“Players have to be responsible for their actions, it’s not a good look for the sport” - Tim Henman on Andrey Rublev's outburst at French Open
Following Andrey Rublev’s outburst in his French Open first-round match against Kwon Soon-woo, Tim Henman has warned that players need to control their temper on the court. Rublev edged past Kwon 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, but all the post-match focus was on his outburst after losing the first-set tie-break.
The frustrated Russian smashed the ball against a courtside chair. The ball rebounded off the chair, knocking the cap right off the head of a nearby groundsman.
Speaking on Eurosport, the retired Brit said that outbursts from players were "endangering other people on the court."
“We have seen probably a little bit too much frustration that is almost endangering other people on the court," Henman said. "The code of conduct has to be followed, the players have to be responsible for their actions.”
He added that hitting balls in anger can be an "expensive mistake," as he discovered during his career.
"When you see a player break a racquet, 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 [Alexander] Zverev hitting the umpire’s chair [at the ATP 500 Mexican Open], it’s not a good look for the sport. 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 said.
"You don't want to be hitting balls in anger and hitting ball kids... it's not a good look for the sport!" 💥
Was Andrey Rublev lucky to avoid disqualification for this incident?
#RolandGarros | @AlexCorretja74 | @Babsschett https://t.co/h6loWRafTz
Henman was recalling his disqualification from the Wimbledon men’s doubles in 1995, after a ball he hit in anger accidentally smashed a ball girl in the ear, bringing her to tears. The incident made Henman and his partner Jeremy Bates the first players to be defaulted at Wimbledon in the Open Era.
Andrey Rublev's actions a reflection of our society: Alex Corretja
During the discussion, two-time Roland Garros finalist Alex Corretja opined that Andrey Rublev's actions were a reflection of our society as a whole.
“Everybody needs to control their emotions, not only the tennis players. All around the world, everybody is so nervous,” he said. “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. They need to control their emotions, no doubt about it. They’re not doing it on purpose. If they do something wrong, they need to be banned, disqualified or whatever.”
Corretja added that Rublev was "very lucky" not to be disqualified from his match.
“Rublev was very lucky not to be out, because if you hit someone you can damage or hurt him. He was lucky enough to hit it somewhere that nothing happened, but they really need to be careful because it could be a very dangerous thing,” he said.
All eyes will be firmly on Andrey Rublev when he takes on Federico Delbonis in the second round in Paris. The Argentinian defeated Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 7-6(1), 6-2 in his opener.
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