By Richard Pagliaro Saturday, March 7, 2026
Photo credit: Antoine Couvertcelle/ROLEX
Americans will enter daylight saving time tonight.
Carlos Alcaraz vowed he would not waste time protesting the latest timekeeping controversy.
Alcaraz has excelled in five of the last six games, winning the duel Karen Khachanov Last month, they advanced to the semifinals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open with 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-3.
In that match, Alcaraz hit a lob that probably wouldn’t pass 99 percent of the shots on the ATP Tour, ran to his left, and then exploded out of the court for a brilliant backhand volley in the ninth game.
As is his custom, Alcaraz put his index finger behind his ear, prolonging the cheering crowd’s celebration of the moment. However, that celebratory surge came at a cost for Alcaraz, as referee Maria Sicak handed him an infringement penalty after the point. In a rare display of anger, Alcaraz argued with referee Sikak for several minutes.
“Aren’t you going to let me wipe the towel?” Alcaraz asked several times. Cicak replied that she did not start the service clock until Alcaraz returned to the back wall to get towels, thus implying that he had no argument.
After sweeping victory in Indian Wells, today was asked about his stance on the clock controversy Grigor Dimitrov Today, Alcaraz said he feels the protests are a waste of time because officials won’t listen to him.
“To be honest, no one has come to me and asked me what I think about this,” Alcaraz said. “So, yeah, I would say, that’s how it’s going to be. To be honest, I don’t want to waste time because that’s already
In other cases you go complain or give your opinion and then nothing changes so I don’t want to waste my time. They already know my opinions and how I feel.
So let’s see if they change it, but I really want to focus on other things. “
The world’s number one umpire said most umpires use common sense behavior when it comes to service clocks, but said some may have never played tennis and therefore don’t understand the subtleties of the game.
“We can see there are different referees. So there’s probably just one or two referees who have problems in a lot of games,” Alcaraz said. “But there are other referees who are flexible about it. I would say if they know tennis, they know what to do.
“People who are very strict but don’t do it…arguably, it’s because they don’t
Totally understands tennis. “
When asked for his reaction, the former Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz Said that in general the referees would manage the clock correctly, although the American cited his predecessor Andy Roddick’s nemesis Fergus Murphy As a chairman referee, his timing is extremely fast.
“I don’t have a big problem with that. I think sometimes, you know, we can be a little smarter
“If someone hits a long shot and then they finish it in front of the opposite corner of the net and we’re playing somewhere wet, you towel off your hands in between points,” Fritz said. “And then, okay, maybe you give the guy five more seconds.” and
This is where the problem arises, as it automatically starts after that point.
“I’ve had some issues in the past when referees would start games because I felt some referees would start quicker than others, so I always had a problem with Fergus starting the clock particularly quickly.
“I’ve never been whistled for a time violation, no one’s ever been whistled for a time violation against me, but when he’s sitting in the chair, there’s probably a total of 10 plays in my game, and then it starts to become automatic, like when the point ends, it starts. It’s not up to the referee.”
