Rogers Cup Officials?

Question

Is it just me or do the officials seem to be giving the players a hard time at the Rogers Cup? With bad calls and interruptions. I mean Federer got mad and told the line judge to "watch the ball", Roddick was just furious with the chair umpire holding back the F word on him after telling him to replay the same point twice. I mean most of the time these players are pretty composed, especially Federer.

I remember early on, in the tournament, one umpire was yelling at a ball boy to give someone the tennis ball.

Whats going on? Does anyone else have an opinion on this?

Answer 1

Very bad officiating this week rare but it happens. Federer got rattled. 3 wrong line calls really rattled him, then right away after he made some bad challenges and challenged some calls that were actually right for once almost as if he'd lost all faith in the line judges. You can tell Federer really lost his cool. I remember Federer yelling at chair umpire after the 3rd wrong line call and Federer said to him "well you start paying attention!" or something along those lines.

Not really the way I wanted Roger to lose his number 1 ranking...

Answer 2

If you watched Safin vs. Wawrinka yesterday night it was absolutely terrible. The umpire let Wawrinka challenge two or three shots after the call in question. Both players had to challenge several calls and those were overturned. It wasn't as bad in today's matches but there does seem to be a quite visible problem.

Answer 3

As an ex-USTA Provisional Referee (aka, "Rover"), I can tell you that it is a very tough job, just as it is for other sports' officials.

As an occasional USTA Court Supervisor at amateur tournaments, you would not believe what players think they can away with (unlike the pros, I will "Code" someone, immediately, for temper tantrums, cursing, throwing racquets, not playing in a timely fashion, etc - - oh, the stories I could tell!).

I have also seen players (men AND women!!!) abuse tournament volunteers, both verbally and physically, with nary an official in sight to take the jerk down. Fortunately, most volunteers - - myself included - - will take the "high road" and ignore the egomaniac, or take a more diplomatic course, which is usually a LOT more difficult.  I have been a volunteer for MANY years, and could tell you stories . . . !

It is only our admiration for our favorite players that make the occasional bad calls seem even worse.  From that standpoint, I'm against the "review": so far, the vast majority of times, the officials have been correct - - sometimes, amazingly so! And, regardless of the result, the players are going to feel "bad" about it: if it went their way, they're going to dislike the officials even more; if it didn't go their way, they'll just stew about it. IMHO, once a call is made, just get on with the game! It's more a device for the spectators than for the players (don't believe me? then why do audiences make that silly noise while the imaginary ball video streaks from one end of the court to the other, for which, BTW, there is no rhyme or reason for having! Just show the spot where it landed, for heaven's sake!).

We all make mistakes, and, sometimes, a particularly bad crew will just compound them, but, inevitably, if the player isn't up to the task and is playing poorly, then even the slightest perceived miscall will set them off for the rest of the match. Conversely, the vast majority of spectators and audiences rarely see more than a few matches of the dozens, if not hundreds, that go on around the world. Therefore, as with anything else, one "bad" apple spols the whole grove.

As for the "yelling" at a ball boy, I did not see or hear the incident, but I seriously doubt that the umpire reacted as you implied. If he or she did so, then the ball boy was probably confused and needed a firm hand and voice to guide him. I have seen many officials have a "bad" day (and many who justifiably could have had a "bad" day), but all acted professionally once they got on the court.

Good umpires are made over time; they've earned the right to be there (the Williams' incident at Wimbledon was handled badly, but it wasn't totally the chair's fault; regardless, he will probably never chair a major event, again, thanks to that one, internationally televised event). Truly bad umpires don't keep their jobs, as there are too many good people behind them, willing to take their job.  So, needless to say, there just aren't that many bad umpires.

It's nice to be able to blame officials for one's own failures as a player, isn't it?  From this spectator's point of view, I've seen a lot from all sides of the court, and know not to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

So, chill and enjoy the tennis! And, it wouldn't hurt to turn off the tube, and go out and play a set or two!  ;)