An increasingly present phenomenon in the Roman tournament. Musetti: “It’s getting heavy.” Pellegrino: “They don’t even know the rules of tennis”.
The fact was already known, unfortunately we are talking about a phenomenon that is often repeated in Italian tournaments and does not even spare the Italian Internationals in Rome. Lorenzo Musetti also reported itthe number two in Italian tennis. “The phenomenon of bettors on the courts of the Forum, who insult players during matches depending on who they bet on, is becoming serious. And the ATP should intervene.” In reality it doesn’t happen at all the matches, on the Central Stadium when it is full the issue is almost not noticeable, but on the peripheral courts it is much more perceptible. It also happened on Tuesday in the round of 16 match played between Rublev and Basilashvili at the Bnl Arena.
How it works
Mostly they are kids who try to direct the game by cheering or insulting a player. They place themselves in the front rows, so as to be closer to the pitch, they wait to see how the first set ends and then, when the odds of those who lost the first match rises, they bet on that one and from that moment they start cheering against the other. In a match between a Russian and a Georgian you don’t expect to see such loud participation from the public, but it happened. At least this time certain limits were not exceeded as happened in other matches of the tournament. Reiterating that everyone is free to have their own opinion and that objectively the betting phenomenon contributes to the economic well-being of tournaments and the ATP circuit, and therefore of the players, there is a regulation that speaks clearly. “Inside the Facility, the User is prohibited from concluding or accepting bets, directly or through a third party, or from facilitating the bets of others with actions functional to their conclusion.” we read in general conditions for the purchase of tickets to the Foro Italico as well as for access and stay inside the facility. Obviously it is impossible to control every single spectator, but somehow we must intervene.
The sensational cases
In this 83rd edition there were no such sensational episodes – last year, however, players like Alex de Minaur and Jakub Mensik they had turned sternly to the hecklers strategically seated in the front row. The best known episode is probably that of Andrea Pellegrinowho after beating Martin Landaluce in the decisive round of the qualifiers he cheered in the direction of a small group of bettorsinviting them to go home and making the money sign. Pellegrino was very harsh: “The bettors? They only come there to disturb the players because, obviously, they bet, as you know. They don’t even know how the game of tennis worksthey don’t care about me or anyone else, so they just come to disturb the players, which is the only thing that, in my opinion, is ruining tennis a bit in certain situations. In the end, tennis is a sport that has always been elegant, otherwise it becomes like a football stadium where everything is worth it and it loses a bit of that beauty.”
