The only problems that Rafa Nadal has had at this year’s French Open have been with chair umpires due to the length of time he takes between serves. Chair umpire Ramos gave him two warnings in his last match.
PARIS – Rafael Nadal receiving a warning for the length of time he takes between serves is certainly nothing new, as much as it is not new either that the Spaniard will complain about it. Many tennis fans remember the controversy with Carlos Bernardes of Brazil, whom Nadal had asked not to umpire his matches anymore after a time-violation called during a tournament in Brazil. If Bernardes had been prevented from umpiring Rafa’s matches, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to sit in the chair during final matches in big clay court tournaments anymore, as Nadal is often part of those finals. This would have been a profoundly unfair situation. Other referees might also have been influenced by the situation and they would have been more cautious in calling out Rafa whenever he was committing obvious time-violations.
Besides the feud between Nadal and Bernardes, there is no doubt that the rule introduced nearly five years ago on September 12, 2012 which sanctioned a maximum time of 25 seconds between points has not yet found a standardized application.
Nadal, Djokovic, Sharapova and sometimes Murray, are the most striking cases of breaking the rule, but frankly I don’t know how much they are aware of committing an infraction. In my opinion, they simply go with flow and fall into old habits looking to focus on their next point rather than catching their breath.
As a matter of fact, Nadal stated the opposite opinion after the chair umpire Ramos gave two warnings during his last match in Paris: “If you want your players to perform well, you have to allow them to breathe a little. We are not machines. You also need time to regroup and think… This umpire (Ramos) is trying, in a way, to look for my mistakes.”
“In theory, the chair umpire should be able to analyze a match. Their job is not to operate a clock, otherwise it would be a more clever idea to have an actual timer on the court. A few umpires behave in a certain way, others in another way. Shall I change what I do? No, I told him that if I don’t have time to grab my towel, he can give me as many warnings as he wants,” Rafa said in his post-match press conference.
On the other hand, Rafa’s opponent Bautista Agut supported his fellow countryman: “Rafa and I have to play a lot of points. And we have to do a lot of running to win them. We don’t need the extra pressure from the chair umpires. I don’t agree with that rule.”
When the late Brad Drewett – a former ATP Executive – introduced the rule, he said: “We believe that this rule will be a useful tool to fight too many unnecessary breaks. The rule will not seriously reduce the duration of the match, but should have a positive impact on a smoother game.”
Federer, Rosol and several other players have complained about the fact that the rule is rarely enforced. Djokovic can bounce the ball 17 times before serving and Nadal showcases a complete collection of bizarre habits every time he steps to the service line: First he adjusts the back of his shorts, then he pulls both sleeves on his t-shirt, scratches his nose, adjusts his hair behind both ears, bounces the ball six or seven times and finally tosses it up for the serve. It is not a pretty show for the opponent waiting to return on the other side of the net.
I asked Djokovic if he liked the idea of having a clock on the court and his reply was negative: “I am aware that I am often at the edge of what is allowed in terms of length of time in between points because of my routines. So, I accept the fact that I might receive a warning occasionally, even if the chair umpire sometimes is not aware of the circumstances, such as the towel is not always handed to you on time, the ball boy loses a ball etc. At that point, you are under pressure because you have your own routine when you step to the service line. Sometimes there should be more understanding of the situation, even if rules are in place and should be enforced. We are all part of the match, the umpires included: They don’t have to run left and right, but they know the game very well. When you are in the middle of a huge battle and they give you a warning after the very first time that you exceed the 20 seconds that are allowed in between points, I don’t think that it is correct. We are all human and make mistakes.”
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com )
