While four-times champion Roger Federer and defending champion Novak Djokovic have been playing sublime tennis at the Australian Open, Tomas Berdych has been blacklisted by the record-breaking crowds at Melbourne Park
The Czech refused to shake hands with Nicolas Almagro after the Spaniard targeted him from close range during their tense four-setter won by Berdych.
There’s nothing in the tennis rule book that outlaws targeting, branding if you like. But the unwritten law is it’s not on, and should be avoided at all costs.
But not shaking hands is a definite no-no, no matter what you think of your opponent. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
What Berdych should have done was shake Almagro’s hand, and say: “Watch out next time we meet pal, you have an X on your forehead”.
That would have been far more effective than dummy spitting by not shaking hands and incurring the rightful wrath of a few thousand angry fans who will not forget.
Sportsmanship and gamesmanship, there’s a fine line between the two.
For example, when will Rafael Nadal be stopped from his highly-refined gamesmanship?
The Spaniard’s persistent and calculated time-wasting is even more galling to watch than listening to Maria Sharapova’s screeching.
And there is a rule the server must deliver within 20 seconds of the last point being decided. Nadal is a consistent 30-plus seconds offender while he fidgets and fiddles through his rigmarole, and rarely is he made to toe the line.
That’s poor central umpiring, begging the question: has Nadal got the man in the high-chair bluffed?
It’s clear what Nadal is doing, making his opponent wait to either receive or serve, upsetting his momentum. Nadal plays every match at his pace.
That begs another question: why don’t opponents complain to the central umpire early in the match to put the umpire on report, and say it loudly enough so Nadal hears it, so too the crowd, and the television viewers?
But they haven’t got the bottle, so they deserve what Nadal dishes out.
The Spaniard has everyone bluffed.
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