As Rafael Nadal prepares to defend his French Open crown in Paris next week, his time-wasting is making a mockery of the tennis rulebook. The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Carlos Bernardes, the last umpire to seriously challenge Nadal on this point, has been withdrawn from Nadal’s matches since and is unlikely to officiate him at Roland Garros.
The bad blood between the two dates back to Feb 22, and the semi-final of the Rio Open. Bernardes followed the letter of the law by handing Nadal two time violation penalties for exceeding the 25-second limit between points, the second of which cost him a first serve. In a Spanish exchange captured by the courtside microphones, a furious Nadal then told Bernardes: “I will make sure that you don’t arbitrate me anymore.” Clearly agitated, he went on to lose to Fabio Fognini in three sets.
