Time-outs vital, says Agassi

ANDRE AGASSI has given Victoria Azarenka the benefit of the doubt over her controversial decision to seek medical help in her Australian Open semifinal, but insisted time-outs must be retained to ensure the safety of players.

Azarenka has been beset by accusations she bent the rules by taking a time-out immediately after dropping serve to Sloane Stephens on Thursday so she could gather herself and calm her nerves.

The world No 1 was off the court for about 10 minutes while being treated for what she said after the match was a locked rib, which was affecting her breathing.

Azarenka’s time-out has not been well received by former players and tennis fans and ensured her opponent in last night’s final, Li Na, carried local support.

Agassi, a four-time winner at Melbourne Park, said the rules meant it was possible for a player to lie to halt a match, but hoped nobody would abuse the privilege. On arriving in Melbourne for a promotional visit with a sponsor, the former world No 1 was not prepared to condemn the Belarusian’s tactics. ‘‘We’ve all seen our share of disappointments from people we believe or [don’t] believe. I can’t judge somebody I don’t know,’’ he said. ‘‘We’d only be speculating . . . take it for face value is how I would do it.’’

Agassi said medical timeouts were paramount for players’ safety, especially at the Australian Open, which he said was challenging physically because of the oppressive conditions.

Agassi could not recall an opponent exploiting a timeout to change a match’s momentum and said he never entertained the idea.