The umpires and players at the French Open are locked in a weird waltz – slow-slow, quick-quick slow – over the exasperating issue of time violations for tardy serving, and Andy Murray found himself at the centre of the debate on day five.
Twice on Thursday the French chair umpire Pascal Maria warned him for not serving within the prescribed 20 seconds during his win over João Sousa – once when wind gusted to interrupt him, later when Murray paused because he was distracted by replayed highlights on the big screen.
Rafael Nadal, a notoriously slow server, has already created a stir that won’t die by refusing to have Carlos Bernardes officiate in his matches after they clashed over a time violation in South America earlier this year, and Roger Federer made it plain this week he would not like to see that practice spread.