Australian Open 2017

[PaulP]

Pat Cash threw a funny wobbly over Fed calling an injury time out at the end of the 4th set.  He said it was cheating - legal cheating but cheating nevertheless. 

Slowing down the game to blunt the opponent's momentum is exactly what Rafa does all the time.  He stretches out the time between the serves to achieve this.  Not only does he do this on his own serve, but also when receiving.  He makes the server wait for him to get into position.  The etiquette of tennis is that the receiver should play to the server's pace.  It's the job of the receiver to be ready to receive whenever the server starts his service motion - much like batsmen are supposed to be ready for the bowler whether he comes off a short or a long run.  Of course, that's not in the rules so it's a breach of etiquette rather than a breach of the rules.  There is a time limit on serving, though, and Rafa usually exceeds it but is rarely called on it.  So you'd have to say that Rafa cheats within the rules too.  From a spectator's POV, I'd take Fed's tactic over Rafa's.  Knowing Fed's off the court getting treatment means you can get a beer without missing anything, but the extra Rafa takes during games just slows the game down.

The funny thing is that Rafa can use his tactic but others can't.  Umpires just accept that Rafa takes his time and rarely act.  But if Fed did the same, umpires would say that he's deliberately slowing down play and they'd rigorously enforce the time limit against him.

It's a bit like the controversy over grunting in women's tennis.  One of Sharapova's opponents started doing the same back to her but officials made it clear that they'd ping her for doing so because they knew that wasn't part of her game.  So Sharapova and others were allowed to grunt as they claimed it was beyond their control while others were warned that they had to avoid grunting.

Inconsistency and interpretation are inevitable anywhere laws exist. It's up to the authorities to call him on it. He is, like any sportsman, open to pushing the boundaries on certain things to get a winning advantage. As a rafa fan, I've seen him get plenty of time warnings in his career.  I notice that holier-than-thou Roger is also not averse to having time outs at critical moments, albeit less than rafa.