Last week, the United States was unceremoniously dumped out of Davis Cup competition for 2023. The US squad failed to finish in the top two in a group that included Finland, the Netherlands, and Croatia. In what was arguably the most crucial match that led to the ouster, Frances Tiafoe was defaulted following a code violation during the deciding set tiebreaker. That gives me grounds for discussing the rules before I launch into general grousing about the recent drama surrounding the US Davis Cup roster.
Tiafoe was well on his way to losing to Tallon Griekspoor before the rules drama and subsequent meltdown. With Griekspoor serving at 5-2 in the deciding tiebreaker, Tiafoe failed to return a serve that was erroneously called out by the linesperson. After the electronic review determined that the ball was in, the chair umpire Richard Haigh awarded the point to Griekspoor. Essentially he ruled that the call was not the reason that Tiafoe missed the return.
This is an opportune time to clarify my opinion on the umpire, Richard Haigh. I don’t think that he is a bad umpire. However, he seems to be a lightning rod for unhinged rule situations. Part of the reason for that may be because he is a strict “by the book” umpire. That observation is very relevant to the Tiafoe default.
The USTA published a curious two-minute “highlight” video of the match on YouTube. I subsequently reviewed a more extended sequence of the final point played and the ensuing moments between that and Tiafoe’s disqualification. Based on my own observations, I have no issue with Haigh’s decision to award the point to Griekspoor.
Tiafoe mounted a vigorous protest of the call, including an appeal to the referee, who was sitting courtside for the match. After the appeal was denied, Tiafoe smashed his racquet. Haigh promptly issued a Code Violation for Racquet Abuse.
The Davis Cup is under the sole purview of the ITF. Consequently, you might expect the only applicable rulebook to be the ITF Rules of Tennis. However, the ITF also publishes a separate rulebook for the Davis Cup that also comes into play in this situation. This is the first ever mention of the ITF Davis Cup Regulations on this site.
The ITF Rules of Tennis do not include a penalty schedule for Code Violations. For the Davis Cup, that information is documented in the ITF Davis Cup Regulations.
T. Point Penalty Schedule
The Point Penalty Schedule to be used for violations set forth is as follows:
2023 ITF Davis Cup Regulations, International Tennis Federation, Schedule 3, Article 2, Section TFIRST offence
SECOND offence
THIRD AND EACH SUBSEQUENT offenceWARNING
POINT PENALTY
GAME PENALTY
The Davis Cup Point Penalty schedule reflects what is universally levied against Code Violations. Elsewhere in the Davis Cup Regulations, Racquet Abuse is also defined consistently as applied on professional tours and Grand Slam events. This means that Tiafoe must have received a Code Violation earlier in the match. There is an earlier instance of racquet abuse by Tiafoe in the USTA “highlight” video of the match. That is most likely when the first offense occurred.
Davis Cup Roster Grousing
Last week, the United States did not have its best available roster at the group stage. Most notably, the top-ranked American player, Taylor Fritz, refused to play. While it is not unusual for the top players from a country to opt out of Davis Cup competition, I have to wonder if it is continued fallout from the US roster debacle of 2022.
Mardy Fish, the US Davis Cup Captain at the time, elected to omit doubles specialist Rajeev Ram from the roster last year. To accentuate the snub, the US actually left one roster spot unfulfilled. Of the decision, Fish said, “I love Raj and his DC [Davis Cup] career with me isn’t over.…But this time, Jack [Sock] will be playing with Frances or Tommy or Taylor. As DC [Davis Cup] Captain, it’s my job to listen to the players as well. Ultimately, it’s my choice, and I make the calls, but I do listen to their thoughts and ideas.”
There is a reason that Fish is no longer the Davis Cup Captain. That duty now falls to Bob Bryan, who knows a thing or two about winning the doubles lines at international team competitions. In related news, Jack Sock should arguably not be allowed to dictate the roster of anything. Ram’s absence in 2022 was palpable as the US failed to carry critical doubles matches, leading to their ouster.
It also spilled over into a petulant Twitter spat. Fritz figured prominently in some of the more notable exchanges in the melee. So did Tommy Paul. Almost a year later, Tommy Paul played his guts out for his country. He has obviously moved beyond the drama. Fritz apparently has not. Neither the USTA nor Fritz provided an explanation for his absence. That speaks volumes.
Following the elimination of the US in 2022, UK doubles stand-out Joe Salisbury probably summed up the situation best in an Instagram post. He shared a screenshot of the Davis Cup result with the dig, “If only the USA had someone better for doubles… oh wait.”
In 2023, the story is that the US likely would have advanced if only they had a better singles player… oh wait. The difference is that this time the weight of the decision is firmly on the player rather than the Davis Cup Captain.
- ITF Rules of Tennis, International Tennis Federation, 2023.
- ITF Davis Cup Regulations, International Tennis Federation, 2023.
- Happy Thanksgiving… or not? U.S. Davis Cup team members join Twitter squabble after elimination, November 25, 2022, tennis.com
Why couldn’t they have full ELC ? If it hadn’t gone back to review (e.g., had been called ‘OUT’ by Hal) then Frances likely would never have gotten fired up in the first place.
btw, I feel that stating, “Frances Tiafoe was defaulted following a code violation [..]” is disingenuous at best, and wrong, at worst.
I’d say that Frances *lost* the match owing to a point penalty on match point. It was, after all, just a point penalty–happening *on MP* is what sent him to the lockers; not a ‘default.’
That’s a fair point. Your description is more accurate.
Jack Sock goes from dictating Davis Cup rosters to joining a pro pickleball tour a year later. Retires from tennis with a mixed dubs grand slam, Olympic gold medal and almost $12 million in prize money. Impressive results from a guy who seemed chronicallly injured and out of shape much of his career.
Strange the umpire is criticised for being ‘by the book’.
Isn’t that what we all wish for? Consistent officiating?
To be clear, I am not criticizing Richard Haigh for being “by the book.” I am a “by the book” player myself.