The Tennis Channel

Medical time outs are an intrigal part of tennis.  In team play, a player who is sick gets replaced by another player.  No so in tennis.  My biggest question is whether JMac ever asked for a medical time out or even had the trainer come out to do some work on him during change overs?

I think peeps who don't like time outs should remember players who were in such pain from cramps that they could do nothing but lie on the ground screaming.  Or, someone you all know.  Pete Sampras being so sick he had to stop play in order to go regurgitate in the corner of the court.  I suppose he was thinking that it would go unnoticed and no player would ever go into that corner to recover a ball. 

When one talks about no medical time outs, think about what the chair umpire would do if the player was actually sick or bleeding.  In most events the chair would stop the match in order for the player to get help. 

So, please, be careful of what you think is a waste of time, and think about what happens when you are playing and cramp up or pass out from heat stroke (which is more common than you think), you should be talking about the players who really do need some medical attention.  It must be difficult to realize that any injury can stop a career.  These people depend on their body to make a living.  Twisting an ankle might seem like a little sprain.  Then when it's reported that the player  actually broke the ankle, the entire crowd gives the player a standing ovation.  Explain that to me before thinking that medical time outs are not necessary.  As for JMac making that down right dumb statement, I, for one, think the man is the Tennis Mouth of No Knowledge.  He makes comments that make little or no sense.  If he would just stick to what's going on on the court and commentating what's happening than what he thinks, watching tennis and hearing him would be pretty darn good.  MacEnroe should put a sock in it. 

I didn't hear him say the comment but, it doesn't mean you didn't hear it.  MacEnroe talks about the rules of tennis but he, like most of the pros have forgotten what they are.  MacEnroe is the worst person to copy if you are a fledgling tennis player.  Grassroots tennis is very different than the pros and he should go to a jounior tourny just one time to see some of the best tennis in the world.  These kids love the game and their schedules are grueling.  They practice for two hours before they go to school and then, when they get home they practice for several hours before dinner and sometimes til way after dinner.  Which means no heavy foods or even a desert because they have to practice at O' dark thirty the next day.

I guess I say all of that because there are just too many players from the past thinking that they know what would be better for the game of tennis and are doing nothing about it.  I.e., John MacEnroe.  If he rules need to be changed than it should be brought up to the people that make up the rules in the first and last place.

As with anything, absolutes can be dangerous. I agree that medical timeouts have been abused too often in the game, especially by players who rationalize or justify their choices/actions because others abuse the system too. Two wrongs don't make a right. It all boils down to the individual's sense of fair and ethical play.

Don't get me wrong, I think medical timeouts are necessary but the current system is terribly flawed. I was present at the 1995 U.S. Open in the Grandstand when the Japanese player Matsuoka cramped up and couldn't move. No one came to help the poor guy who laid on the court for five minutes. During the five minutes, the chair umpire issued the sequence of time violations/penalties until the player was defaulted, but didn't come to his assistance or call a trainer. The handling of this event was horrible, which prompted the ATP to re-evaluate its rules for on-court injuries ultimately leading to the current rules on medical injury timeouts.

Unfortunately, the current rules allow players to disrupt the flow of play at their descretion. This doesn't work since there's no control system for the validity of the timeouts. Take from other one vs one sports with successful medical rules like boxing. The umpire or ring doctors have authoritative power to halt play on an athlete's behalf. Have you ever seen a boxer halt a fight on his own for a cramp? Never!

Also, we're talking about professional athletes who are paid huge amounts of money to play. It's their responsibility to train, condition and prepare themselves for the varying conditions while on tour. Cramping is not an injury. Cramping is a result of poor conditioning and shouldn't be used for medical injury timeouts. Rolling over an ankle is an injury. Getting stabbed by a fan is an injury. When a player cramps, they shouldn't be allowed to disrupt play since conditioning is a product of an athlete's preparation. If they didn't prepare adequately, too bad... forfeit!.

My goodness what a wonderful post for someone who probably never read the real and only "Rules of Tennis".  I'm sorry to say that cramps are a loss of condition as you stated but, the damage cramps can do is horrible.  There is excruciating pain and there are ways to stop it.  Water, fluids, etc.  Sometimes the intake of fluids will prevent cramps but, now always.  So, because of the needs of the players at the time of a match, it makes sense to make cramps a medical reason for a time out.  The rules do not have to change.

 Second, you are right that some players use the time out to disrupt play.  Henin became famous for that when she play Meresmo(?) during a final, and then retired because she was losing.  Yes, that was blatant and unsportsmanlike.  But, I haven't seen anything that Henin did that was good sportsmanship.

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I'm trying to finish my post and I keep getting the OPPS thingy that won't allow me to Post the end of the post.

Just know that since Officials are not allowed to touch players who are injured or even if they are writhing on the ground.  The only thing an Official can do is listen an maybe ask if the player needs help or wait until the player asks for a medical time out. 

Also, a medical time out is a lot more than 15 minutes.  Which is something JMac should really take the time to find out about.  He's always wrong to complain,

Tazbayb

Medical timeouts should be allowed because legitimate injuries do occur.  We don't want matches canceled because of treatable injuries or players to suffer serious injuries because they are forced to play through pain less they be disqualified .  Yet, how do we prevent the obvious abuse of medical timeouts to reverse an opposing players momentum and rythm?  One idea is to give a penalty point to the player who takes a medical time.  This should reduce the incentive for frivolous medical timeouts.  Another possibility is to allow the opposing player to talk to their coach and even hit a few balls with their coach to stay loose.  This will lessen the impact of momentum disrupting medical timeouts.