THE SCOOP: WEDNESDAY, JULY 31

Umpire gives Hantuchova a time out
Dokic with Formula One racer Bernoldi

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

FROM THE ACURA CLASSIC IN SAN DIEGO – Venus Williams was so shocked that when she was told that Daniela Hantuchova was given a time violation down a match point against Ai Sugiyama on Wednesday – consequently losing the match a 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 – that she put her hand over her mouth and said, "What? Oh my god. That's bad, bad luck." Lindsay Davenport said she was "amazed" and that it was "uncalled for by the umpire."

Tournament promoters at the Acura Classic can't be too thrilled about losing the flashy drawing card Hantuchova this early. The 19-year-old is the only player other than Venus to have pushed Serena Williams at Wimbledon and would have had a shot at Venus in the semis had she gotten that far. But instead, Daniela was undone by her own sloppy play – 72 unforced errors – and umpire Denis Overberg, the same man who gave Venus Williams a point penalty for losing beads out of her hair in her '99 Aussie Open 6-4, 6-0 quarterfinal loss to Davenport. Venus went nuts after that and collapsed psychologically (After the point penalty was assessed, Venus screamed at tournament referee Peter Bellenger, "As if I was doing it on purpose! You see me pulling my hair and pulling them out? This is out of control!" )

Daniela was none too pleased. "I felt I was in the match," she said. "I felt very confident coming into the tiebreak. I felt I could have won but somebody came and took the match away from me. It was definitely unfair to finish such a great match like this."

Sanex WTA Tour rules state that a player must start a new point 20 seconds after the previous point has been completed. Hantuchova received a warning for a time violation in the second game of the third set, was given a point penalty in the 11th game of the third set and on match point with Hantuchova serving at 5-6, Overberg gave her another point penalty, giving Sugiyama the match.

"Denis acted within the rules," said WTA Supervisor Clare Wood. "As long as I've been involved in the officiating side, I haven't heard of that happening on a match point."

Referee Billie Lipp, who has been officiating since 1974, added, "I can't recall a time violation ending a match. I know we've had a code violation end a match, but the umpire isn't thinking where they are, he's only thinking about what the rules are and as the match progresses, what he's telling the players and trying to be fair to both players. Unfortunately, that's what occurred."

The WTA Tour does not have a court side second clock and some players have
complained that it's difficult to tell when they are about to commit a violation. "Years ago they had second clocks on the court and I'm not sure why they did away with them," Lipp said.

Both Davenport and Williams said that the tour should consider installing a clock, with Venus mentioning "that it seems like there are players who sometimes take 90 seconds against me."

Lipp said she had complete confidence in Overberg's ruling and added that chair umpires shouldn't be allow to amend the rules just because a violation occurs on a match point. "He's very competent and we have a lot of of trust in his level of officiating," Lipp said. "In tennis, you have one person on control and he has to be fair to both players. He has the to follow the rules and guidelines. He doesn't have the liberty to decide."

While that may be true in theory, who was in the referee's office running a stopwatch keeping tabs on Overberg. Probably no one. All of us who watch other sports (the NBA specifically), know that clock management is a dicey proposition. Who's to say that Hantuchova was called for the violation with 19.99 seconds on the clock? No one, which is why if it wasn't a radical violation of the rules, she should have been allowed to play on. It's the fans who suffered the most.

Dokic with Formula One racer Bernoldi

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

The sometimes intensely private Jelena Dokic flashed a smile on Wednesday night when asked about the presence of Formula One driver Enrique Bernoldi in her friends box. The two are dating. Dokic said she enjoys formula and hopes Bernoldi likes tennis. However, she has yet to get him out to the courts and run him around.