Strict new guidelines on toilet breaks during matches have been sent to players by the ATP after growing calls to make lengthy visits to the bathroom a thing of the past.
The ATP guidelines, seen by Reuters, would limit bathroom breaks to one per match, lasting no longer than three minutes from the time the player enters the facility.
Players on the ATP and WTA tours have regularly been accused of using bathroom breaks as tactical weapons at crucial junctures in matches.
Photo: Robert Deutsch-USA Today
Stefanos Tsitsipas was accused of cheating at this year’s US Open by Andy Murray after the Greek disappeared off court at various times during their marathon first-round match.
The third seed had a lengthy toilet break at the end of the second set, a medical time-out after the third and a near eight-minute break at the conclusion of the fourth set.
In his next match, Tsitsipas went to the locker room for more than seven minutes after losing the third set, and was jeered by the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium on his return.
Tsitsipas said that he was not breaking any rules, which is why the ATP acted, although some might feel the new guidelines still do not go far enough.
Although toilet breaks would be limited to three minutes, players would also be allowed two minutes to change their clothing.
Players would be limited to one toilet break per match, and they would only be permitted at the end of a set. Should a player spend too long in the bathroom he would be liable to time violations.
The ATP is also looking at new rules for medical time-outs, which would allow players only one three-minute time-out per match to be taken during a changeover or a set break only.
EARLY LOSSES: Some sports have already started at the Asian Games in Hangzhou ahead of the opening ceremony on Saturday, including volleyball, with a Taiwan loss South Korea’s bid for a third straight men’s gold medal in soccer at the Asian Games got off to the perfect start with a 9-0 thrashing of Kuwait on Tuesday, but coach Hwang Sun-hong is giving his players little time to enjoy it. With a more testing group match against Thailand today, Hwang is wary of complacency creeping in after his side ran riot against Kuwait in Jinhua, China, southwest of host city Hangzhou. “We’ll pretend this match never happened,” Hwang said after the Kuwait game, Yonhap news agency reported. “We have even more difficult matches coming up later, and we have
‘NOTHING HAS CHANGED’: Jenni Hermoso said that the striking players had been ‘caught by surprise’ by the call-ups, saying it was a strategy to intimidate them Striking Spanish internationals called up to the women’s team on Monday reiterated their desire not to form part of the squad in a new blow for the shaken the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). However, they were told by the government early yesterday that those who did not attend the team’s camps when called up would have to be punished. Spanish National Sports Council president Victor Francos said he would have to apply the country’s sports law. “If they don’t turn up, the government would have to apply the law, which is a pity for me, but the law is the
China hopes to make a splash with the Asian Games, which officially open tomorrow, but nationwide excitement has been muted as the economy sputters and some question the cost of the sporting extravaganza. Delayed a year by the COVID-19 pandemic, the quadrennial Games, kicking off in the eastern city of Hangzhou, will be China’s biggest sporting event in more than a decade, with more than 12,000 athletes from 45 nations competing in 40 sports. Organizers this week expressed confidence in holding a “magnificent” Games, thanks to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “important instructions” and great, broad-based efforts. Analysts agree the event would likely
Hong Kong is one of the smaller Asian Games teams by population, but when it comes to fencing the territory is a regional heavyweight with ambitious medal hopes. Edgar Cheung won gold at the Tokyo Games two years ago — Hong Kong’s first Olympic fencing title and first Olympic gold in any sport in 25 years. It turned Cheung into a celebrity overnight and prompted parents across the territory to rush and sign their children up for fencing classes. Cheung’s historic win in the foil competition was a much-needed dose of good news for a territory mired in social unrest and COVID-19 gloom
RSS