We’re halfway through the U.S. Open tennis tournament and the fireworks are popping. I’m not referring to blistering service aces or smashing overheads or 20-shot rallies punctuated by down-the-line winners.
I’m referring to post-match confrontations between players.
Tennis has an annoying and prissy culture of “tennis etiquette” consisting of a number of “unwritten rules.” They’re unwritten because they’re not actual rules. Every sport has unwritten rules. I think the ones that matter are those that protect player safety or respect for the game.
In tennis, one etiquette rule is that when a player takes a shot and the ball hits the net in a way that changes its velocity and trajectory, and then lands on the opponent’s side for a winner, the offending player raises his racquet or hand in a form of apology, as if it say, “Sorry, I won a point in that way.”
The truth, of course, is that no player is sorry to win a point that way. They’re happy to win a point in any way possible. That’s no disrespect to the game or your opponent.
In a match between American Taylor Townsend and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, Townsend hit a net cord and won the point. She didn’t wave an apology to Ostapenko, and she later won the match in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1. After the match, Ostapenko went off on Townsend in a heated tirade in front of the umpire, accusing Townsend of having “no class” and “no education.”
Shut up, Elena. Would you have been so upset if you’d won the match?
The Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas got all twisted about his opponent, the German player Daniel Altmaier, using an underarm serve on several points—a legal serve that can catch an opponent off guard because the ball barely clears the net and the returner is typically standing way back to defend a serve that might come at him traveling 130 mph.
Why not catch your opponent by surprise with an underarm serve? Why not do everything you can within the rules to win a point and a match?
No, tennis etiquette says you shouldn’t.
Angered by the underarm serve, Tsitsipas later fired a ball and deliberately struck Altmaier, who had come in close to the net. Hitting your opponent with the ball is within the rules. But targeting him is disrespectful.
Guess who lost the match? Tsitsipas, who argued with Altmaier after the loss and said he hit him with the ball in retaliation for the underarm serve.
I’m tired of the goofy side of tennis etiquette—whether it’s me on the court playing in an extremely low-stakes situation or it’s professionals with millions of dollars on the line.
You don’t see these goofy etiquette customs in other sports. In hockey, if a player takes a shot and it glances off an opponent’s skate and sneaks into the net for a goal, you don’t apologize for your good fortune. You celebrate the goal. It’s a goal within the rules.
In football, if you fool your opponent by running a successful trick play, you don’t apologize. You celebrate!
I’ve never seen a golfer apologize for having his tee shot go awry, strike a tree, and then bounce back onto the fairway in perfect position. Never apologize for good luck.
Arguments over tennis etiquette are not good for the sport, and they make the offended player look bad. Your opponent hits a net cord winner? Fine, luck is part of every game. Your opponent fools you with an underarm serve? That’s you to defend.
I have personal experience with a tennis etiquette snafu. In a recent doubles match, where a lot of play takes place close to the net, a lazy ball came at me and I smashed it back. My shot hit a player on the other side of the net—not in the face or the balls, but in the calf. I believe I raised my hand and said sorry, although I hadn’t deliberately aimed for him.
After the match, this guy came after me, yelling about how I was playing the game wrong and couldn’t read the situation on the court. My partner intervened and calmed him down, telling him that getting struck by a ball happens and is part of the game.
I believe in respecting opponents and displaying good sportsmanship. But tennis players are too sensitive, and some of this tennis etiquette is archaic and inappropriate.
