The Anonymous Widower

Jeff Tarango Gets It Right

I sent this in an e-mail to a friend last night, after hearing Jeff Tarango on BBC Radio 5.

Jeff Tarango has made an interesting point about the match tomorrow.

 Murray played his semi-final with the roof open and Federer played with it closed. Tarango also said Federer may prefer the roof closed as it’s more like an indoor court. So the weather could have a big effect on the match.

I watched the match today, and both players were very different after the rain break, when the roof was closed.

There could be a case for not changing the position of the roof, once a match starts.

So how do the Welsh handle their roof at the Millenium stadium in Cardiff? This extract from a report here, shows it not all plain sailing.

The French coach’s stance led Wales coach Warren Gatland to demand Six Nations power-brokers change tournament rules and back Wales over the issue of the roof.

As it stands, both participating teams have to be in agreement for the roof to be closed.

If they cannot agree, it stays open unless there are exceptional weather conditions and the match is in danger of being postponed.

“If it’s our stadium and we have the ability to open and close the roof, then maybe we should be the team that decides,” said Gatland.

“I would hate to think that on Saturday, if it is pouring down with rain and we’ve got the chance to close the roof that we don’t.

But the row was because it interfered with a French player-tracking system, that seems to be a bit close to the rules to me.

It strikes me though that the fairest system, is that in any sport, if the roof is closed at the start it should stay closed and vice-versa.

July 8, 2012 - Posted by AnonW | Sport | France, Rugby, Tennis