It's time to take a hard look at the relationship between players and umpires

WATCH: Zverev's violent racquet swipes lead to eventual removal from Acapulco

“You guys are all corrupt!”

“Are you stupid?”

“You’re a f—ing idiot!”

These are three angry phrases, that have been aimed at three chair umpires, by three leading members of the ATP’s up-and-coming generation in 2022. Denis Shapovalov called Carlos Bernardes and his fellow officials corrupt during his loss to Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open. Daniil Medvedev asked Jeims Campistol if he’s stupid—and designated him a “small cat”—in his win over Stefanos Tsitsipas at the same tournament. And Alexander Zverev ranted at Alessandro Germani during a doubles match in Acapulco this week, before smacking his racquet against his chair, nearly hitting Germani’s legs, and getting himself kicked out of the tournament.

Zverev’s outburst is virtually unprecedented in tennis, and by far the worst of the three. But it’s also the culmination of an ugly period when top male players have attacked officials in over-the-top fashion.

Many of us, after the Hawk-Eye replay system was introduced in 2005, thought the era of the player-umpire contretemps was over; and it’s true, line-call arguments have declined precipitously over the last 15 years. But it turns out there are still plenty of other reasons—an opponent who is being coached, an opponent who is playing slowly—that can make a young man go berserk in the heat of battle.

The question for the sport is: What can be done about it?

All three players have shown contrition: Shapovalov said his behavior was “inexcusable”; Medvedev said he made a “big mistake”; and Zverev termed his outburst “wrong and unacceptable.” All three have been punished to a degree: Shapovalov was fined $8,000; Medvedev was fined $12,000; and Zverev is facing a suspension. Only Zverev’s penalty is likely to sting.

The bigger problem isn’t what happens after the match; it’s what happens as the tirade is going on. While Medvedev was warned for an audible obscenity during his semifinal, and Zverev was warned for verbal abuse after a series of f-bombs, none of the three chair umpires in question did much to respond or deter their attackers, or make them feel like they were taking a risk by screaming at them.

Historically, umpires have allowed players some leeway to vent; better to have a small dustup and let it play out, the thinking goes, than to clamp down too hard and create a total explosion. I also think umpires are also hesitant to give a player a code violation for verbal abuse, because they don’t want to be accused of “making the match all about them.” Everyone knows what happened when Carlos Ramos docked Serena Williams a game for verbal abuse in the 2018 US Open final. As we saw that night, code violations can pile up quickly, from warning to point to game to match. A default is not something that any umpire, or any paying spectator, wants to have happen unless there’s no other choice.

Instead, we end up with automatic violations for racquet breaking, and regular violations when players take too much time between points; yet there’s little punishment or deterrence when it comes to abusing an official. To me, the sight of a racquet being smashed isn’t as off-putting as the sight of an official being screamed at and disrespected. Ideally, tennis players would understand that if they raise their voice or mock an official, they can expect to be penalized for it. That’s the way it works in U.S. sports like baseball and basketball, and it can lead to players getting carded in soccer.

Maybe the verbal-abuse violation could be pulled out of the general code, the way time violations are. In the case of time violations, a player gets a warning, then gets a first-serve taken away, and then keeps getting first serves taken away, so the punishment doesn’t escalate and potentially cause a default. Maybe, if a player abuses an official, he or she should get a warning, then a point penalty, and then repeated point penalties. That might make umpires less leery about defending themselves.

Of course, punishments aren’t going to resolve every tense situation, or calm a player who is already unhinged. In the heat of battle, irrationality is the norm. The bigger, long-running issue is the general culture of disrespect toward officials in tennis. As someone who started to watch tennis at the same time that John McEnroe arrived on tour, it seems to me that his attitude toward chair umpires became the default attitude toward chair umpires on tour—especially on the men’s tour—and that has never really changed.

Few players today kick and scream like Johnny Mac, of course, but there’s still a sense that, short of rampant cursing, they’re allowed to take any tone they want with an official. If Zverev’s dangerous tirade doesn’t inspire us to take a hard look at the relationship between players and umpires, I don’t know what will.