With Ball Kids Restricted By COVID 19 Precautions, Shouldn’t the Time Between Points Be Expanded?

Riveting Match Shattered In Final Moments By Time Violation Call

VIEW AND DOWNLOAD WORLD TENNIS GAZETTE VOL. 14 NO. 1

By JOHN MARTIN

MELBOURNE (VIA SAN DIEGO) — It was one of Frances Tiafoe’s finest Grand Slam matches.

But when Novak Djokovic finally overcame Tiafoe in four sets in the second round of this year’s Australian Open, both players agreed the key point was a correct but untimely call and penalty levied by the chair umpire.

In a somewhat unusual circumstance, the chair umpire who made the call against Tiafoe was the same umpire, Damien Dumusois of France, who assessed a controversial time violation against Djokovic in last year’s Australian Open Men’s Final.

Last year, Djokovic shrugged off the call and defeated Dominic Thiem, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, to win the championship…

This year, Djokovic defeated Tiafoe 6-3, 6-7 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.

ESPN described the crucial point:
“Both players were on serve in the fourth set and looked headed for another tiebreaker when Tiafoe was given a time violation on his serve. He lost his temper — and then his serve — to fall behind 3-4. He didn’t win another game in the match, which finished with a double fault.”

“These kinds of things are just unlucky,” Djokovic told reporters later. “He deserved to have his first serve.”

I mean, that just broke me. I’m out there battling World No. 1, and like he needs any more help. – Frances Tiafoe
Feb 10, 2021

Tiafoe agreed. “I feel like that kind of broke the match, honestly. And he ran off with it. Hats off to him, but that was a terrible ending to the match, to such a high quality match.’

Tiafoe’s reaction — losing his temper and then standing aside on each point as Djokovic served to win the next game — propelled him toward defeat.

“Could I have reacted better? Yes,” Tiafoe admitted. “I mean, that just broke me. I’m out there battling World No 1 and like he needs any more help?”

A reporter said: “You probably heard that Novak openly sympathized with what happened to you on the court today.”

Tiafoe said he appreciated Djokovic’s remark, then explained why he took a few extra seconds:

“If we’re gonna go and not use the towels with COVID and everything with the kids I get it,” he said. “I’m here for it, but let’s have more time. Especially on a court like Laver.”

What Tiafoe fell victim to was a pandemic precaution that prevents ball kids from running towels out to players between points.

Instead, players must position their towel at the back of the court (on each change-over), and walk to it from wherever a point ends.

Tiafoe described how this could easily be on the minds of many of the world’s top players.

“If I’m walking all the way over here, to then go here, to then go to the line — after we play a long point, I’m not going to sprint to my towel and come back. I’m not breaking records.”

The question is worth asking — and answering — in a calm, quiet session among the game’s administrators and players, not on a tense, courtside standoff between player and chair umpire, a standoff Tiafoe sensibly did not undertake.

A close review of match statistics shows Tiafoe came stunningly close to Djokovic in several key categories, including aces (Djokovic 26, Tiafoe 23), first serves in play (Tiafoe 78, Djokovic 74), first serve points won (Djokovic 62, Tiafoe 58), second serve points won (Tiafoe 34, Djokovic 27).

We’re left with Djokovic’s words of praise for Tiafoe:
“I was impressed with the way he was competing,” Djokovic told reporters afterward. “He served very well. He fought hard. I thought we both played at a pretty high level. He pushed me to the very limit.”