General / Barry Millns / 18 September 2008 / 1

Barry Millns discusses what it takes to get to the top of the ladder and recounts memorable instances of slaps, forgotten scores and the calls that gave rise to hawk-eye.

When John McEnroe infamously called umpire Ted James "the pits of the world" at Wimbledon in 1981, he was not the first player to berate officialdom and he certainly won't be the last. But there is no doubt that these days the leading international officials are highly trained professionals who have to be 'on top of their games' to deal with the demands of the job.

The first step to becoming an umpire usually begins with the national associations. In Britain, the Lawn Tennis Association runs free introductory days to line umpiring, which in turn lead to a Basic Line Umpire Course, membership of the Association of British Tennis Officials and, subject to some experience, eligibility to take a Chair Umpire Accreditation Course.

For those then wishing to make a career out of umpiring, ITF Officiating is the way to go. Launched in 1990 it has trained many thousands of officials all over the world and over the past decade has run one unified programme for International Officials, recognised by the ITF, ATP and WTA Tour.

Beyond the basic training already mentioned, the ITF scheme runs Level 2 Intermediate schools for aspiring umpires to become ITF White Badge Officials. Those who do can then attend Level 3 Advanced officiating schools to try and become International Officials, with chair umpires graded by Bronze, Silver and Gold Badges.

To ensure standards are maintained at the highest level, certified officials are required to complete annual tests and regularly attend refresher seminars to ensure they are fully aware of the latest rules, regulations and procedures. They are also regularly evaluated by more experienced and qualified officials.

Whatever the level of tennis match being played, though, good umpiring is dependent on some key skills which include: good eyesight and hearing, excellent concentration, a thorough knowledge of the rules, the ability to stay calm under pressure and a loud voice! A thick skin and the ability to crowd control also come in very handy, especially in international team events such as the Davis Cup and Fed Cup when national fervour can threaten to overwhelm proceedings.

Every so often, though, situations do ignite and create headlines way beyond the actual tennis being played. At Wimbledon in 1995 the American Jeff Tarango completely lost his cool with umpire Bruno Rebeuh and then stalked off court in protest, prior to his wife Benedicte confronting Rebeuh and slapping him on the face - Tarango was subsequently fined a record $15,500 and suspended.

On another occasion at the All England Club in 2004, Ted Watts mistakenly awarded Croatia's Karolina Sprem an 'extra' point early in the second set tiebreak of her second round win over the two-times former champion Venus Williams. The American, who did not protest when the incident occurred, was gracious in defeat and said at the time "Sometimes I do lose track of the score, and I just felt that maybe I had lost track again," but it was Watts who had done that and he did not umpire again at those Championships.

The same was true of umpire Mariana Alves a couple of months later in New York following her controversial overrule in the quarter-final between Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati. Williams hit a backhand well inside the sideline at deuce in the opening game of the third set that was called good by the lineswoman but overruled by Alves.

Williams protested vehemently at the time but in vain and eventually lost 6-4 in the decider, having also been the victim of some other bad calls in the match. Afterwards she received an official apology from the USTA, Alves was dismissed from the tournament and calls increased for technology to be used to assist the umpires in close decisions.

Hawk-Eye duly arrived and is now the norm for all major showcourts around the world, aside from those on clay where the mark of the ball is still inspected by chair umpires if required by the players to do so. There is no doubt that such a system is of great benefit to umpires as it quickly takes the heat out of potentially explosive situations when players query calls, especially on the big points.

But because of the high cost of installing such technology with the large replay screens, the vast majority of matches at events worldwide remain under the control and judgement of human rather than hawk eyes. And while no-one at the top of the umpire's ladder would claim to get every decision right, those who are widely acknowledged as among the best in the business right now include Pascal Maria and Carlos Ramos, who will alternate in the 'hot seat' for this weekend's Davis Cup semi-final between Spain and USA at the spectacular bull-ring venue in Madrid surrounded by a crowd of 21,000!

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1. seth | 19 September 2008

   Nice article. If you can increase the accuracy of calls then that's all that matters. An interesting Hawk-Eye analysis here - https://www.gelfmagazine.com/gelflog/archives/whos_right_on_hawkeye.php

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