After Andrey Rublev and Rafael Nadal clashed with referees at the Madrid Open over the weekend, why do more and more players seem to be losing their temper?
Nadal’s altercation with referee Fergus Murphy came after he believed he had long-blocked a shot from Alex de Minaur, while there were two controversial calls in Rublev’s match that infuriated the world number 8.
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Rafael Nadal had a disagreement with the referee over a missed tackle during his match against Alex De Minaur at the Madrid Open
Did both actually have a point and is there a need for greater adoption of technology into the sport to correct refereeing errors or do these player tantrums need to be stopped by introducing strict penalties?
Is this actually a new problem in the sport or just a drop in the bucket compared to John McEnroe’s “You can’t be serious?!” heyday?
Why does Rublev keep getting into trouble?
The McEnroe of the present appears to be Andrey Rublev, certainly on the evidence of the last few months. His latest protests to the head umpire in Madrid on Sunday came on the heels of his disqualification in Dubai in March and the destruction of his racket during his surprise defeat at the Barcelona Open to Brandon Nakashima two weeks ago.
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Andrey Rublev has been disqualified from the Dubai Tennis Championship for shouting in a lines judge’s face after being unhappy with a line call. The victory went to Alexander Bublik
In Dubai, Rublev was convicted of unsportsmanlike conduct for shouting in a linesman’s face during a heated semi-final duel with Alexander Bublik.
Rublev originally had his prize money and ranking points removed from this week, but after an appeal to the ATP he at least got them back, although he still had to pay a $36,400 fine for promising at the time to be “a better player and to be a better person.” “
By Rublev’s standards, his complaints in Madrid were fairly innocuous – NB said he smashed fights against Nakashima – but they quickly followed a similar complaint made mid-match by the usually mild-mannered Rafael Nadal on Saturday.
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Rublev dropped his racket in anger after his shock defeat to Brandon Nakashima at the Barcelona Open
“Now I’m starting to think that all we need on the court is machines instead of referees?” said Rublev after a controversial call from his match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Is he right?
Is it about phone calls and the use of technology?
Nadal’s altercation with referee Fergus Murphy, who eventually called the on-court supervisor, came after he thought he had long-marked an Alex de Minaur shot, only to discover he had to officially contest the point.
This, along with the two controversial calls in Rublev’s match, is likely to fuel further debate about which challenge system should be used and whether it is necessary for video replays to be fully introduced in tennis.
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Rublev was not happy with the officiating at the Madrid Open as he blamed the referee and suggested that machines were needed to replace the linesmen to make correct decisions
Following his disqualification in Dubai, Daria Kasatkina jumped to Rublev’s defense on social media and called for more technology to be introduced into the sport.
“So you can just drop a player, take away points and money without even watching a video? What a joke, further confirmation that we need VAR in tennis and electronic phone calls at all tournaments,” she said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Former British tennis player Naomi Broady told Sky Sports: “On clay there will always be a discrepancy when approaching the target. Some are so close to each other.”
“At the end the referee almost says in his head, ‘I just have to make a decision here.’ There’s no way to know for sure.”
“So bring challenges everywhere, every single tournament on the clay court. The dispute is then not to be conducted with the chair umpire.”
“In tennis, the aggressiveness of players is starting to increase”
Broady added on the subject of players tantrums on the pitch: “It’s nothing new, but there’s a limit, isn’t there?”
“It’s starting to snow a bit in tennis… the aggressiveness seems to have increased and we’re seeing it more and more.”
“Sometimes you can understand the frustration of the players, sometimes they are right about the line calls being wrong, but the way they react to the referees, I think it’s almost becoming a culture now.”
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Daniil Medvedev was angry with the referee during his match against Karen Khachanov at the Monte Carlo Masters
“It’s my own fault. I was always extremely upset and had this loss of control.”
“I feel different when I hit the bat. I think that should be allowed if you want to throw away your racket and vent your frustration.”
“We still want to see the emotions and passion of the players. We don’t want robots out there… but if the aggression is directed at anyone, then I think we really need to take action against it.”
Should players be punished more harshly?
With Rublev apparently not having fully corrected his behavior since his outburst in Dubai, and 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev also being a regular offender, are there currently enough deterrents against players losing their temper on the court?
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The referee tried to calm Daniil Medvedev after he became angry over a line call during his match against Gael Monfils at the Monte Carlo Masters
Instead of just punishing well-compensated athletes, could and should players lose ranking points and prize money, like the punishment originally imposed on Rublev in Dubai before he successfully appealed? Or should a ban even be threatened?
“If your aggression is directed at the head referee or any other official on the field, I think we absolutely need a harsher penalty,” Broady said.
“Either the fines have to be much higher, much higher, or there has to be some kind of points deduction from their rankings. For some of these players out there making a lot of money, the fines are clearly not big enough of a deterrent.
“I know that in the past when players have had bans on the horizon – on their last warning – then suddenly nothing happens, they are in a better position to keep things under control.”
“If there were bans as a punishment, I think we would see an immediate decline.”
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