The New York herald., 1921-12-26
DELAYING TENNIS
MATCH AN OFFENSE
British Association Votes Um-
pire Power to Disqualify for
Dilatory Tactics.
by SAMUEL J. BRooKMAN.

For the first time in the history of
the sport the British Lawn Tennis As
sociation has adopted a rule giving an
who offends by unnecessarily delaying
a match. THE umpire shall be the sole
judge" the rule reads. and he is directed
to see that play shall be continuous
and without unnecessary delay on the
part Of the player from first service until
the match Is concluded"
The rule. It is understood. is the out
come of certain episodes during the sea-
son of 1921 that aroused considerable
discussion among tennis officials and
other devotees of the sport In the in
cidents referred to the dilatory tactics
in the opinion of the umpires were
adopted by the players with the evident
intention Of taxing the patience of the
opponents and of throwing them OF
their game rather than with the idea
Of seeking a bit or respite. Even the
latter intent Is scarcely according tc
Hoyle. but the former. the British off,
Gals asserted, no longer could be coun-
tenanced. IT was opposed to all ethics
Of the game.
A Check on Umpire.
While the cases of unnecessary delay
are few and far between, the British
considered the question important
enough to be covered by rule, and the
amendment was formulated and passed
without rule the umpire could not
take 1t upon himself even to caution q
player in a fragrant case, and the of.
fender went through the match unmo-
Tested. The new regulation requires the
umpire to give a player due warning
and then upon the second offense to pro-
ceed with the disqualification, with the
consent of the referee" of the tourna-
ment. The last phrase provides check
on the too ambitious and too suspicious
umpire who may be entirely mistaken
as to whether a player is delaying a
match unduly. If both umpire and tour
namenr referee are of the same mind
the chance OF error Is slim. 1t is under
stood that the rule is to apply only to
cases where the offense is apparent tc
the majority Of those looking on.
IT Is exceedingly doubtful whether any
of the officials of the United States
Lawn Tennis Association will recon-.
mend that the rule be Incorporated intC
the American code just now. There has
been no flagrant case here for some
time. and the general attitude will be tc
cross the bridge when the bridge Il
reached. Should the Americans become
members of the international Lawn Ten.
mis- Federation, however. there will bt
an immediate move by all nations tC
have the rules of the game uniform ir
every respect and the regulation regard
ing disqualification for unnecessary de,
lay may find its way into the general
code.
With disqualification rule In force
tournament committees will be far more
careful than usual of their umpire selec.
tions and the birth of tennis umpire.
association similar to the one In this
country may be anticipated In England
Only officials whose competency and eff
ficiency have been proven are permitted
to officiate In the leading Americar
tournaments, and their fairness has
never been questioned There is always
the possibility of an exceptional case
arising of an umpire taking an unfair
advantage of his power, and In such
cases the danger OF placing so mucl
authority into the hands of an umpire Is
tempered by the fact that the consent Of
the tournament referee must be OBJ
At