The Rules of Tennis
Last Wednesday we reviewed a new rule associated with toilet breaks that the ATP tour is implementing in 2022. It is a clear and direct response to the media coverage and backlash surrounding the toilet habits of Stefanos Tsitispas. Buried at the end of the ATP announcement of the rule, was an innocuous little sentence that the penalty for extended bathroom breaks are Time Violations.
Toilet Break & Change of Attire (Effective 2022)
Time violations will apply if a player is not ready within the allowed time
ATP Tour Press Release [1]
It remains to be seen exactly what the penalty will be for a time violation in that context. The 2022 ATP Rulebook has yet to be publicly released and the 2021 edition only frames out time violation penalties are in terms of serving and receiving.
Time Violations.
2021 ATP Official Rulebook, VIII.cc [2]
Violating a provision of this Section, as server or receiver, shall be penalized by a “Time Violation – Warning” and each subsequent violation shall be penalized as follows:
• Server. When serving the time violation shall result in a “fault”.
• Receiver. When it is determined that the receiver is the cause of the time violation, then the receiver shall be penalized by the assessment of one (1) point penalty. The receiver must also play to the reasonable pace of the server. A Time Violation may be issued in this case prior to the expiration of twenty-five (25) seconds if the receiver’s actions are delaying the reasonable pace of the server. Assess a code violation if the receiver is consistently or obviously delaying the server, thus employing “Unsportsmanlike Conduct”.
Unless the ATP changes the verbiage of this section for 2022, the new rule will not make much of a difference. The first violation is a “Warning” however, the player would need to be on court to receive that warning. I do not believe that a first infraction can escalate beyond a warning because the player is not on the court.
Since the new ATP Rule indicates that only one toilet break is allowed, there isn’t much of a chance for second violations. However, if the player had received an earlier warning for a time violation when serving or receiving during a point, then an excessively long toilet break could result in a penalty.
The penalty would be the loss of a first serve if the player was due to serve when returning to the court or a point if the player was set to receive. Just like the warning, I do not believe that the penalty can escalate with the player off the court.
The ATP “did something” to address long toilet breaks during matches. In this case, that something essentially boils down to nothing.
- ATP Announces Rule Changes To Speed Play, ATP Tour Press Release, November 23, 2022.
- ATP Official Rulebook, 2021.
2023 – is the time clock still visible on court? I’m watching the French and can’t spot it, and it hasn’t been mentioned.
They are in use. The quickest way to pinpoint the location is by listening to the umpires’ instructions during the pre-match meeting at the net. On Philippe Chatrier the clocks are facing the players on the bench and on the main scoreboards on either end.
The following clip is James Keothavong’s instructions to Gael Mon Fils and Sebastian Baez as an example. https://youtu.be/i_BQ-ofW594
I suspect that the shot clock largely hasn’t come into play this year because the referee has instructed the officials to delay starting the clock to avoid excessive violations. The points are longer on clay, and players typically need a little extra time between points. During the Alcaraz-Djokovic semi-final, Jim Courier remarked that one of the development opportunities for Alcaraz is learning to keep an eye on the clock to use more time between points.
A couple of things:
1. If the player is off the court, he should still know the rule and once his first time violation is called in absentia, the second one should follow right behind it as the click keeps on ticking until the player gets back onto the court.
2. Would this not be similar to the penalties incurred by players who are late showing up for their matches in USTA? The player is not there so the penalties pile up to a match forfeit over a 15 minute period. Different steps every 5 minutes.