In tennis, a player charged with multiple rules infractions risks being ejected from the match, more commonly known as a default. Chair umpires and other tournament officials may also remove a player from the court after a single egregious violation of tennis rules or conduct.
Officials begin handling unruly players with a warning. Players are typically warned for behavior such as taking too much time between points, making audible or visible obscenities, or angrily abusing tennis balls and other pieces of equipment. Any verbal or physical frustration directed towards an official should result in penalization. A player may even receive a warning or penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior that is not their own, such as receiving illegal coaching from a coach or parent in the audience.
If players continue to engage in such behavior, they will receive a penalty of a single point. This means that the next point to be played is immediately awarded to the opposing player, even if it results in the end of a game, set, or match. Players continue as if the penalized point was played. For instance, if a player was preparing to serve from the deuce court, they would switch to the ad side even though no deuce point was played.
Following a warning and point penalty, unsportsmanlike conduct and related offenses are met with a game penalty. This penalty functions in the same manner as a point penalty, with the current game, immediately going to the opposition, regardless of how much of the game has been played to that point.
There is no set penalty in tennis. Suppose a player commits a third offense after receiving a warning. In that case, the umpire has the right to default the offending player from the match, resulting in an automatic win for the other player. It should be noted that these penalization rules function as guidelines for the chair umpire’s discretion. An umpire may issue several warnings for minor violations before issuing a point penalty, for instance, or might immediately default a player for a gross violation of conduct.
There are countless examples of defaults at the professional level of the sport. Argentinian tennis player David Nalbandian led Croatian Marin Cilic in the 2012 Queen’s Club final in London when a default cost him a chance at his 12th and final career title. After the former world No. 3 relinquished a break advantage midway through the second set, he kicked an on court advertising sign. The sign snapped in half, and debris cut the leg of an official, drawing blood.
Nalbandian had not received any warnings or penalties to that point, but the default was immediate. Nalbandian apologized during the trophy presentation and described the incident as a mistake, though he generally disagreed with how the ruling was handled.
Two of the most memorable defaults in tennis history occurred at the US Open, involving American great Serena Williams. Serving to prolong a semifinal encounter with Kim Clijsters and set up a second set tiebreak, Williams was called for a foot fault, which gave Clijsters two match points at 15-40. Williams disagreed with the call and berated the lineswoman who made it. The verbal abuse was met with a point penalty, which ended the match. Clijsters went on to win the event.
Williams let a potential 24th grand slam title escape nine years later after a coaching violation led to a complete on court meltdown. She later smashed a racket and continuously feuded with official Carlos Ramos, who eventually docked her a point and a game, allowing Osaka to serve out the 6-2, 6-4 win.
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