Andrey Rublev weighs in on Daniil Medvedev's camera controversy, says ATP needs to make sure "players are safer"
World No. 7 Andrey Rublev recently expressed his views on the ATP placing objects on-court, which has obstructed players' movement at times.
The pressing issue arose once again on Saturday at the ongoing Delray Beach Open, when Stefan Kozlov accidentally made contact with a BMW car that was parked inside the court for advertising purposes. The American couldn't return a serve made by his opponent Tommy Paul from the deuce court, since the car was placed only a few feet away from his return position.
World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev found himself in a similar situation at last year's Cincinnati Masters. During a baseline rally, the Russian inadvertently crashed into an on-court camera, following which he went into a meltdown. He proceeded to angrily kick the camera while complaining to the umpire about its positioning on the court.
I hope that car gets totally destroyed before they develop the common sense to remove it. So dumb. twitter.com/tennis_gifs/st…
In that context, Rublev believes the ATP could perhaps be more responsible when it comes to their equipment. Speaking to Tennis Majors, the Russian claimed that players are offered less space behind the baseline.
He also inferred that players would be safer on-court if the men's governing body didn't place cameras and cars in the close vicinity of players.
"If you don’t play on the center court, there is less space, and even on the centre court, it’s still not enough, in my opinion," Rublev said. "Cameras and cars are expensive, you know, and the players will be safer."
"I think that they need to change a bit the court and leave more space to the players" - Andrey Rublev
Rublev then referred to Medvedev's incident in particular, asserting that players like him require plenty of room behind the baseline during matches.
"There was a similar incident in Cincinnati with Daniil hitting the camera," the Russian added. "Many players like Daniil run so well that they need space..."
"I think that they need to change a bit the court and leave more space to the players," he said.
For what it's worth, the ATP does have a provision for removing on-court items, even though it is applied very rarely.
According to the "Equipment & Supplies" section in the 2022 rulebook, any object (even those meant for advertising purposes) that affects a player's movement can be removed from the court at the match supervisor's discretion.
"The Supervisor must approve the placement of items or equipment on any court. The Supervisor may remove or have removed any item (including advertising) that may affect the safety of a player, official or ball person," the provision reads.