Tennis world loses it over 'stupid' outfit ruling at French Open
The junior World No.1's match was held-up after a bizarre intervention.
Tennis junior World No.1 Rodrigo Pacheco has been forced to swap shirts with his coach after the umpire deemed his outfit was breaking the rules regarding logos at Roland Garros. The 18-year-old junior entered the French Open as one of the favourites, but his match against 15-year-old Darwin Blanch got off to a horror start when his warm-up was interrupted from officials.
Pacheco took to court, but only moments out from the start of play, a court supervisor approached the Mexican and deemed the 18-year-old had too many sponsors on his shirt. According to French Open rules, only two sponsors have be represented on the apparel.
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This caused a delay and Pacheco raced over to his coach, took off his shirt in front of the fans, and swapped it. However, the supervisors deemed this shirt still had an issue.
Tournament directors then provided Pacheco with a neutral shirt from his sponsor Lacoste so he could start his match, which has already been delayed. The moment was met with an applause from the audience after the bizarre rule interpretation.
Tennis is full of bizarre rules with each grand slam implementing a different set. And fans reacted with bewilderment at the delay after yet another bizarre tennis rule.
The young Mexican is sure to avoid the same mistake when he enters the grand slams in the main draw.
What an odd rule
— AJ (@ayejayy86) June 5, 2023
Size or number? They're big ones...
— Kelami (@kelamiata) June 6, 2023
Why so many weird rules on tennis?
— Koko (@BerlianaMudrika) June 5, 2023
Stupid rule considering Such an expensive sport
— Daniela B (@danielaB31) June 5, 2023
Nothing new………the ATP rule book is explicit in how many patches and exactly how large they are allowed to be. These rules have been around for decades
— Michel Loutchaninoff 🇫🇷 🇷🇺 (@Frussian61) June 5, 2023
Teen prodigy Darwin Blanch stuns tennis world
Despite entering as the World No.1, the delay may have rattled the Mexican having gone down in straight sets to Blanch. After the match, Blanch was thrilled to have advanced after producing one of his best wins at just 15 years old.
“Obviously it feels great as he’s No.1 in the world and a great player, but most importantly, I played really well and believed in myself from the moment I stepped on the court which is very important when you’re the underdog," Blanch said. "A bit of nerves in the last game but overall I really played great.”
15-year-old Darwin Blanch(USA) defeats ITF Junior No. 1 and top seed Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico in opening round @rolandgarros.
Blanch, who trains in Spain, is the reigning Kalamazoo 16s champion. pic.twitter.com/V5yKajf5tk— Colette Lewis (@zootennis) June 5, 2023
Blanch is considered a US teen prodigy in the tennis world. He currently trains out of the Ferrero Academy and admitted it has helped him feel more comfortable on clay. “I’m getting more time on clay but honestly I prefer hard courts over clay, but I’m playing really well on clay now and slowly getting better,” he added when asked about his preferences.
The 15-year-old was playing a set against World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz earlier this year when the Spaniard went down injured ahead of the Australian Open.
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