Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tennis Etiquette
Tennis stands as one of the oldest sports in history. Tennis was and is played with etiquette and manners and everyone who plays is expected to uphold that tradition. The U.S. Open showed a different story. Roger Federer and Serena Williams shocked the tennis world when they both used profanity with officials during their matches. Serena Williams lost self control as she threatened to shove the ball down the officials throat after Serena was called for a foot fault. Roger Federer was complaining about Del Potro taking too much time to call for review when he used profanity with the chair umpire. These two players should have been punish more than they were. It costed Williams the match but it should have costed her the entire tournament. Including her doubles match. Federer was only fined $1,500 for his profanity. Although his use was small it should not be taken lightly in the sport of tennis. These players need to have more respect for the officials of the game. I can see a new age of tennis coming that is changing the historic values of tennis. This modern age is one without respect for tennis in its proper form. Players are focused on doing whatever they can to be the best. Its all about themselves and not themselves and the game of tennis.
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Tennis, like golf, is traditionally a sport played at prestigious clubs by wealthy members. Also like golf, tennis does have strict etiquette rules. These rules are meant to maintain the sport's history of upper class players and spectators. I agree that tennis could be losing its traditional values. The organization that governs these large tennis matches should revise their rules and regulations to include a more harsh punishment for the demonstration of unprofessional behavior.
ReplyDeleteI would have never expected Roger to react the way he did. He always seems to keep his cool and has such a timid character! But I think he caught us all off guard. I actually got a chance to meet him since we are both on Swiss National teams and he was very soft spoken then as well.
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