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Fans in attendance at tennis events are supposed to remain completely silent while the players serve the ball before each point. They can make some noise once the point has started, though even that is frowned upon by some, but definitely not while a player is serving. The players, on the other hand, can grunt and yell whenever they hit the ball and it’s tolerated, to a point. But what should a fan to do when their small child is crying?
Why do tennis fans have to be quiet?
The reasoning behind fans being told to be quiet during points in a tennis match supposedly is multi-fold. According to We Are Tennis, there are “many reasons why there should be quiet.”
The first reason is because “the noise is a distraction to the people around watching a match.” Another reason is “that players listen to the sound of a ball making contact with the racquet strings to help determine their course of action. And a third reason is because “there is the element of concentration that is compromised.”
Is it really that big of a deal?
An example of this type of interruption occurred on Monday when Emma Raducanu stopped her match against Aryna Sabalenka at the Cincinnati Open to ask the chair umpire to do something about a child crying in the stands.
Raducanu was preparing to serve in the third set of the match that she would end up losing when she paused and looked at the chair umpire. The reason for her stopping was because a child was crying in the stands.
“It’s been like 10 minutes!” Raducanu shouted to the umpire.
“It’s a child!” the umpire replied. “Do you want me to send the child out the stadium?”
While Emma Raducanu shrugged in response, several fans in attendance could be heard comically saying, “Yes.”
As the 22-year-old from British tennis star continued to stare at the umpire as if waiting for a better response, the umpire told her, “I can call in, but we need to continue for the moment.”
RADUCANU IS COMPLAINING BECAUSE A BABY HAS BEEN CRYING FOR THE PAST “10mins” AND SABALENKA IS LOOSING THE EASIEST POINTS.
ABSOLUTE CINEMA. pic.twitter.com/npjTueGVQ0
— Set 1 Game 4 Break Point – NO (-130) (@enanrb) August 11, 2025
Emma Raducanu had another issue with noise
This little kerfuffle wasn’t the only time Emma Raducanu complained about noise during the match, nor was it the only time she was admonished by the chair umpire.
At one point, she got into trouble with the chair umpire for approaching her coach Francisco Roig during the match, according to the Daily Express.
“Emma, you cannot actively approach him and he cannot leave his position. You know that. You cannot have a conversation,” the umpire told her, to which Raducanu complained that she did so because she couldn’t hear him over the loud music in the stadium.
“Then he needs to speak louder but you cannot actively approach him, he cannot leave the position, he needs to stay where he is and you cannot actively go towards him,” the umpire replied. “You cannot actively go at the end of a game especially.”