Coaches still an Open issue
AS the start of the US Open approaches, the indelible image from last year’s tournament does not involve a particularly remarkable shot or a champion holding a trophy.
Instead, it is, and likely forever will remain, Serena Williams pointing her finger at chair umpire Carlos Ramos while insisting he owed her an apology after they clashed during the women’s final.
The tenor of that match between Williams and Naomi Osaka — whose laudatory performance in a 6-2, 6-4 victory largely was ignored amid the chaos that enveloped Arthur Ashe Stadium that day — shifted after Ramos warned the American for receiving a coaching signal from the stands and devolved from there. She eventually was docked a point and, later, a game — and, afterwards, was fined $17,000.
Almost a year later, with first-round play starting on Monday at Flushing Meadows, the ramifications of that one-hour, 19-minute contest still reverberate, including this: Ramos will not officiate matches involving Williams or her older sister, Venus.
“We’ve decided that there are over 900 other matches and Carlos, for 2019, will not be in the chair for a Williams sisters match,” US Tennis Association executive Stacey Allaster said.
“We want the attention of the competition to be on the athletes.”
Among the key storylines that carry over: Williams, also the runner-up at Wimbledon each of the past two years, is trying to equal Margaret Court’s mark for most major singles championships. Osaka, who added her second slam title at the Australian Open in January, returns to New York ranked No.1 — and dealing with knee discomfort that forced her withdrawal from a tune-up tournament last week.
What is more, the tennis world is filled with ongoing discussions and debates about such matters as the proper role of chair umpires, the way the code of conduct is constructed and, maybe above all, whether in-match coaching should be permitted everywhere.
On that last subject, there are those who would like to see it, such as the USTA — which lobbied, to no avail so far, the folks who run the other majors to approve coaching — or Williams’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who acknowledged after last year’s final he was trying to communicate with his player.
Says Allaster: “I understand it’s polarising, but ultimately, we have to look at how tennis competes and is relevant ... Access is a key part of it; engagement with fans that want to hear from the players and coaches.”
Says Mouratoglou: “I have never understood why tennis is just about the only sport in which coaching during matches is not allowed.”
There are others, such as Roger Federer or the person in charge of Wimbledon, who think it goes against the very fabric of the game.
Says Federer: “I’m of the opinion that we shouldn’t have coaching in tennis . . . It’s what makes our sport unique.”
Says All England Club executive chairman Richard Lewis: “Most of the men have said they’re against it. A lot of coaches have said they’re against it. There’s a lot of people — Wimbledon, as much as anybody — who feel that tennis is very special because it is a gladiatorial contest.”
There are plenty of resultsrelated questions for the hardcourt tournament’s two weeks: How healthy is Williams, who withdrew from two events because of back spasms? Can Osaka make another deep run? Will Wimbledon champion Simona Halep get past the semi-finals at the only slam where she hasn’t? How will 15year-old Coco Gauff follow up her run at Wimbledon? Can Federer, defending champ Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal make it 12 major titles in a row for the big three?
None of that, though, is fraught with the greater significance of a possible rule change.
“I wish (men and women) had coaching,” Sam Querrey, a Wimbledon semi-finalist, said. “And you could talk to your coach whenever you want.”
Grand slam tournaments do not allow coaching, for male or female players, in main-draw matches.
The International Tennis Federation does allow it for Davis Cup and Fed Cup matches.
The ATP does not allow it for tournaments on the men’s professional circuit. Yet the WTA does let coaches come down out of the stands to talk to players during changeovers.
“Either have it everywhere or nowhere,” 2016 US Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova said. “But I prefer nowhere.”