Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s “fair” attitude on the court could get “boring” according to a retired pro. Anke Huber said the two had ushered in a sportsmanlike era of tennis but admitted she didn’t want every player on tour to follow suit and instead was happy to see some “emotion” on the match court in the wake of recent outbursts from Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios.
On-court behaviour has been the talk of the tennis world in recent weeks, catching fire when Zverev was withdrawn from the ATP 500 in Acapulco for smashing an umpire’s chair with his racket. Kyrgios then received back-to-back fines for an audible obscenity and narrowly avoiding a ballboy when throwing his racket in Indian Wells, and his tirade at the umpire at the Miami Open.
Former WTA world No 4 Anke Huber has now weighed in on the debate of etiquette from tennis players and admitted it would be “boring” if nobody showed passion during a match within reason, citing Federer and Nadal as examples of players who remain calm on the court. “I was always very emotional on the court, but I never projected that onto the referee, only onto myself,” Huber told Eurosport Germany.
“John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors used to make it quite normal for the referee to be attacked. Later we had this phase with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who always behaved sportsman-like and very fairly. But if everyone just looks straight ahead and doesn’t make a peep, it gets boring.”
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