he says the courts are dirty and it leaves marks. My partner says he can't come over lol.
At this point, I felt I needed a lawyer. So the ref comes over and explains how it is our call and such and to play on.

So we move on to the change over where he starts to argue about the showing of the mark issue with my partner. He is male and my partner if female.
Now I feel he is disrupting us from the match. So I went over to tell him to stop talking to my partner about it because it's over. The ref comes by again.
I tell the ref he is arguing about an old settled point and it's distracting. The ref said she will handle it and we step away. 10 min of the ref telling him
to calm down follows.

We start playing again and he seems annoyed that my partner took a few more extra seconds to serve as she started to miss a few first serves.
The ref is staying till the end of the match at this point and he complains to her that she is taking too long to serve. Is he looking for serve time penalty WTH?
The ref is not buying it as she has seen the whole game.

Another strange call from the ref on me was almost made. I got a warning for my feet being close to the line. No foot fault was called just a warning. I never heard of that lol.
No problem I moved 2 inches back.

Now I am serving for the match and I made a close call out on his shot at the baseline. The ref backed me up and I got a match point. I guess he was upset and his next shot
hit the back curtain. No big celebration as we just go to the net for the handshake. I find out later that he brushed away my partner's hand lol.

It was a test of our emotions as we kept playing our game and I did not start to play angry despite the sideshow.

You and your partner did everything reasonably. The opponent maybe thought the match would be easy and was already looking ahead to the next match.

Anyway, good on ya for being mentally tough!

 

[Rattler]

I joined a tournament over the holiday and it was open and way out my 3.5 level. We got lucky with a buy and then a good chance to win the pair we faced.
The match turned into a circus midway when we started to lead.

My partner and I called a ball wide on a serve. The problem player asked if we were sure and ask us to show him the mark. This is on hard courts.
We said no and he wanted to come over and show us because he says the courts are dirty and it leaves marks. My partner says he can't come over lol.
At this point, I felt I needed a lawyer. So the ref comes over and explains how it is our call and such and to play on.

So we move on to the change over where he starts to argue about the showing of the mark issue with my partner. He is male and my partner if female.
Now I feel he is disrupting us from the match. So I went over to tell him to stop talking to my partner about it because it's over. The ref comes by again.
I tell the ref he is arguing about an old settled point and it's distracting. The ref said she will handle it and we step away. 10 min of the ref telling him
to calm down follows.

We start playing again and he seems annoyed that my partner took a few more extra seconds to serve as she started to miss a few first serves.
The ref is staying till the end of the match at this point and he complains to her that she is taking too long to serve. Is he looking for serve time penalty WTH?
The ref is not buying it as she has seen the whole game.

Another strange call from the ref on me was almost made. I got a warning for my feet being close to the line. No foot fault was called just a warning. I never heard of that lol.
No problem I moved 2 inches back.

Now I am serving for the match and I made a close call out on his shot at the baseline. The ref backed me up and I got a match point. I guess he was upset and his next shot
hit the back curtain. No big celebration as we just go to the net for the handshake. I find out later that he brushed away my partner's hand lol.

It was a test of our emotions as we kept playing our game and I did not start to play angry despite the sideshow.

Sorry that happened to you.

I love, LOVE when an angry player wants to argue the rules with me when we’re playing, or when an umpire oversteps or does something dumb...warning you about your feet, lol!

rec tennis is full of this.

 

[TagUrIt]

Extremely poor sportsmanship on your opponent’s part. You guys were a 100% right on him coming to your side. (to see a mark on hard courts?) Kudos to you and your partner for remaining mentally tough. Refusing to shake hands after the end of a match is worse than being a sore loser.
How did you guys do in the rest of the tournament?

 

[Heck]

Extremely poor sportsmanship on your opponent’s part. You guys were a 100% right on him coming to your side. (to see a mark on hard courts?) Kudos to you and your partner for remaining mentally tough. Refusing to shake hands after the end of a match is worse than being a sore loser.
How did you guys do in the rest of the tournament?

The next round we faced a college 12 and 10 utr pair. We were lucky to grab one game a set 6-1 6-1 from them. They played great tennis. They were the 8th seeds but they lost 6-0 6-1 to the 1st seeds
in the next round. The level of tennis was crazy but I am glad I have seen and felt it lol.

 

[r2473]

At some point you have to understand that you simply must play your opponents call. Doesn’t matter if you agree. Doesn’t matter if the call is obviously wrong. You just play the call without comment. Most people who have played tennis a bit expect lines to be called “tight”. The saying “league out” was coined for a reason.

A foot fault warning means you foot faulted a little bit, but the ump chose to warn you first before calling a fault. You did the proper thing by backing off the line a bit

 

[silentkman]

I joined a tournament over the holiday and it was open and way out my 3.5 level. We got lucky with a buy and then a good chance to win the pair we faced.
The match turned into a circus midway when we started to lead.

My partner and I called a ball wide on a serve. The problem player asked if we were sure and ask us to show him the mark. This is on hard courts.
We said no and he wanted to come over and show us because he says the courts are dirty and it leaves marks. My partner says he can't come over lol.
At this point, I felt I needed a lawyer. So the ref comes over and explains how it is our call and such and to play on.

So we move on to the change over where he starts to argue about the showing of the mark issue with my partner. He is male and my partner if female.
Now I feel he is disrupting us from the match. So I went over to tell him to stop talking to my partner about it because it's over. The ref comes by again.
I tell the ref he is arguing about an old settled point and it's distracting. The ref said she will handle it and we step away. 10 min of the ref telling him
to calm down follows.

We start playing again and he seems annoyed that my partner took a few more extra seconds to serve as she started to miss a few first serves.
The ref is staying till the end of the match at this point and he complains to her that she is taking too long to serve. Is he looking for serve time penalty WTH?
The ref is not buying it as she has seen the whole game.

Another strange call from the ref on me was almost made. I got a warning for my feet being close to the line. No foot fault was called just a warning. I never heard of that lol.
No problem I moved 2 inches back.

Now I am serving for the match and I made a close call out on his shot at the baseline. The ref backed me up and I got a match point. I guess he was upset and his next shot
hit the back curtain. No big celebration as we just go to the net for the handshake. I find out later that he brushed away my partner's hand lol.

It was a test of our emotions as we kept playing our game and I did not start to play angry despite the sideshow.

Dude was trying to pull a Hingis.

 

[rafazx10]

I dont understand some players, everyone knows the rules and who makes the calls.
As far and the umpire, maybe wasnt a warning, more like a heads up so you DONT make a foot fall.

Did the umpire have a stop watch for the serve time violation? I does happen quite often at futures level tournaments.

 

[r2473]

I joined a tournament over the holiday and it was open and way out my 3.5 level. We got lucky with a buy and then a good chance to win the pair we faced.
The match turned into a circus midway when we started to lead.

My partner and I called a ball wide on a serve. The problem player asked if we were sure and ask us to show him the mark. This is on hard courts.
We said no and he wanted to come over and show us because he says the courts are dirty and it leaves marks. My partner says he can't come over lol.
At this point, I felt I needed a lawyer. So the ref comes over and explains how it is our call and such and to play on.

So we move on to the change over where he starts to argue about the showing of the mark issue with my partner. He is male and my partner if female.
Now I feel he is disrupting us from the match. So I went over to tell him to stop talking to my partner about it because it's over. The ref comes by again.
I tell the ref he is arguing about an old settled point and it's distracting. The ref said she will handle it and we step away. 10 min of the ref telling him
to calm down follows.

We start playing again and he seems annoyed that my partner took a few more extra seconds to serve as she started to miss a few first serves.
The ref is staying till the end of the match at this point and he complains to her that she is taking too long to serve. Is he looking for serve time penalty WTH?
The ref is not buying it as she has seen the whole game.

Another strange call from the ref on me was almost made. I got a warning for my feet being close to the line. No foot fault was called just a warning. I never heard of that lol.
No problem I moved 2 inches back.

Now I am serving for the match and I made a close call out on his shot at the baseline. The ref backed me up and I got a match point. I guess he was upset and his next shot
hit the back curtain. No big celebration as we just go to the net for the handshake. I find out later that he brushed away my partner's hand lol.

It was a test of our emotions as we kept playing our game and I did not start to play angry despite the sideshow.

As with all TT “self righteous rants”, it would be interesting to hear this story from your opponents perspective. I bet it would sound quite different.

It brings up the interesting question of, if you feel like you’re getting hooked, what can you do or what should you do. And if your opponents accuse you of hooking and you think they’re wrong (and being overly dramatic), what can / should you do?

Unfortunately, there aren’t any good solutions to this, in a practical sense. It might help to understand that, as with most things, this is probably not the place to be looking for perfect justice. A good analogy might be driving. Only the stupidest of people somehow expect every driver to perfectly follow the rules and get angry when they don’t. Most sensible people understand that they have to deal with reality. Not what they think everyone else “ought” to do.

 

[silentkman]

As with all TT “self righteous rants”, it would be interesting to hear this story from your opponents perspective. I bet it would sound quite different.

It brings up the interesting question of, if you feel like you’re getting hooked, what can you do or what should you do. And if you’re opponents accuse you of hooking and you think they’re wrong (and being overly dramatic), what can / should you do?

Unfortunately, there aren’t any good solutions to this, in a practical sense. It might help to understand that, as with most things, this is probably not the place to be looking for perfect justice. A good analogy might be driving. Only the stupidest of people somehow expect every driver to perfectly follow the rules and get angry when they don’t. Most sensible people understand that they have to deal with reality. Not what they think everyone else “ought” to do.

The Dude wanted to come over and check the mark. C'mon man, its not self righteous at all.

 

[r2473]

The Dude wanted to come over and check the mark. C'mon man, its not self righteous at all.

The Dude also cut me off in traffic this morning. Really pissed me off. I wanted to chase him down and flip him off.

Except according to him, I was driving like an old lady and he just had to get away from me. I was driving him crazy. He was just being a "normal driver". I was driving way too slow and don't know what the "F" I'm doing.

I'm not sure who's right?

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

The Dude also cut me off in traffic this morning. Really pissed me off. I wanted to chase him down and flip him off.

Except according to him, I was driving like an old lady and he just had to get away from me. I was driving him crazy. He was just being a "normal driver". I was driving way too slow and don't know what the "F" I'm doing.

I'm not sure who's right?

2 different scenarios.

In the OP's, the rules are in his favor: "A player is not required to show an opponent the mark. The opponent shall not pass the net to inspect a mark." [From Friend At Court, 2017]

In your scenario, would a traffic cop have given you a ticket for driving like an old lady? Unlikely. Would he have given a ticket to the other guy for unsafe/reckless driving? Possibly.

 

[silentkman]

The Dude also cut me off in traffic this morning. Really pissed me off. I wanted to chase him down and flip him off.

Except according to him, I was driving like an old lady and he just had to get away from me. I was driving him crazy. He was just being a "normal driver". I was driving way too slow and don't know what the "F" I'm doing.

I'm not sure who's right?

Horrible Analogy.

 

[5sets]

I joined a tournament over the holiday and it was open and way out my 3.5 level. We got lucky with a buy and then a good chance to win the pair we faced.
The match turned into a circus midway when we started to lead.

My partner and I called a ball wide on a serve. The problem player asked if we were sure and ask us to show him the mark. This is on hard courts.
We said no and he wanted to come over and show us because he says the courts are dirty and it leaves marks. My partner says he can't come over lol.
At this point, I felt I needed a lawyer. So the ref comes over and explains how it is our call and such and to play on.

So we move on to the change over where he starts to argue about the showing of the mark issue with my partner. He is male and my partner if female.
Now I feel he is disrupting us from the match. So I went over to tell him to stop talking to my partner about it because it's over. The ref comes by again.
I tell the ref he is arguing about an old settled point and it's distracting. The ref said she will handle it and we step away. 10 min of the ref telling him
to calm down follows.

We start playing again and he seems annoyed that my partner took a few more extra seconds to serve as she started to miss a few first serves.
The ref is staying till the end of the match at this point and he complains to her that she is taking too long to serve. Is he looking for serve time penalty WTH?
The ref is not buying it as she has seen the whole game.

Another strange call from the ref on me was almost made. I got a warning for my feet being close to the line. No foot fault was called just a warning. I never heard of that lol.
No problem I moved 2 inches back.

Now I am serving for the match and I made a close call out on his shot at the baseline. The ref backed me up and I got a match point. I guess he was upset and his next shot
hit the back curtain. No big celebration as we just go to the net for the handshake. I find out later that he brushed away my partner's hand lol.

It was a test of our emotions as we kept playing our game and I did not start to play angry despite the sideshow.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story

 

[JackSockIsTheBest]

I joined a tournament over the holiday and it was open and way out my 3.5 level. We got lucky with a buy and then a good chance to win the pair we faced.
The match turned into a circus midway when we started to lead.

My partner and I called a ball wide on a serve. The problem player asked if we were sure and ask us to show him the mark. This is on hard courts.
We said no and he wanted to come over and show us because he says the courts are dirty and it leaves marks. My partner says he can't come over lol.
At this point, I felt I needed a lawyer. So the ref comes over and explains how it is our call and such and to play on.

So we move on to the change over where he starts to argue about the showing of the mark issue with my partner. He is male and my partner if female.
Now I feel he is disrupting us from the match. So I went over to tell him to stop talking to my partner about it because it's over. The ref comes by again.
I tell the ref he is arguing about an old settled point and it's distracting. The ref said she will handle it and we step away. 10 min of the ref telling him
to calm down follows.

We start playing again and he seems annoyed that my partner took a few more extra seconds to serve as she started to miss a few first serves.
The ref is staying till the end of the match at this point and he complains to her that she is taking too long to serve. Is he looking for serve time penalty WTH?
The ref is not buying it as she has seen the whole game.

Another strange call from the ref on me was almost made. I got a warning for my feet being close to the line. No foot fault was called just a warning. I never heard of that lol.
No problem I moved 2 inches back.

Now I am serving for the match and I made a close call out on his shot at the baseline. The ref backed me up and I got a match point. I guess he was upset and his next shot
hit the back curtain. No big celebration as we just go to the net for the handshake. I find out later that he brushed away my partner's hand lol.

It was a test of our emotions as we kept playing our game and I did not start to play angry despite the sideshow.

That dude must have pissed you guys off a lot but the mental strength comes into play & you guys handled it very well!

 

[r2473]

2 different scenarios.

In the OP's, the rules are in his favor: "A player is not required to show an opponent the mark. The opponent shall not pass the net to inspect a mark." [From Friend At Court, 2017]

In your scenario, would a traffic cop have given you a ticket for driving like an old lady? Unlikely. Would he have given a ticket to the other guy for unsafe/reckless driving? Possibly.

To see what I’m getting at, you have to understand that these things have nothing to do with justice. It’s only about self interest.

To test this with a simple heuristic, imagine the exact same set of conditions, but swap the places of the participants. If this were about objective justice, the changing of positions would not affect your perception of what is right or wrong (justice is objective after all). But everyone knows this isn’t the case. Why? Obviously because we judge any issue based on our self interest.

We’ve all been on both sides of these types of issues. And amazingly, we always see ourselves as being in the right.

I’m not trying to make a perfect analogy with my traffic example. I just thought it was a familiar example that captures the “spirit” (not the “letter”) of these types of disagreements.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

To see what I’m getting at, you have to understand that these things have nothing to do with justice. It’s only about self interest.

To test this with a simple heuristic, imagine the exact same set of conditions, but swap the places of the participants. If this were about objective justice, the changing of positions would not affect your perception of what is right or wrong (justice is objective after all). But everyone knows this isn’t the case. Why? Obviously because we judge any issue based on our self interest.

We’ve all been on both sides of these types of issues. And amazingly, we always see ourselves as being in the right.

I’m not trying to make a perfect analogy with my traffic example. I just thought it was a familiar example that captures the “spirit” (not the “letter”) of these types of disagreements.

Just as I give the benefit of the doubt to the opponent and call that close ball in, so do I give the benefit of the doubt to a poster on these types of posts [although sometimes I play Devil's Advocate to probe an argument].

So I don't conclude that the OP would take the opposite side if the situation was reversed [ie he would question a call, ask to see the mark on a hard court, and try to walk over to the opponent's side to check].

 

[r2473]

Just as I give the benefit of the doubt to the opponent and call that close ball in, so do I give the benefit of the doubt to a poster on these types of posts [although sometimes I play Devil's Advocate to probe an argument].

So I don't conclude that the OP would take the opposite side if the situation was reversed [ie he would question a call, ask to see the mark on a hard court, and try to walk over to the opponent's side to check].

It’s probably easier to think about it this way. Ask yourself, how would the OPs opponent relate this story? Would he cast himself as the villain? If not, how would the story sound? Would you possibly find yourself sympathetic with him if he related the story in his perspective? Probably I’d guess.

Now imagine the exact same facts, but the opponent is in the OPs shoes. Again, imagine how he’d relate the story in this case. I imagine in both cases he’d tell the story as if he were totally in the right and his opponent (the OP) was crazy and unreasonable.

Notice, the facts don’t change. As such, objective justice doesn’t change (by definition).

Another useful way of thinking about this is, imagine that the OP and his opponent belonged to an exclusive, private club. Let’s say Wimbledon. Do you think either of them would risk their club reputation by arguing over these things in a match? Probably not. But at a “one and done” tournament, no such perceived restrictions on behavior apply.

I find it interesting how “right and wrong” changes on the basis of perceived self interest. But, I’m admittedly a strange guy.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

It’s probably easier to think about it this way. Ask yourself, how would the OPs opponent relate this story?

Now imagine the exact same facts, but the opponent is in the OPs shoes. Again, imagine how he’d relate the story in this case. I imagine in both cases he’d tell the story as if he were totally in the right and his opponent (the OP) was crazy and unreasonable.

Notice, the facts don’t change. As such, objective justice doesn’t change (by definition).

Another useful way of thinking about this is, imagine that the OP and his opponent belonged to an exclusive, private club. Let’s say Wimbledon. Do you think either of them would risk their club reputation by arguing over these things in a match? Probably not. But at a “one and done” tournament, no such perceived restrictions on behavior apply.

I find it interesting how “right and wrong” changes on the basis of perceived self interest. But, I’m admittedly a strange guy.

And I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he would NOT ask to see the mark and try to go on the other side to find it. You're assuming he would. I'm assuming he wouldn't.

 

[r2473]

And I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he would NOT ask to see the mark and try to go on the other side to find it. You're assuming he would. I'm assuming he wouldn't.

You’re right, I don’t know what I was talking about. Kindly ignore my posts. Their nonsense

But I do find it interesting that you appear to be quite sensitive to this particular thing (wanting to walk over and see the mark). I’ve actually walked to the net and looked at ball marks left on a dirty hard court before to confirm where the ball actually hit. To me, it seemed quite sensible (objective evidence).

I’ll have to remember to never do that again. I can see that the perceived etiquette breach is the main issue (“you don’t do that”).

I learned something from this thread. And even if I see a mark, it doesn’t matter. It’s my opponents call. That’s the etiquette. That’s what matters.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

You’re right, I don’t know what I was talking about. Kindly ignore my posts. Their nonsense

We've both made our points. I'm not ignoring yours. I just don't agree with them.

But I do find it interesting that you appear to be quite sensitive to this particular thing (wanting to walk over and see the mark).

Not at all; I quoted the rule book because those are the rules we're supposed to be using and because I thought I remembered that specific rule being there.

I can only remember one guy coming over to my side to look and it was a friend and it also was after I called his shot in and after-the-fact we were trying to figure out if it really was. [After squatting down on the ground and examining it for 10 seconds, we both concluded that it was barely in but there was no way I could have perceived that when making the actual call. I relied on the rules that say the benefit of the doubt goes to the opponent.]

I’ve actually walked to the net and looked at ball marks left on a dirty hard court before to confirm where the ball actually hit. To me, it seemed quite sensible (objective evidence).

Objective? Whose to say the mark you've picked out is the right one? What if your opponent disagrees and chooses one that's out?

I’ll have to remember to never do that again. I can see that the perceived etiquette breach is the main issue (“you don’t do that”).

Do what you want.

BTW: it is a rule breach, not an etiquette breach ["Friend At Court" is related to the rules, not etiquette].

I learned something from this thread. And even if I see a mark, it doesn’t matter. It’s my opponents call. That’s the etiquette. That’s what matters.

You're right, it is your opponent's call. He could call it out if it was 5' in and you couldn't do anything to override it.

Am I defending that behavior? No.
Do I recognize that some are out there like that? Yes.
Do I assume that @Heck would act like his opponent? No.

I'd be just fine with a system that did all of the line calls so I could concentrate on my tennis.

 

[r2473]

We've both made our points. I'm not ignoring yours. I just don't agree with them.



Not at all; I quoted the rule book because those are the rules we're supposed to be using and because I thought I remembered that specific rule being there.

I can only remember one guy coming over to my side to look and it was a friend and it also was after I called his shot in and after-the-fact we were trying to figure out if it really was. [After squatting down on the ground and examining it for 10 seconds, we both concluded that it was barely in but there was no way I could have perceived that when making the actual call. I relied on the rules that say the benefit of the doubt goes to the opponent.]



Objective? Whose to say the mark you've picked out is the right one? What if your opponent disagrees and chooses one that's out?



Do what you want.

BTW: it is a rule breach, not an etiquette breach ["Friend At Court" is related to the rules, not etiquette].



You're right, it is your opponent's call. He could call it out if it was 5' in and you couldn't do anything to override it.

Am I defending that behavior? No.
Do I recognize that some are out there like that? Yes.
Do I assume that @Heck would act like his opponent? No.

I'd be just fine with a system that did all of the line calls so I could concentrate on my tennis.

I’d say we’re actually not arguing the same things.

Just as a side note, I certainly never said the OP would do the exact same things as his opponent (ie, go to the other side of the net to inspect the mark).

But it’s really no matter. I don’t think I articulated my point well. And now, there’s really no point in trying. Suffice it to say, we generally view all things with an eye to our self interest, not “justice” or right and wrong.

Anyway, I like to give different arguments on this forum, just to see how they are perceived and how others react and respond. It’s a nice place for that.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

I’d say we’re actually not arguing the same things.

Just as a side note, I certainly never said the OP would do the exact same things as his opponent (ie, go to the other side of the net to inspect the mark).

You implied it with "you have to understand that these things have nothing to do with justice. It’s only about self interest." No mention of conditionality. You made it out as Black and White and therefore, OP would have done unto others as he had done unto him. At least, that's how I interpreted it.

But it’s really no matter. I don’t think I articulated my point well. And now, there’s really no point in trying. Suffice it to say, we generally view all things with an eye to our self interest, not “justice” or right and wrong.

Anyway, I like to give different arguments on this forum, just to see how they are perceived and how others react and respond. It’s a nice place for that.

No argument that some/many view things personally rather than "what's the right call?". In tennis, conflict arises the most when the opponents are of different views. It's like the Prisoner's Dilemma in game theory.

And like I wrote, I too play Devil's Advocate to possibly uncover a weakness in an argument.

 

[Heck]

Well, it's my story and it is confirmed by my partner and 2 spectators of ours lol. I did not mean for it to be a rant just a story of what happened to me.

Now the mark. The opponent I suspect was asking for us to show him the mark because he claims dirty courts leave marks. I assume it was a got ya question. If we could not find a mark then he will say the
serve was in or hit the line. Now that is fine if it is 100% that all balls hit on dirty courts leave a clear mark and if they do how can we prove it is a mark that was not made by the 300 other players
in the tournament. Yes, the courts were dirty because it was a 300 player tournament and it was the 3rd day. He was accusing us of cheating with his got ya mark question.

Now, something else I forgot to add as he was using all sorts of tactics. My partner hit a return that he thought was out. This is another gem. The point was played and they lost it. Then with the ref
present he starts to state that the serve was out. Again he is trying to call our lines. The ref explains that she played the ball and the point stands. He argues and is talking to himself about how
we have to play balls that are out now. Now I did see the ball close and gave him the benefit of the dought and did not call it out and my partner played it. If he hit an ace I don't think he would
have been upset about it. This is how this match was going from the middle of the first set when we started to lead.

One trick he used. When he complained and lost about the time on the serve he did a false pause I guess I would call it. When she was about to serve he called out "hold up". Pretty much for no reason.
I guess it was his way to try and get back.

I tell this story because I have never seen all this in one match and I been to nationals, regionals and playoffs many times. I just found it interesting and something to share with other tennis players.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Well, it's my story and it is confirmed by my partner and 2 spectators of ours lol. I did not mean for it to be a rant just a story of what happened to me.

Now the mark. The opponent I suspect was asking for us to show him the mark because he claims dirty courts leave marks. I assume it was a got ya question. If we could not find a mark then he will say the
serve was in or hit the line. Now that is fine if it is 100% that all balls hit on dirty courts leave a clear mark and if they do how can we prove it is a mark that was not made by the 300 other players
in the tournament. Yes, the courts were dirty because it was a 300 player tournament and it was the 3rd day. He was accusing us of cheating with his got ya mark question.

Now, something else I forgot to add as he was using all sorts of tactics. My partner hit a return that he thought was out. This is another gem. The point was played and they lost it. Then with the ref
present he starts to state that the serve was out. Again he is trying to call our lines. The ref explains that she played the ball and the point stands. He argues and is talking to himself about how
we have to play balls that are out now. Now I did see the ball close and gave him the benefit of the dought and did not call it out and my partner played it. If he hit an ace I don't think he would
have been upset about it. This is how this match was going from the middle of the first set when we started to lead.

One trick he used. When he complained and lost about the time on the serve he did a false pause I guess I would call it. When she was about to serve he called out "hold up". Pretty much for no reason.
I guess it was his way to try and get back.

I tell this story because I have never seen all this in one match and I been to nationals, regionals and playoffs many times. I just found it interesting and something to share with other tennis players.

All of these antics should be making you and your partner...very happy. Why? Because it means he's breaking down mentally. He's not able to beat you with tennis so he now has to fall back on psychology. And that's not working either. Apply continued pressure and he will crumble. For example, huddle with your partner and say "I'm going to whisper something random and you and I will both laugh and then high five." That will enrage him. Maybe his head will explode.

Fortunately for you there was an umpire there who could point out that Mr. Mental has his head up his a** and to just play tennis [it was probably stated more diplomatically than that]. If there was no umpire, it would have devolved.

How did his partner behave? Was she on-board with the antics or was she looking away and wishing she had a different partner?

 

[Heck]

All of these antics should be making you and your partner...very happy. Why? Because it means he's breaking down mentally. He's not able to beat you with tennis so he now has to fall back on psychology. And that's not working either. Apply continued pressure and he will crumble. For example, huddle with your partner and say "I'm going to whisper something random and you and I will both laugh and then high five." That will enrage him. Maybe his head will explode.

Fortunately for you there was an umpire there who could point out that Mr. Mental has his head up his a** and to just play tennis [it was probably stated more diplomatically than that]. If there was no umpire, it would have devolved.

How did his partner behave? Was she on-board with the antics or was she looking away and wishing she had a different partner?

His partner was his 18 to 20 something daughter so we were feeling sorry for her. She just played like she may be used to that. They were using signals on every serve so they play together often.