Should an umpire have influence on the game?

Your Tennis Mate
Sep 3, 2018 · 2 min read

It’s rare that you are one week into a grand slam and the major story is about an UMPIRE!

Umpire Mohamed Lahyani has taken the spotlight with his ‘motivational’ performance during Nick Kyrgios and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 2nd round match up at the 2018 US Open.

The tennis community has heavily scrutinised Lahyani’s actions by labelling his on-court discussion with Nick Kyrgios as ‘coaching’ during the second set. Many believe this ‘pep talk’ spurred Kyrgios’ resurgence to win the match in 4 sets.

This raises the question:
“As conductors of the match, should umpires do their best to ensure players compete in the spirit of the game and compete at their highest standard?

Essentially, umpires conduct each match, as they control the crowd and ensure each match runs smoothly. With this in mind, if a player’s efforts are questionable, should an umpire be able to question this and suggest that they can play better?

If you ask this question to the opponent or other players on the tour, I have no doubts the answer would be “NO!”.

But that’s only one part of the equation. We all know tennis is a major spectator sport and fans pay to watch world-class tennis.

So, if you ask a fan the same question, I have no doubts the answer will be, “YES, I’ve paid good money to see each player come out here and give it their all!”

Therefore, should the officials analysing this situation favour the players or the fans?

It’s a definitely a contentious question, but which side do you sit on?

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-CVDB

Your Tennis Mate

Written by

Charl Van Den Berg

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