Ivanovic penalised for bathroom break, still takes the match away
Former World Number 1, Serbian professional tennis player Ana Ivanovic sailed through to the quarter finals of the Generali Ladies Linz tournament on Thursday. The tournament, held in Austria, was originally touted as elusive Serena Williams’s comeback arena;
however, when she dropped out of the tournament, Ivanovic was offered an invitation to compete. The World Number 29 defeated unseeded Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
However, the match was not exactly completely uneventful for Ivanovic, as the scores may indicate. After the Serbian player managed to take the first point against her opponent, she felt sick and made a request to the referee. She asked the chair umpire
for permission to take a bathroom break, and he refused, telling her to wait for a changeover. Unfortunately, due to a communication blockade Ivanovic did not understand his instructions, and got the impression that she had permission to leave. She left the
court and came back quickly, only to discover that Zahlavova Strycova was now tied with her at the set.
Apparently, the chair umpire had denied her permission and after she left, had proceeded to dock one point for every 20 seconds that she was over the time limit; effectively, he handed over an entire game to Zahlavova Strycova. Despite boos from the crowd,
the WTA tour rules agree with this; they state that bathroom breaks must be taken in the midst of a set break, and if necessary during a set, they must come before the player’s service game. If these specifications are violated, the player leaves the court
on her own time and must be penalized if they are not ready to play within the time limit.
Although the Serbian player returned to the court as quickly as possible, the umpire gave the second game over to Zahlavova Strycova. Ivanovic called the incident a mere miscommunication after the match, saying to reporters, “I felt a bit sick so I had to
go to the toilet. I asked the referee and I thought he granted me permission to go so I was really surprised to be punished.”
However, her performance was minimally affected by this incident, as she powered into the quarter finals with a straight set win over Zahlavova Strycova. When asked if the interruption and loss of a game had disturbed her, she shrugged it off, saying, “It
did not disturb my concentration and it didn't really matter because I won the match.” She refused to let it have any effect on her performance, and instead destroyed Zahlavova Strycova with her victory in two sets, and was never in any danger of losing the
match.
Ana Ivanovic, seventh seed at the Generali Ladies Linz, will now proceed to the quarter final of the Women’s Tennis Association event, preparing for a face off against Julia Goerges of Germany. Goerges defeated Czech tennis pro Petra Kvitova in a straight
sets upset, 6-2, 6-1 to reach the quarter final against Ivanovic. The Serb has not won a tournament since 2008, where she took away three titles, including the French Open at Roland Garros and the 2008 Generali Ladies Linz (the same tournament she is competing
in at the moment).
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