Unusual tennis: the umpire who threatened to penalize tennis players for “shouting too much”

Everything seemed to be in order, in a paradisiacal panorama, on a field in Tenerife, between palm trees and very close to the sea, and just a couple of spectators in sight in the only side grandstand. Not much had passed; in fact, barely three games had been played. And in this context, the Spanish chair umpire Poncho Ayala did not hesitate: claimed the Argentine Santiago Fabián Rodríguez Taverna and the Italian Roberto Marcorawho were playing for the second round of Challenger 2 in Tenerife, not to shout anymore. An unusual and unexpected moment, in the middle of what seemed like a comparison of normal development, which led to an arduous discussion.

With the score 3-0 in favor of Rodríguez Taverna, and after indicating the “15-15″, the umpire exclaimed “Santiago and Roberto, I don’t want a shout at every point, eh?”. The Argentine is heard asking “why?” And Ayala insists: “Because it’s not correct, it’s not professional. Okay, I’m just saying.” Rodríguez Taverna replies: “But if he is not yelling at me, I am not yelling at him.”

“But It cannot be that at each point there is a cry, because he is not professional”, added the chair umpire. But can we comment? We are playing for money and for points”, the Argentine asked him. Meanwhile, Ayala addressed Marcora: “Please, Roberto, We have played three games and there have been eight screamsit just can’t be”.

“I’m fine,” Taverna said. Ayala took one more step: “Is it okay? ok, correct, As I consider that someone is passing, I will enter code (of conduct)”, alluding to the fact that he would have a warning sanction (warning) if he understood that any of the players was exceeding in a celebration or shouting. There, both tennis players approached the umpire’s chair to claim: “No, no, no, stop,” they told him.

The discussion continued: “Do you see fit that if you make a point for a miss, he’s yelling, and then you’re yelling if he misses? I think I have to stop it”, said the person in charge of directing the party to Marcora. Rodríguez Taverna, next to the chair, demands: “Stop, stop. Where is it in the rules that it can’t be done? I’m seriously asking you something.” Poncho Ayala replied: “We are playing tennis. This, if it is continuous, is considered annoying for the adversary. I have told you.”

The Argentine told him: “But you can’t threaten me that you’re going to give me a warning for celebrating a point, as if I were saying something offensive to him and nothing happened.” “At this point you just put in a right, he [Marcora] the backhand fails and you shout it,” Ayala told him. “But what’s wrong with the setback, if it came with the tip of the racket?” Rodríguez Taverna complained. “Yes, but it came. Now, we stop here”, the chair umpire ended the discussion.

Poncho Ayala, a renowned tour umpire, was in charge, not long ago, of an iconic match: longest singles in Davis Cup historywhich the Argentine Leonardo Mayer and the Brazilian João Souza played, with a victory for the man from Corrientes by 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 5-7 and 15-13, then of 6 hours and 42 minutes of gameplay, in Technopolis. After that match, which ended up affecting both players for several weeks, it was decided to eliminate the fifth “long” set. [con dos games de diferencia] of the Davis Cup, and incorporate the tie-break in the fifth quarter.

In short, the meeting ended without major incidents. Marcora won it 1-6, 7-5 and 6-3, to advance to the quarterfinals. Rodríguez Taverna, 23, is one of the many Argentines who perform on the challenger circuit; Located in the 275th position in the ranking, last season he stood out when he entered Roland Garros from the qualy, and fell in a five-set battle against Taylor Fritz, who was 14th in the world at the time.

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