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Serena Williams footfaults by a quarter inch and it's a world controversy. But Nadal breaks the rules (I am going to call it for what it is--cheating) by delaying over 25 seconds routinely between points. And no one has made much of it at all.
Well, maybe that is changing. Here is something from Bob Larson's newsletter about what happened in Monte Carlo. And apparently Nadal thinks the rules don't really apply to him, still...
Nadal Gets Two Time Violations in Monte Carlo Match
Rafael Nadal said umpires are becoming redundant if they do not use their discretion during matches. The world No. 1 was calling for flexibility in enforcing the time violations rule.
Nadal received a time violation twice in his third round match against Gabashvili, complaining extensively to the umpire Pascal Maria after getting one when at 30-40, 4-0 in the second set.
"Today I cannot accept this one because was after a very long rally, was breakpoint against," he said. "The umpire, that I consider a good umpire like Pascal, was not right."
Players are allowed 25 seconds between points, receiving a warning the first time they go over and then losing a first serve or receiving point. Nadal, who is among those who take the longest between points, has been one of the players most affected.
"I need to change. I need to go quicker a lot of times. I know that," he said, but questioned the decision made by the umpire in this match.
"At the same time I think when the things are not right, I never have any problem to say that things are not like this.
"My feeling today, the way that the match develops, was not the right day to have two warnings for me. No one chance that that happen, no? Is because the umpire really wanted to do."
With Hawk Eye also making overrules less frequent, Nadal asked if umpires were sometimes only calling scores.
"If you want to make the things that way, the easier thing is put [a watch] on court and we don't need umpires anymore," he said. "Why we doing to have the umpires anymore? We can have the electronic, like we have, scoreboard and we can see 15-30. We don't need nobody that is just saying '15-30,' '30-30,' 'game Nadal,' or 'game Gabashvili'... Because we have all the lines. We can put the Hawk Eye here."
However, Nadal won two straight games after the controversy to win the match.
Well, maybe that is changing. Here is something from Bob Larson's newsletter about what happened in Monte Carlo. And apparently Nadal thinks the rules don't really apply to him, still...
Nadal Gets Two Time Violations in Monte Carlo Match
Rafael Nadal said umpires are becoming redundant if they do not use their discretion during matches. The world No. 1 was calling for flexibility in enforcing the time violations rule.
Nadal received a time violation twice in his third round match against Gabashvili, complaining extensively to the umpire Pascal Maria after getting one when at 30-40, 4-0 in the second set.
"Today I cannot accept this one because was after a very long rally, was breakpoint against," he said. "The umpire, that I consider a good umpire like Pascal, was not right."
Players are allowed 25 seconds between points, receiving a warning the first time they go over and then losing a first serve or receiving point. Nadal, who is among those who take the longest between points, has been one of the players most affected.
"I need to change. I need to go quicker a lot of times. I know that," he said, but questioned the decision made by the umpire in this match.
"At the same time I think when the things are not right, I never have any problem to say that things are not like this.
"My feeling today, the way that the match develops, was not the right day to have two warnings for me. No one chance that that happen, no? Is because the umpire really wanted to do."
With Hawk Eye also making overrules less frequent, Nadal asked if umpires were sometimes only calling scores.
"If you want to make the things that way, the easier thing is put [a watch] on court and we don't need umpires anymore," he said. "Why we doing to have the umpires anymore? We can have the electronic, like we have, scoreboard and we can see 15-30. We don't need nobody that is just saying '15-30,' '30-30,' 'game Nadal,' or 'game Gabashvili'... Because we have all the lines. We can put the Hawk Eye here."
However, Nadal won two straight games after the controversy to win the match.
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