The grip of the dinosaurian in the professional field is more visible at the four major grand slams, Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open as well as Davis and Fed Cups. The ATP and WTA constantly try to bring innovation and adapt to present times while the old drudges stubbornly drag their feet.
At Wimbledon 2007, in the last few days two blatant examples have come to light and it's hard to determine who is to blame, if not all, ATP, WTA, ITF and the Wimbledon officials and rule makers.The injury time out rule:As much as I love grit, I also love fairness, in sports they go hand in hand.
What good does a rule do for a sport where favouritism abounds towards seeded or famous players? Not much, I shall say.
There were times when fitness counted in tennis and cramps were a sign of being unfit to play or the lack thereof sufficient grounds for elimination.
Yesterday, Serena Williams in her match against Daniela Hantuchova, was unfit to play and should have been disqualified."The umpire, the trainer, Hantuchova and several other official as gathered round as the injury break became longer, and a tearful Williams shrieked in agony when ice was applied to her calf." Of course I understand Serena's pain and suffering, but who is being treated unfairly? Daniela Huntuchova, who is fit and ready to play.
What happened thereafter is irrelevant, all the heroics from Serena for me amount to nothing, because the rule was stretched out unfairly in her favour, when she should have been eliminated on the spot.A three-minute time out is a three-minute time out, period. Any time past the three minutes is allotted a point penalty until final and irrevocable elimination. That was not done and a visibly upset Daniela Hantuchova who dearly paid for it with a bunch of unforced errors, poor play and lost a match she had won on fitness and by the rules!
As players are often punished and fined for on court bad behaviour, in a case like this shouldn't Hantuchova have the right to sue the Wimbledon organization and it's officials for breach of the rules and ask for damage compensation? Yes, she should.
The next blatant and alarming case of poor rules is the situation where obviously injured players continue playing and go on to win matches to disgracefully default in the next round;
There was a time when tennis players respected the game, the tournament, sponsors and what makes them stars, the public. Correct me if I am wrong, but I can remember that in more then one occasion "bad boy" Jimmy Connors at match point in his favour graciously came to the net and shook hands with his opponent, because he knew the nature of his injury would deter him from giving his best in the next round (a semi or a final). Bravo Jimmy! You were a fierce competitor and at times obnoxious to say the least, but you had your priorities right, the game, the tournament, sponsors and your public, first!
This makes me go forwards to Tommy Haas who was obviously injured beyond repair for the next round against Roger Federer, but that rather chose to beat Alexander Tursunov and a few hours later declared forfeit, because of the injury sustained against the Russian player. Do you think Tommy at match point against Tursunov did not know he would not be able to play the next day? Of course he knew, tennis players like all fine tuned athletes know their bodies well especially under injury, but Tommy chose to be selfish, cash in the quarter final prize money, did not give a hoot about the tournament, his fellow players, the sponsors or the public and bailed out!
Some may call it the luck of the draw, but put yourself in the skin of Juan Carlos Ferrero or Janko Tipsarevic that will have to battle it out on court and through yet another mentally gruelling rainy day, while a highly favoured Roger Federer is watching the events from the comfort of his bedroom suite. To add insult to injury the winner of the confrontation in all likelihood will have to play two five set matches in consecutive days, while Roger Federer is fresh as a morning lettuce having played his last match on Friday 29.06.2007.
Well let us call it the luck of the draw.
Sunday 08.07.200, well I thought I was over with the default and injury time outs goings on at Wimbledon, but I was totally wrong. Young Novak Djokovic even though he had had enough treatments for an army during his match against Marcos Baghdatis he decided to go ahead win the match on the fifth set and then forfeit during the Wimbledon semi-final match against Rafael Nadal. Some may say at least he tried, I say not good enough, he should have walked over at match point against Marcos Baghdatis and let him play the semi.
Then we have the final between Venus Williams and Marion Bartolli, where Bartoli asks for a medical time out and after 4 or 5 minutes play interruption, Williams asks in turn for a medical time out for herself! Shouldn't there be a rule, when a player asks for a medical time out, if necessary, the other player will have to ask for a medical time out at the same time allotted to the opponent?
As a side comment I must just say, some talented players are just not putting enough physical work outside the court to allow then the fitness necessary to perform at the level they want and need to. All these excuses that the tennis schedule is to tough are just nonsense. Coaches and trainers have to stop treating such players like prima donnas and set up conditioning programs that level up and surpass the competition needs in question.
What amendments should be made to the rules?
I suggest the following:
- If a player wins a round under injured conditions and the Tournament Doctor later on declares him unfit to play the next round match, he should forfeit his prize money for the round and allow the losing player to play in his place.
- In these conditions all prize money and WTA or ATP points should be the ones from the previous round.
- To avoid situations like Novak Djokovic combativity rule should be also enforced
Any other suggestions are welcome.
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