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World AngerAnger Gazette Management,Management, TennisTennis ––StyleStyle February 2012 Vol 4, No 2 The Ebb and Flow of Emotion

By JOHN MARTIN lenged no fewer than MELBOURNE, five calls. The chair Australia — During umpire, Lynn Welch his second-set melt- of the United States, down at the 2011 calmly acceded to U.S. Open against her repeated re- , the quests for video re- Argentine veteran plays. The next night, raised his racket in of disgust and despair, disputed brandishing it above several decisions in his head on the Ar- his first-round loss to thur Ashe Stadium Nadal, gesturing and court. glaring at his oppo- Soon, it ap- nent, the crowd and peared, the racket John Martin/World Tennis Gazette the chair umpire, would be smashed OUTBURST: David Nalbandian of Argentina argues a point in Carlos Ramos of to pieces. The chair match against of United States at 2012 . Portugal. Ramos umpire, Pascal ignored him. Maria of France, watched Harrison slammed his Engzell of Sweden, kept None of the players’ be- closely in anticipation. racket and kicked a ball into her cool. havior was deemed disrup- But it did not happen. the crowd during his first- Later that afternoon, tive or excessive. Even so, Suddenly, Nalbandian round loss to Marin Cilic. grew by Tuesday night of the sec- pulled back from the abyss, But the chair umpire, Louise contentious and chal- ond week of the champion- lowered his racket and ship, United States Open walked to the sideline, his umpires had cited 30 players moment of fury defused. for 33 code violations that For tennis fans with long drew $44,600 in fines. The memories, it was a chance offenses included audible to ponder the ebb and flow obscenities, abuse of rackets of anger management be- and equipment and un- tween players and officials sportsmanlike conduct. in the last 30 years. What is different from the Not everyone has bad old days? Paid profes- adopted the Nalbandian sional umpires have re- style: feel it, cool it, move placed unpaid volunteers, on. and players can resort to On opening day, Ryan electronic replays to verify a Harrison, who was fined call they think is wrong. As a $2,100 at the result, gone are the towering for flinging his racket over a tantrums of Ilie Nastase, the fence, lost his temper on the umpire baiting of John International Men’s Tennis Weekly Louis Armstrong court. McEnroe and the crude ges- Venting his frustration, OUTBURST: Gene Mayer argues a point to Dick Roberson in a 1980 men’s tournament dispute. tures of Jimmy Connors.

Page 2 World Tennis Gazette February 2012 Would McEnroe Now Say: ‘Are You, Sir, Perhaps Not Serious?’ Not Likely “It was dreadful,” said Dick peatedly screamed at a Wimbledon Roberson, a World Team Tennis chair umpire in 1981, including, supervisor of officials who was hired “You cannot be serious!” It became by the ATP in 1979 and became the the title of McEnroe’s autobiogra- chief Grand Prix supervisor. phy. “Nobody wanted to sit courtside It is unlikely that McEnroe because of the vulgar language,” he would now choose to say, “Are said. you, sir, perhaps, not serious?” But Roberson’s mandate from the in the different atmosphere today, Men’s International Professional players are often more respectful Tennis Council was to conduct toward officials. Some are down- training, devise evaluations and right sympathetic. certify professional chair umpires “I think it’s a tough job being an who could stand up to misbehaving umpire,” said last players. year. “I think players know that, At the insistence of the ATP, too.” which paid his $35,000 salary, he One umpire who might have became, in effect, the world’s first been pleased to hear Federer’s paid professional tennis official. His remarks is Dr. Charles F. Beck, corps of paid professionals would who faced a fellow New Yorker’s enforce the rules against profanity, ire in the late 1970s and the 1980s. racket abuse, and disruptive behav- “As I drove along, I examined ior in the tantrum-filled age. the match that I had done with Tournaments “were losing spon- John McEnroe,” he wrote in his sors,” Roberson said, “they were 1988 memoir, “A View From the losing ticket holders.” Tall Chair: Ten Years With the Roberson recruited referees and Men’s Pro Tour.” umpires to attend training schools TIRADE TARGET: Cover of 1988 mem- “Why did he behave so badly? he staged in Dallas, Paris, Sydney, oir by veteran chair umpire, Dr. Charles Why did I put myself in a position to and Hong Kong. Beck, who was berated by John McEn- listen to him? Is it worth that to an Embarking on the ATP circuit, roe and considered whether to resign. umpire? No one, in my whole life, Roberson hired three fellow supervi- had ever yelled at me like that. In all sors, including Kurt Nielsen of Den- of my participation in sports, no mark, the 1955 Wimbledon finalist. Together, they player had ever behaved that way.” searched for men and women who would enforce a new Beck, who spent a decade on the road working at code of conduct. In the process, Robertson persuaded the tournaments, found himself questioning his competence tennis establishments in the United States, Australia, Brit- in the wake of McEnroe’s tongue-lashing. ain, and France to adopt his methods. Other nations fol- “Should I stop?” he wrote. “Is it possible that he is lowed. right? Maybe I am not a good official.” One of his early recruits, Rich Kaufman, a linesman Maybe, with his restraint and self-examination, Beck from the Pacific Northwest who lived in England, climbed was a better official than he realized. into the umpire’s chair in the 1983 Wimbledon Gentlemen’s The new atmosphere fostered by Roberson paid off in Singles Final. Today, Kaufman is chief umpire of the U.S. several ways, according to Brian Earley, the U.S. Open’s Open. Another Roberson recruit was Jim Tunney, who refe- tournament referee. reed three Super Bowls “He was known for his and was put to work in fairness, and also for World Team Tennis World Tennis Gazette sharing his ideas about matches in California. Vol 4 No 2 February 2012 the Code of Conduct with “You know why I got his colleagues, who then A magazine for players, coaches, fans, him?” Roberson said of and friends of tennis throughout the world. disseminated it to the Tunney. “So he could Each issue contains a story and photo- referees and then the handle Nastase.” graphs on a single subject. All are the re- chair umpires,” Earley The most notorious sponsibility of the editor. To subscribe, said. And he was also a outburst of that era came big supporter of chair comment, or make suggestions, email: Richard Osborn from McEnroe, who re- [email protected]. Editor: John Martin umpires. He understood

Page 3 World Tennis Gazette February 2012 Stricter Rules, Hawk-Eye Technology May Defuse Potential Outbursts that overrule was “I think it necessary. And so really helps,” she we had an abso- said, “just to lutely professional check, just get lineup, but we still, the calls out of how many people your head.” go out there and While it does- call lines for a liv- n’t mean players ing? And so the no longer lose overrule was still their tempers, necessary.” the Hawk-Eye The overrule technology set- enabled chair um- tles many dis- pires to defuse out- putes that might bursts from out- have erupted raged players who into a major al- saw the ball better, tercation. in some cases, than For Snyder, the linesman or who faced lineswoman. Ray Stubblebine/Associated Press McEnroe’s ire as Jay Snyder, who ATTACK: When tirades were tirades, John McEnroe took a swing at a a chair umpire, was U.S. Open television sound technician during his 1981 Open semifinal match. the technology tournament director proves a point, before retiring and becoming a consultant, said something he doubts McEnroe would accept, McEnroe’s demeanor masked an ulterior motive: even today. distract and frustrate his opponent. “The research showed — he would not “I think the act you saw on court was part of believe it — but the research shows that John’s game. John never cheated. I can say that when you’re running, when you plant your about him straight up. He never cheated. He foot, your eyeballs bounce, and you can’t never stole a call,” Snyder said. focus on a fixed point.” “But he tried to intimidate officials. And he The problem facing Snyder and other truly was convinced that his eyes were better chair umpires and lines people was McEn- than anybody else’s. That’s why they named the roe’s insistence that he could see better than slow motion camera — when CBS used that any official. slow motion camera on the baseline and the ser- “I’ll never forget, he was at the net, and he vice line to show the ball, they called it the Rich Kaufman went to return a ball that was hit at him, and McCam. Because John was the one who felt that his eyes he just ducked it. He didn’t turn around to see where it were better than anybody else’s.” landed, he just knew it was going out. It was good. It One additional factor that has led to fewer disputes is was called good. And he just argued and argued and Hawk-Eye, the image machine that translates signals from argued. He hadn’t even seen it. But he just thought he as many as ten cameras into an animated line call. knew better than anybody else.” An incident last year at a tournament in Monterrey, As Roberson’s regime began to take hold, he said, Mexico, convinced Jelena Jankovic of of the value players grew to support the standards he imposed, of ball-tracking cameras, she said. aware that they stood a better “They didn’t have the Hawk-Eye,” chance of prevailing in argu- she said, “and obviously you’re ments if their antagonist in the gonna have some close calls.” dispute was a professional. Jankovic lost in the finals of the Still, as a reformer, Rober- tournament but refused to blame A condensed version of this article appeared in son said he faced resistance the loss on a bad call. The New York Times on Sept. 8, 2011 under by the International Tennis “I mean, it was close, so you the title: “Over Time, Tantrums Become Tamer” Federation to the professional don’t know if it was against you or rules and conduct he wanted to not, because you don’t have the challenge,” she said. “So adopt for his certified umpires. you can’t really be sure.” “It was mainly from the ITF, it was mainly from their of Denmark said the technology rules people,” he said. “Their attitude was ‘What if helps players shake off doubts about possible bad calls. there’s a final at Wimbledon, and a player goes bonkers

Page 4 World Tennis Gazette February 2012 Over Time, Tantrums Become Tamer — Or Not, Officials Discover

Stan Honda/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images of the United States kicked ball into crowd after missing a shot on opening day of the 2011 U.S. Open. Earlier, at the , he tossed his racket over a fence, violating tournament rules. on the court. And he’s swearing, and all this kind of stuff. a chair umpire who refused to allow him to challenge a And they said, ‘Whadda you gonna do with him?’ I said, call after the specified time had elapsed. For nearly five ‘I’m gonna default him.’ ‘Whatta ya mean? The fans. Think minutes, Nalbandian argued with the umpire and a su- of the fans.’ I said, ‘Have you ever gone to a boxing pervisor who was summoned to the court. match? A championship boxing Moments later, Nalbandian lost match? And there was a knockout in the final point of the match to John the first 30 seconds? It’s over. It’s Isner, stormed off the court into a over.’” narrow passageway where he Today, some top players still can- pushed aside tournament officials in not control their anger. At the French a manner regarded as unsports- Open in May, of manlike. Spain drew a $5,000 fine for repeated Still, some others have managed audible obscenities. to curb their enthusiasm for even mild In a qualifying match at Roland tantrums. At Wimbledon in July, Jo- Garros a few days earlier, Ryan Harri- Wilfried Tsonga of France missed a son flung his racket over a fence, nar- pop volley that could have pulled him rowly missing spectators and ball kids out of a downward spiral against No- walking on a pathway beneath a tree vak Djokovic in the semifinals. which deflected the racket. He refused As his shot landed long, Tsonga to discuss the incident with a reporter raised his racket and appeared ready but tournament officials fined him for to slam it into the Center Court turf. his behavior. Then he checked his motion, gingerly In Melbourne last month, David John Martin/World Tennis Gazette placed the racket in his mouth. Nalbandian, who managed his an- POINT OF ORDER: Brian Earley, U.S. Anger managed, released, and ger at the U.S. Open, railed against Open referee on French Open duty. left behind.