Friday, October 15, 2010

Rules are part of the job

Recently, Caroline Wozniacki got into an extended argument with an umpire for the simple reason that the Danish player was not adequately familliar with the hindrance rules. Yesterday, Ana Ivanovic was surprised to have points docked when she was given a bathroom break after she served, and that break extended beyond the time allowed for leaving the court. Again, she was not familiar enough with the rules. In Ivanovic's case, I think she would have probably chosen to have the points docked, anyway, but the issue here is that she was so surprised to find that the score had changed.

There are a lot of rules in tennis, and--while the average player might be expected to experience confusion over some of them from time to time--it would seem that professional players would be able to recite them easily. (There are also fans who might consider checking the rules before they launch into diatribes about umpires. It is not an umpire's job to educate players on the rules of the game.)

4 comments:

Curtis said...

Well, it's a dumb rule and the umpire acted like a moron. At least have the courtesy to tell Ana BEFORE she left the court she would be penalized, not AFTER. It's unfair that a Ana had to choose either to throw up on national TV or lose a game. WTA needs to get their act together because that was ridiculous.

Ajde Ana! Kick some ass in Linz!

Diane said...

It may or may not be a "dumb" rule, but it's one that the players are supposed to know about. That's part of their job. It is indeed a favor if the umpire states a rule, but it is not required.

Anonymous said...

Curtis,

Don't you think, that you are going a little too far with this Ana affection? Just because you are crazy about Ivanovic, the rest of the world is not going to follow...
It was unfortunate what happend, but I agree with Diane, players are paid to know the rules of the game they are playing. No sympathy for Ana from me.

Overhead Spin said...

Curtis please, she was lucky they never docked her 2 games. I am with Diane, how can you be a professional player and not know the rules of the sport?

It is similar to when Nadal told the press that he should be given a warning that he was going to be warned going over the alotted time. Give me a break already.