American tennis player Zachary Svajda was accused of abusing tennis’ medical timeout rules during his Wimbledon defeat to Alex de Minaur.
Making his first appearance in the Wimbledon main draw, Svajda was handed a tough third-round test against fifth seed De Minaur.
And despite fighting back well to take the second set against the Australian, Svajda eventually fell to a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 defeat on Court Three.
Having fallen two breaks down in the third set, Svajda called for the physio and was eventually granted a medical timeout for an issue around his hamstring and adductor area.
After receiving lengthy treatment, the 23-year-old resumed the match but was unable to prevent De Minaur from serving out the third set.
ATP medical timeout rules allow players a single three-minute treatment break per distinct treatable condition.
However, BBC pundit and former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash said those rules need to be made stricter as he accused Svajda of using the timeout simply because his ‘muscles were getting tired’.
‘Personally, I am against this medical timeout unless you’ve done an injury,’ Cash said on commentary. ‘Because this is loss of condition, this is muscles getting tired, and you’re not supposed to have a medical timeout for that.
‘I am so against this, the doctors need to stand up and go, no, this is not an injury.
‘Here’s what the rule should be: anything beyond the fourth set in the men’s, unless you twist your ankle or roll something or run into the net post or whatever, you shouldn’t get a MTO. As simple as that. Because it’s tiring, you get tired.
‘The doctor should come up and go, ‘Guess what, you’ve just been playing three hours. You’re tired. Your muscles are tired. Move on. Play on’.’
Responding to the Australian’s passionate rant, fellow commentator Todd Woodbridge said: ‘He’s a tough man, folks. Pat Cash.’
But Cash pushed back, adding: ‘No, because this changes the momentum of the game and it’s against the rules.’
Medical timeout rules
The Medical Time Out takes place during a change over or set break, unless the Sports Physiotherapist determines that the player has developed an acute medical condition that requires immediate medical treatment.
The Medical Time-Out is limited to three minutes of treatment. A player is allowed one Medical Time-Out for each distinct treatable medical condition.
All clinical manifestations of heat illness shall be considered as one (1) treatable medical condition. All treatable musculoskeletal injuries that manifest as part of a kinetic chain continuum shall be considered as one treatable medical condition.
A player may receive treatment for muscle cramping only during the time allotted for change of ends and/or set breaks. Players may not receive a Medical Time-Out for muscle cramping.
Elsewhere, Cash urged governing bodies to change the rules surrounding ball tosses, which currently allow players to catch the ball restart their serve if their toss is wayward.
‘The ball tosses are the other mysterious one for me, it’s absolutely ridiculous,’ Cash fumed.
‘You’ve started the point, the shot clock has gone off, the ball is in the air and in play and yet you’re allowed to catch.
‘These are no-brainers, but the tennis associations and all the governing bodies can’t come to an understanding.
‘It needs someone in the ITF to say, ‘right, in Grand Slams this is what we’re doing’.
‘No more throwing the ball up in the air and catching it. As soon as you hit the pro level, once you throw the ball in the air, the point starts.’
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