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The psychological use and abuse of timeouts in professional tennis

Data analysis by a University of Manchester psychologist has confirmed the suspicion that tennis players who take a bathroom break are likely to gain an advantage over their opponent.

In the first ever study of its kind, tennis fan Dr. Liam Blything analyzed the impact of timeouts using data from the world's top 250 players between 2013 and 2023.

Players at this year's Wimbledon Championships will be watching closely how their opponents take a bathroom break, in light of the study.

The paper follows years of speculation by journalists and sports people that the practice amounts to gamesmanship, bestowing an advantage for players taking a bathroom break by disrupting the rhythm of their opponent.

However, proponents of the bathroom break argue that timeouts are a useful and acceptable way to help players reset.

In response, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) introduced a rule for the 2022 season to restrict timeouts to a maximum of three minutes, alongside limitations on when and how often they can be deployed.

In an article in the International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, Dr. Blything found that 71% of time outs were taken when a player lost the previous set.

And in normal circumstances, 33% of players recover the next set after losing the previous one. This, however, rose to 47% if they took a bathroom break.

The data analyzed by Dr. Blything showed there were 1,928 breaks in play in the study period, though when medical and other breaks were accounted for, he was left with 366 bathroom timeouts.

Dr. Blything said, "There has been much argument in the media over recent years about the formalization of gamesmanship in tennis, with the taking of bathroom breaks.

"This study, for the first time, used real data to check the validity of those concerns.

"There is now clear evidence that a well-timed bathroom break in play confers an advantage to the player taking the break by regathering him or herself and disrupting the flow of the opponent."

Dr. Blything also carried out follow-up analyses on the extent to which unforced errors contributed to the forms of points won and lost.

The overall decrease in the opponent's winning shots was offset by an equivalent decrease in the strategist's unforced errors, preserving the proportion observed in the baseline data.

That showed timeout advantage is a combination of both the strategist benefiting from the opportunity to personally reset, and a disruption of the rhythm of the opponent, rather than being disproportionally driven by one player.

Psychological theory also supports the notion that taking a break can confer advantages by interrupting momentum.

Theorists argue an interruption disrupts perceptions associated with positive momentum for players who are on a roll, which is in turn difficult to regain.

The timeout also potentially affords the opportunity for a losing player to refocus from that negative thinking spiral about prospective outcomes, for example, by using self-talk and mental imagery techniques.

Dr. Blything added, "These pioneering findings uniquely inform players and tennis governing bodies about the influence of timeouts and, more broadly, elucidate the role that stoppages can play in sport for altering momentum.

"It would be useful to understand if this effect is relevant in other sports. Snooker players, for example, seem to take a lot of bathroom breaks."

Examples of comments from players:

• Andy Murray on a Stefanos Tsitsipas bathroom break after Murray won the 4th set 2-2 in the 2021 US Open 1st round. He went on to lose 3-2. "It's just disappointing because I feel it influenced the outcome of the match. I'm not saying I necessarily win that match, for sure, but it had influence on what was happening after those breaks." Washington Post
• Roger Federer who took a bathroom break after losing the 4th set 2-2 in the 2017 Australian Open semifinal. He went on to beat Wawrinka 3-2. "I think they're more mental than anything else. I only really did take the timeout because I thought, "He took one already, maybe I can take one for a change." Because I'm not a believer in any way that we should be allowed to take a lot of timeouts. But I took it after the set break. People know I don't abuse the system. I hope it's going to stay that way in the future for me, too." Naharnet.com
• Stefanos Tsitispas, who's opponent Novak Djokovic took a bathroom break after losing 2nd set to make it 0-2 in the 2021 French Open Final. Djokovic recovered to beat Tsitsipas 3-2: "I don't think I changed much, I just kept the same pace. I kept the things that were working for me. He left the court after two sets to love down, and he came back to me like a different player suddenly. I don't know. I have no idea."—Wall Street Journal
• On the same match, Djokovic said, "The bathroom break was the turning point. Sometimes in these kind of circumstances where not much is happening positively for you on the court in terms of tennis and the other guy on the court is dominating the play, sometimes these things are necessary. A little break, a little pep talk, and try to recuperate and re-gather the thoughts and reassemble everything that you have and [counter] your opponent with the best possible game. Maybe it's the experience, maybe it's the toilet break, maybe it's everything combined, but I'm just glad I'm through."