Many people have complained about Maria Sharapova's unauthorised bathroom breaks, which always seem to occur when she is losing (in all fairness, her anxiety could actually cause the need for a break). But taking bathroom breaks is nothing compared to the stunt that Daniela Hantuchova has been pulling this week at the Pacific Life tournament in Indian Wells, California.

The rules of the game specify that the receiver must play to the pace of the server, and even in tennis etiquette this is always the case. The server dictates the speed of the start of each point as long as it is within reason and is no more than 25 seconds from the end of the previous point. There are some players who are famous for bending the rules a long way, like the slow Mary Pierce, or the speedy Steffi Graf and Jelena Jankovic (whose haste in starting each point has won her the nickname "JJ Express").

Pierce has a long-time habit of going beyond the 25-seconds allowed between points, yet few umpires have called her for a time violation (although one chose championship point at the French Open to do so).

But what Hantuchova is doing is something completely different. As her opponent prepares to serve, she turns her back in an elaborate ritual, thereby disrupting the pace of play and taking away the server's implicit authority to dictate when to serve. The chair umpire should be telling her to stop, but this isn't happening. Hantuchova's opponents have the right to ask that she be told to stop her ploy but so far, they have not done so. Perhaps this could be because it does not bother them, but it could also be because America's cultural climate - nowhere more on parade than in sport - dictates that complaining that someone is breaking a rule which might be seen as no more than a technicality,  is somehow wimpy.

Hantuchova has come a long way. Once number five in the world, she has won only one singles tournament (she is a doubles expert, with a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles) - the 2000 Pacific Life Open. Family problems caused her to disintegrate, and only recently has she shown she can control her emotions on the court. She is a very gifted player and a good athlete, despite her relative slowness on the court. I want to cheer for her comeback. But her current court behaviour motivates me to do just the opposite.

What I want is for her next opponent to serve to her back, and let the chair umpire deal with it.

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