Fines, hindrances, foot faults: Are tennis officials wielding their power too much?

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Everything that he has won in prize money since the beginning of the year is below (less than) his fine. So, yes, what he did is not good, but sometimes in matches you have bad reactions. I think that it's silly, and it’s a shame to put such big fines. French pro Benoit Paire at Roland Garros, on the $155,000 “unsportsmanlike conduct” fine recently levied against his compatriot Hugo Gaston following a match in Madrid—a sum that has since been reduced by half on appeal.

True, Gaston has been hit with four fines for the same unsportsmanlike conduct offense already this year. He is emerging as the ATP’s new avatar of the dark art of gamesmanship. The massive fine was levied after Gaston purposely dropped a ball from his pocket while a point was in play during his second-round match with Borna Coric in Madrid—presumably a ploy to get the chair umpire to replay the point.

Gaston, a wild card entry into the French Open, has earned just under $122,000 this year. He’ll need to toe the line if he hopes to avoid an even more catastrophic fine in the coming months. While Gaston certainly deserves our contempt, a number of players at Roland Garros have criticized tennis officials, whom they view—or experience—as officious, over-eager, tone deaf or insistent on intruding where they don’t belong, in the boiler room of a match.

In fact, Paire commented on Gaston’s situation in the context of a larger discussion of officiating following his Monday loss to No. 14 seed Cam Norrie. Nick Helwerth, the chair empire in that five-set tussle, hit Norrie with a code violation for “hindrance” at a critical time in the match. The official decided that a grunt issued by Norrie after he blasted a forehand constituted a distraction, and awarded the point to Paire, who converted the ensuing break point and went on to win the third set.

Paire appeared just as baffled as Norrie by Helwerth’s call.

“I've never been called for that violation before, ever.” Norrie said. “I don’t know why he felt it was necessary to get involved there, especially since he gave me no warning whatsoever, and it was a big point. I think it’s obviously unacceptable, but if he (Helwerth) makes a decision wrong, there’s no consequences. And, you know, for me, if I do something wrong, there's consequences; I can lose the match.”

Norrie’s comments echoed a theme introduced on Sunday by his compatriot Dan Evans. The No. 20 seed, Evans was ushered out of the tournament by underdog Thanasi Kokkinakis. In that 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, match, Evans was called for a foot fault that led to a key break of serve. He was subsequently hit with a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct after smashing a water bottle in frustration, and jawing at the chair umpire.

“They (officials) find a way of getting involved,” Evans fumed after the loss. Referring to the center line judge who made the foot-fault call, Evans added, “If they're going to call that foot fault (his foot swept across the center notch as he hit a serve), it shouldn’t be from 35 meters away, from fence to fence and through a net.”

The call rattled Evans, who said, “I lost my trust in where my feet were. It’s a very minor thing, but it became a pretty big thing in my head.”

Evans is looking at a fine of $20,000 for abusing a water bottle (and not very enthusiastically, either—there was no chance of injuring anyone). That pales in comparison to the tab Gaston is accumulating. The ATP Rulebook calls for fines of up to $60,000 for Unsportsmanlike Conduct offenses at Masters 1000 events, with 100 percent increases if the same violation occurs during the same calendar year. At Grand Slam events, the initial tab for unsportsmanlike conduct is $20,000, but if the offense falls under the Aggravated Offense category, it could be as high as $250,000.

The fines for Code of Conduct violations have increased substantially over the years. Some players feel that officials, particularly chair umpires, are not immune to grandstanding. Add the power officials have to issue code violations that lead to increasingly hefty fines and it’s easy to see why Evans complained, “It's frustrating. Breaking a water bottle is not that big of a deal, but I guess it is in this [current environment].”

They find a way of getting involved. Daniel Evans, on officials

Other players, including many former players, agree that the game is too tightly laced, its leaders too “corporate” and averse to controversy and colorful, big—if not always tame—personalities. With exemplary, classic “sportsmen” like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal out and nearly out of the game, some sense that the suits and administrators are determined to keep tight control over player behavior.

There isn’t much sympathy for Gaston’s form of gamesmanship; it’s like stealing, and very different from explosive outbursts of temperament, or sparring with officials and fans. It generates contempt, not curiosity or fascination. But the out-sized fine levied on Gaston pointed to an interesting conundrum.

“You can’t ask for more money than what the player is going to earn,” Paire said. “Otherwise, why play tennis?”