Tennis 2022: When is the ATP going to make tennis bad boys accountable for reckless actions?

When will the ATP get fair dinkum about stamping out dummy spits from the new age bad boys of tennis? Does someone have to get seriously hurt before real action is taken. Have your say.

What has to happen before the ATP takes decisive action on its players endangering the safety of others at matches?

Does a ball kid have to get hit in the head by a racquet? A fan take a stray ball to the eye? An umpire get attacked in the chair?

Oh, sorry, that last one actually happened with barely a slap on the hand for the perpetrator.

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Like churlish children throwing their toys from the cot, some of the top tennis players in the world are smashing racquets and balls in frustration, with scant regard for the consequences.

The consequences to others that it is. Because they know they face no real penalty for their actions.

Today, Nick Kyrgios copped a five figure fine for his Indian Wells dummy spit. What message does that send?

A mere $40,000 out of pocket for someone worth millions? Not exactly a deterrent.

Tennis meltdown: Jensen Brooksby hits a ball out of the stadium, then chucks his racket away. Is this a double code violation?

When Jensen Brooksby threw his racquet in frustration at the Miami Open this morning, it made contact with a ball boy, who had tried to take evasive action.

Yes, it hit him on the foot, yes, the contact was light. But it should have been an immediate default.

And he should then face a suspension.

Has form: Australia’s Nick Kyrgios is a known hothead when things don’t go his way.

Alexander Zverev smashes the umpire's chair with his racket during the recent Mexico Open.

The same goes for Aussie Jordan Thompson, who smashed a ball in frustration this morning, leaving a ball girl ducking on the sidelines, and Kyrgios, who pegged his racquet at Indian Wells after losing to Rafael Nadal, only just missing a ball kid.

An online mea culpa after the fact outlining your apology and gift of a racquet or other signed merchandise to your sizeable social media following carries no currency.

In the real world, actions like these have consequences.

Brooksby’s racket landed on the other side of the court when he threw it away. Is this what fans want to see?

But when the ATP failed to act decisively after Alex Zverev struck an umpire’s chair at the Mexican Open last month, handing him a suspended ban and suspended fine despite the German striking umpire Allesandro Germani’s chair with his racquet three times following a doubles loss — after earlier calling him a “f---ing idiot”, it lost control.

Like a parent unwilling to rein in a brattish child, the ATP’s actions told the tennis world it places little value on the wellbeing of officials or ball kids, only fuelling the anti-social behaviour of its stars.

No one is asking players to be robots.

The reaction of fans to Kyrgios the showman at the Australian Open shows no one wants to see a wallflower on court.

But throw something and all bets are off.

The ATP needs to come down hard. An immediate default is just the first step.

Fine players, suspend them — real fines and suspensions. If a player has to miss a grand slam because they can’t control themselves, so be it.

This is not tennis. Hopefully no one gets really hurt before the governing body finds a spine.

Originally published as Tennis 2022: When is the ATP going to make tennis bad boys accountable for reckless actions?