The Bernardes affair ...

To be honest, I don't really know what to make of it all.

Clearly matters had reached an absolute boiling point - literally - in Rio this year and Rafa followed through by putting a request to the ATP that Bernardes doesn't officiate his matches for the foreseeable future. What astounds me is that the ATP actually met that request. The inflammatory headlines regarding this request are hilarious beyond belief - as is the usual jumped up, stuffed shirt, pompous reaction borne out of the usual trenched warfare with anything associated with the name Nadal. But I think it all goes to show that there must be a number of things that the ATP isn't transparent about. As it is now "le subject du jour", of course it's being raised in press conferences inviting people such as Djokovic to comment that he wasn't even aware that you could do it and that it isn't really fair. Well Novak, seeing as umpires turn a blind eye to the abject filth and obscenities you shout out [because it's in Serbian] along with your racquet smashing, bench breaking and time taken between points - you've not really a cause to complain, have you? I can't wait for Smugley's take on it all ...

But back to the transparency thing. As much as I was surprised that the ATP met with the request, I was also surprised by something that was posted in VamosBrigade yesterday. It was a scan of an article in l'Equipe - which, correct me if I'm wrong, is a noted French sports news publication - and within the article an "international umpire" was quoted as saying something like 90% of the time it is the umpires who request not to officiate certain players, either because they're from the same country/area or because they sense a player has a friction with them. He went on to say that before each tournament, umpires fill out a "No" list, where they enlist their wishes. 

Who knew???

Now pity - of course - that this said, "international umpire" hasn't the balls to come out and be named so in certain quarters these quotes will be rendered as piffle.  But then again, you can't make this stuff up, and indeed, why would this individual want to be named if his livelihood is the ATP and there's obviously reasons why the ATP doesn't wish to make every single request and matter public. And in terms of livelihood, Carlos Bernardes is alive and well and calling the score in Paris so no, Rafa isn't taking the baguette from out of his mouth either. I'm sure player requests range from the extreme to the banal, and if ATP representatives were required to come and announce that Roger Federer has requested to play his match second today (which I'm sure happens) or that Fabio Fognini has stated that pasta isn't just pasta and has requested that a variety of penne, fusilli, orecchietti and pappardelle be served in the canteen at ATP tournament, then they'd be very busy with the media indeed.

And as for the stuffed shirts, well there's outrage that Rafa can ban an umpire from his matches because he simply applied the rules against him. Hhmm ... there's been one or two ATP Masters since Rio and for instance, time violations - and time violations on key points - have been regularly applied. What's Rafa going to do? Ban everybody?? Equally I didn't see those same stuffed shirts who are so keen on rules being applied jumping up and down when Fergus Murphy "didn't see" Nicholas Kyrgios smack a ball out of the stadium which would have resulted in his third code violation and him being defaulted in Estoril recently. Or similarly when racquet and equipment smashing is going on, or when Roger Federer is audibly shouting the word "scheisse" from under his towel as he did yesterday. 

Because it's all a storm in a teacup really isn't it? And trench warfare. And of course my ambivalence about it could have the accusers saying the same about  me. As much as I understand it, and understand the long history that Rafa has with Bernardes, I think he should perhaps just get on with it. But Rafa asked, and this time Rafa got - who cares? In a nutshell, this situation has the name "Nadal" at the centre of it. Take that name away and it would have had as little attention or traction as many of the other wrong-doings that occur in tennis does. Time between points will die away as soon as Rafa leaves the game, nobody gives a tinker's cuss about other things that go on that aren't possibly correct unless associated with the name Nadal. How I wish he were Mr Perfect on Earth ...

Anyhow, there's a Slam being played. So let's move on ...