Rules applied on the average chumps.

So Mohammad Layhiani (whatever you spell it, I mean the umpire who likes to be in the spotlights) denies Roberto Bautista-Agut a challenge in his match against Djokovic because he took too long (my guess is about 10 seconds, which is indeed too long). Apart from Nalby at last years AO, this is the first time I see such a decision made by an umpire (I usually watch more high profile matches).

So when is this rule gonna be applied to Del Potro and the other top players that take a long time to challenge?

I do agree that a great deal of this official muscle flexing on time and challenges etc, gets directed at the middling players who can't stand up for themselves like the stars. It is a top down tour in all respects, but as the rules go it should be applied fairly whether you Bautista-Agut or whether you come onto the court in your own personalized and monogrammed cream color leisure suit.

Chydremion wrote:
So when is this rule gonna be applied to Del Potro and the other top players that take a long time to challenge?

I like DelPo, but it is a very annoying habit. It was visible in the Baggy and today's (Somdev) match. He would just start a conversation with umpire immediately and start walking, without the actual challenge request which would take more than 15 seconds in some cases. I would like a chair umpire to pull him up a couple of times to make him fall in line.