Rafael Nadal will be seeking his 10th career French Open title when the second Grand Slam of the year begins on Sunday.
It is hard to think the "King of Clay" would need any kind of advantage when Roland Garros rolls around, but a Telegraph report Thursday says Nadal may have been receiving some help from the ATP in recent months.
Veteran tennis umpire Carlos Bernardes has not officiated a match involving Nadal since the Rio Open in February when he penalized him twice for breaking the 25-second limit between points. The second violation cost the Spaniard a first serve on the way to being upset by Fabio Fognini.
"I will make sure that you don't arbitrate me anymore," Nadal was heard telling Bernardes in a heated exchange following the second violation.
Bernardes is one of nine "elite" umpires on the ATP Tour and was eligible for 20 of the 24 matches Nadal has participated since the Rio incident. Curiously, the veteran umpire has not officiated any of the matches and is not expected to do so in Paris.
This is not an uncommon practice in tennis as umpire selections can be altered due to recent incidents or disagreements. For instance, a retired ATP umpire was quoted as saying he did not officiate a single match with Ivan Lendl for a year after an argument over a match point.
The situation with Nadal is different, though, as he has long been criticized for taking too long between points, yet many umpires do not call the violation.
In Estoril this past month, Nick Kyrgios won a match after an umpire ignored an "audible obscenity" that would have cost Kyrgios the match. Tennis umpires may just want to let the players play, but with Nadal potentially pulling strings to keep Bernardes away, they will be best served to enforce the rules properly.
With Bernardes simply following the book, this incident should make tennis viewers extra attentive to the officiating at Roland Garros.
