Former British No. 1 Tim Henman has called for the stop of impulsive outbursts on tennis courts following the Andrey Rublev incident at the French Open. On Tuesday, Rublev absolutely his cool after losing a tight first set versus Sonwoo Kwon.
Rublev took out a ball from his pocket – smashed it – the ball bounced off Rublev’s chair and nearly hit a court-sweeper in the head. The court-sweeper’s cap fell off but luckily a more serious incident was avoided.
Anything to say my loveley TT, the last bastion of morality? Rublev almost rip off the assistant’s head… https://t.co/cmHILhUopQ pic.twitter.com/uDdeBH23ZP — James (@aiamjames) May 24, 2022
The court-sweeper was a bit shocked in the first moment but took it all well and kept doing his job.
Henman, who was disqualified from 1995 Wimbledon, suggested it’s better to learn from the mistakes of others. “You don’t want to be hitting balls in anger and hitting ball kids, that can be an expensive mistake, as I found out in 1995,” Henman told Eurosport.
Henman: No place for violent acts on a tennis court
“We have seen probably a little bit too much frustration that is almost endangering other people on court. The code of conduct has to be followed, the players have to be responsible for their actions,” Henman said.
“When you see a player break a racket, you’re not going to condone it, but it’s not affecting anything else. When you start hitting balls around, it can get dangerous for others. We saw Zverev hitting the umpire’s chair, it’s not a good look for the sport.”
Alex Corretja, a former world No. 2, offered a bit different perspective but agreed with Henman that aggressive behavior needs to stop. “Everybody needs to control their emotions, not only the tennis players. All around the world, everybody is so nervous,” Corretja told Eurosport.
“I don’t know if it was the pandemic, afterwards you go on the street and people are going nuts. Maybe the tennis players are a little bit the same.”
