Andre Agassi has always been a rebel when it comes to challenging tennis traditions. During the SW19 semifinal between Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner, the eight-time Grand Slam champion touched upon the most unspoken custom of the sport. Agassi, who was with Andrew Castle in the BBC commentary box, picked up a small moment from the match and pointed out a wider notion: the tradition of apologizing for a lucky net cord should be scrapped altogether.

The moment came when Djokovic won a point off the net cord and, as players almost always do, immediately raised a hand in apology to Sinner. Agassi was unimpressed. “Andrew, can we please rally to get rid of that ‘I apologize for hitting the net cord’? I really would love to see that leave the game,” he said on BBC One’s coverage. 

He then explained his reasoning with the logic of a player who spent his career questioning the sport’s unwritten rules. “That’s just my personal opinion, sorry for digressing. If you hit the net cord and it doesn’t go over, I don’t see the other person apologizing: ‘Bad luck, it didn’t get over’,” he added, pointing out the one-sided nature of a gesture that only ever appears when the ball drops favorably. 

The views the former American world No.1 shared complemented his complex history with the traditions at the venue. Andre Agassi had rebelled against the strict conventions of the tournament back in 1987, and had boycotted the event for three consecutive years (1988-1990), expressing his dissatisfaction with its norms.

“I was a rebel. That’s what I was. I went through my teenage rebellion, and I took issue with any rules that were imposed on this game,” he said during a 2017 appearance on This Morning. “If it was traditional to wear white, I wouldn’t do it. It was more a rebellion than a particular strategy. The colors I don’t mind so much, but there were some other rules around here that I’m not terribly fond of.”

The net cord had already become an unexpected focal point of the semi-finals before Agassi made contact. In the Alexander Zverev vs Arthur Fery showdown, the British wildcard complained to the umpire that several of the German’s serves had clipped the top of the net without being called.

Agassi’s grievance coincided with the same subject, which only reinforced the fact that the detail which players and fans tend to ignore had become a real talking point at the business end of the tournament. And Agassi is far from the first to point out the flaw in the tradition.

The “Sorry, Not Sorry” wave

Players themselves have long admitted the gesture is mostly theatre. Bob Bryan, once put it plainly, saying a player is “never sorry” after a net cord and is “actually glad that you had good fortune.” Two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova reached for a everyday analogy to explain why the wave persists anyway. 

“Typical ‘Sorry, not sorry,'” she said after a match, comparing it to a shop worker in the United States asking a customer how they are. “Do they care how you are? But you’re still polite and you answer. This is the same thing: You’re polite and you put your hand up.”

Not everyone is comfortable performing a remorse they do not feel. Simona Halep admitted the custom sits awkwardly with her despite her upbringing in the sport. “I was taught as a kid that you have to say sorry,” she said. “I’ve thought about this, and I don’t really think it’s fair you have to say sorry; you’re happy you won the point.”

Former US player Steve Johnson went further, saying he only bothers with the apology against friends and otherwise sees no need. “I hit a let-cord winner? So be it. Bummer. Lucky for me. And it’s going to come back the other way. So I don’t need to apologize,” he said.

Sometimes, the problem even occurs when the gesture is not shown. For example, during the 2018 Miami Open, Daniil Medvedev called out Stefanos Tsitsipas for not apologizing after a net cord. This exact situation is the reason why everyone follows the “unsaid rule” and is precisely why Agassi’s proposal to abandon it is unlikely to work.