Carlos Ramos was honored today by the Portuguese Tennis Federation after retiring from a career as a chair umpire. He played his last match in the final of the 8th edition of the Estoril Open, won by Casper Rudd last Sunday. The Portuguese judge admitted that his “heart is still in the chair”, but the future will be as a judge-referee.
At the age of 52 (born in Lisbon, in 1971), the Portuguese referee, based in Lyon and without social media, put his career in perspective. Glasses whistled for the first time. It started from a vulnerability, a reflection of capabilities. He was selected to referee Roland Garros and at that time he was thinking about retiring (May 28 to June 11), because after all Carlos Ramos is an unavoidable figure in world tennis, but his appointment for the final of the Portuguese tournament helped him realize it was home I wanted to finish.
And it wasn’t a favor they did you. The two people responsible for deciding who would referee in the final – Carlos Sanches and Rogério Santos, also from Portugal – only found out on Sunday morning, the day of the final, that he would withdraw when he informed them that he had lost his mother and sister. to enter the court for goodbye.
He was only the third Portuguese to referee the decisive game in the history of the only Portuguese ATP, after Jorge Dias and Carlos Sanches. He was the first to direct the finals of the four tournaments that make up the Grand Slam – Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open – a feat only Alison Hughes has managed to match to this day. He was in the final of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup (current Billie Jean King Cup).
“Unfortunately” remains unable to talk to Serena about the incident
Despite making history in Portuguese and world tennis, the world seems to better remember those furious seconds of Serena Williams, after losing to young Naomi Osaka in the 2018 US Open final. The North American called him “liar” and “thief” after being warned that he had been instructed by his coach during the game, something that was not allowed at the time.
Later, the coach admitted the foul and the player acknowledged that she did not have a correct attitude, but she did not forget the insult of the Portuguese referee who was removed from every encounter involving the Williams sisters. Also because he had had an identical problem with his sister Venus.
The famous Nick Kyrgios, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic also felt firsthand the severity of Carlos Ramos, who “unfortunately” is still unable to talk about the incident with Serena. because he is still an employee of the ITF (International Tennis Federation) and is still required to abide by a very strict code of conduct for referees, which prohibits him from talking about players.
“I’ve had some really good moments, but also some bad ones. The media consequences when we make a mistake are not the same as when we get it right. I’ve made less good decisions, but always thinking I’m doing the best I can do. Respect everyone’s game, folks. The ATP has a very strict rule about not being able to speak…” he complained, breaking the rule only to say that the player who marked him the most was John McEnroe, although I never whistled at him.
At his farewell, he recalled several times his friend and idol Jorge Dias, who “made him dream of becoming a referee at a time when no one dreamed of being a tennis referee”, after a failed career in football as a goalkeeper “because he was too short” and in tennis, “because he was a weak tennis player, with technique, but no talent”.
“Of course” there were matches in which he “whistled badly and influenced the result”, but refereeing a tennis match is “hanging on a tightrope”, under pressure and subject to questionable decisions like any referee in any other sport.
Source: DN
