Following on from my letter to the ATP/ITF which was very well received by the readers here and posted around social media - thank you to all, it's very much appreciated - but it won't astound you, however, to read that (a) I have had no response from the ATP and (b) I have had no response from the ITF either.
However, there is simply no doubt that amongst fans there still remains a serious concern about the inconsistent application of the Time Between Points violation ruling.
Via Twitter, I received a very smug and pompous response from Robbie Koenig who did not address a single one of the points I raised about the time violations, but instead preferred to suggest that smashing racquets showed "character" and that umpires missed verbal abuse because it is spoken into crowd noise/applause. Quite. Darren Cahill - on the other hand - posted a very polite response saying that he's raised the subject many times and that it's time for a shot clock that starts after the umpire calls the score and then its 25 seconds. This response has given me encouragement, and I just believe that we need keep the subject current, live and in the public domain.
To this end, I was delighted to see that a petition has been posted on this very subject. If you support any of the opinion expressed, then I would politely and kindly request that you consider adding your signature to it. If you also wish to air your views, then all the better.
The petition is to be found here.
The numbers are growing, and as you can see from the comments, let's keep the groundswell of opinion growing too. Fans from all around the world are posting their views. Let's for once let the fan voice be heard and most importantly, keep the momentum going!!
Thank you to loobyloo and MAC creating it. And thanks in advance for all who take the time out to sign.
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