TennisThis

Looking back to the last two weeks of the Aussie Open tennis championships, we have learned a couple of things….here are the random things that we picked up while watching ESPN’s daily coverage of the tennis tournament (in no particular order):

• Brad Gilbert is probably one of the best tennis announcers around…”Give ‘em the cheese!”, “Bring the wood!”, and our favorite “Gotta play the fear-hand…”
• Speaking of tennis announcers, Chris McKendry had no clue what she was talking about – did anybody else pick up on that?
• Andy Roddick is starting to show signs of wear and tear on court.
• Serena Williams doesn’t seem to have much respect for other female tennis players – She did quite a bit of trash talking during this tennis tournament.
• Male tennis players seem to age much faster than us “normal” human beings – Is Roger Federer really only 28? He looks at least 33.
• Melbourne, Australia looks beautiful – though we think that the tennis organization should change the court surface back to what it was a couple years ago – it was faster.
• Some tennis players announce retirement but make “special” appearances for grand slam events – Fabrice Santoro, Justine Henin, and couple of others that we can’t think of right now – so it’s not really retirement, right?
• Being really tall doesn’t always make you a better tennis player – Juan Martin Del Potro, Marin Cilic, Ivo Karlovic, etc.
• In Melbourne, the locals say that if you wait 10 minutes, the weather will change (typically to a different season) – if you remember the 2009 Aussie, it’s was something like 140+ degrees on the surface of the tennis courts.
• There was some heavy promotion of Vegemite.
• Ball kids have to wear some funky hats during the tennis matches.
• The wives’ hate us for staying up so late watching the tennis matches and filling up the DVR with the tennis matches that were aired at 3:30 am.
• The time rule for between points is non-existent – some tennis players took up to 39 seconds between points.
• The Australian tennis committee moved the beer garden to the other side of the tennis gardens to avoid unruly drunken fans.
• If you have 15 grand slam titles, chances are, you’re probably going to win a few more.
• Australia’s tennis security guards need to pay more attention on court.
• Unfortunately we didn’t get to see much of the tennis doubles (mixed doubles too) on TV and we certainly did not see ANY wheelchair tennis, why not?
• Rod Laver doesn’t live in Australia – and he’s a San Diego Chargers fan – huh?
• Roger Federer was portrayed as a Great White Shark – we also need a bigger tennis racquet!

Well, guess we could sit here for hours writing out all the little nuances we found during the two fabulous weeks of tennis action, but we just don’t have that much time. Feel free to add some of the things that you, the fellow reader, found to be beyond the tennis action!

Now that the Aussie has started, we’re looking at some of the rulings. According to the rules, each player is allowed 25 seconds between points, to towel off, get a ball, take a breath, etc. Watching the Sharapova vs. Kirilenko match, these ladies have consistently been taking, on average, 33 seconds between points! Seriously??? Why isn’t the chair umpire doing her job? Why isn’t the tournament director out there warning the chair person?  The fun part of watching this match is listening to Mary Jo Fernandez talk about how much time they’re taking and how annoyed she sounds. Dick Enberg keeps telling her that she should be out there with a stop watch…GO FOR IT MARY JO!

Here’s the official rule for your reading pleasure:

o) Continuous Play / Delay of Game
Following the expiration of the warm-up period, play shall be continuous and a player shall not unreasonably delay a match for any cause. A maximum of twentyfive (25) seconds shall elapse from the moment the ball goes out of play until the time the ball is struck for the next point. If such serve is a fault, then the second serve must be struck by the Server without delay. The exception is at a ninety (90) second changeover or a one hundred twenty (120) set break. The procedures for enforcing this rule are as follows:
i) 25 Seconds Between Points.
1. Start stopwatch when the player is ordered to play or when the ball goes out of play;
2. Assess Time Violation or Code Violation if the ball is not struck for the next point within the twenty-five (25) seconds allowed. There is no time warning prior to the expiration of the twenty-five (25) seconds.
ii) Changeover (Ninety (90) Seconds) and Set Break (One Hundred and Twenty (120) Seconds).
1. Start stopwatch the moment the ball goes out of play;
2. Announce “Time” after sixty (60) / ninety (90) seconds have elapsed;
3. Announce “15 Seconds” if one or both of the players are still at their chair.

Other players that come to mind who bend this particular rule are: Nadal, Djokovic, Safina, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams. Add whoever you want in the comments below.

Honestly, if the ITF and USTA have this rule written why isn’t anybody actually enforcing this rule? The umpires should definitely reminded of the rule from time to time, just to ensure they’re actually doing their jobs…seems like most everybody else is.