I’ve experienced a crying child on an airplane (sucks, but I get it), and a crying child at a movie theater (it’d better be a kid’s movie, is all I’m saying). But a crying child at a pro tennis match? That’s new.
During her match against Aryna Sabalenka at the Cincinnati Open this week, Emma Raducanu paused to gesture to the umpire about a distraction. It turns out the distraction was a crying child, so the umpire asked, “It’s a child, do you want me to send a child out of the stadium?” To that, it appears that Raducanu gestured, “Yes,” and a small chorus of “yes” can be heard from fans in the stadium, as well. You can watch a video of the incident here.
Now, some things to bear in mind: Unlike most sports, tennis crowds are expected to stay quiet during play so as not to distract the players. Players can request that distracting fans be removed, but usually the umpire will take care of it before it gets to that point. It’s also worth noting that it was HOT in Cincinnati, with temps going over 90 degrees… and anyone who’s ever been to the Midwest knows that it’s gonna be a humid heat, too. In fact, some of the players even passed out from the high temperatures.
So it’s kinda not surprising that the crowd was cheering for the child to be removed. The poor kid was probably sweltering, and bored to boot!
Some reports claim that the child had been crying for about 10 minutes on and off before Raducanu said anything.
And stadiums often have air-conditioned — or at least shaded with fans and misters — areas to hang out when it’s super hot.
So basically, this whole thing has turned into a discussion of where, exactly, it’s appropriate to bring a small child, and when your responsibility as a parent comes to remove them when they’re distracting others.
Kids are gonna cry. It happens! And parents shouldn’t have to feel confined to their homes because of it. But we do have to pick and choose what types of activities we bring our kids along for, and we do have to know when to throw in the towel.
However, some are calling out the umpire’s reaction to Raducanu’s request, which seemed to have an air of “what do you want me to do?” to it. From a tennis fan’s or player’s perspective, it should have been handled before this point!
Anyway, it feels like all of this circles back to the way that childcare has become outrageously expensive in a country that provides zero paid parental leave, but maybe that’s just me. 🤔