Been watching a bit of the U.S. Tennis Open on USA. Not that I’m a big tennis fan, but TV holds so little interest for me that anything new seems exciting. Sweaty, athletic women don’t hurt either. During a match this afternoon between two men, after one particularly hard fought point, the loser of that point picked up the ball and smacked it as hard as he could along the sideline. Apparently this is a no-no and he was given a ball abuse warning. A search of the internet unearthed little info about this kind of thing. What is next after the warning? Is there a penalty for continued spanking of the tennis ball? The only thing I can figure out is that some organization called SPOBA or PETOT* is behind this anti-cruelty effort. I wonder at what point in the ever increasing service speed of the men will they cry foul? 135? 140?
* Society for the Prevention Of Ball Abuse or People for the Ethical Treatment Of Tennisballs