The Rules of Tennis
Reilly Opelka continues to amaze me with his ability to get fined for violating obscure ATP rules. In this week’s episode, he was penalized for wearing his hat during the award ceremony at the Dallas Open. That’s right, kids. The ATP tour has a rule that prohibits players from wearing a hat or a headband during the awards ceremony.
No hat or headband, with or without logos, may be worn during the awards ceremony;
ATP Rulebook, VIII 8.04 L ii 3 (Excerpt)
This particular rule appears to be unique to the ATP. There is nothing similar in either the WTA nor the Grand Slam rulebook. It’s dumb. I think that I would prefer to see the hat than the players sweaty hat hair in most cases.
The timing is hilarious because the Mexican Open is occurring right now in Acapulco. At the end of the tournament, the winning player will be awarded a pear shaped trophy and… a sombrero. That’s right at the end of this week a player will be obligated to wear a hat as a part of the award ceremony of an ATP tournament.
Opelka was in the draw and was supposed to play Rafael Nadal in the first round this week. He withdrew citing fatigue. I was really hoping that we would see Opelka don that sombrero this week.
- ATP Official Rulebook, 2021.
