Call them the odd couple of ATP Officiating: Tom Barnes, the poker-faced former marine who would maintain his personal in a stare down with Clint Eastwood, and Thomas Karlberg, the mild-mannered softly spoken Swede. The career-long mates and colleagues had been each honoured for his or her lifetime of service in December as a part of the ATP Officiating division’s year-end conferences in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Barnes, who lives in Fresno, California, labored his final occasion on the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals. Karlberg stepped away after officiating in Basel in October this yr.
At first look, they appear as completely different as topspin and slice. But peel again the floor layer and also you’ll discover an underlying dichotomy that connects them.
“Tom is a very, very good friend,” Karlberg said. “He may scare most of the people around him, but that’s just on the surface. If you look under his skin a little bit he is a golden-hearted person and very fun to be around.”
Similarly, Barnes mentioned that first impressions of the genial Karlberg don’t paint the complete image. “He’s most likely the strongest one out of all of us despite the fact that he doesn’t look or act like he’s,” Barnes mentioned. “He’s a really sturdy character, vital thinker, pleasant man and good to be round.”
Barnes’ profession has spanned the delivery of the ATP Tour in 1990 by to its latest occasions, together with the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals. Photo: Getty Images.
Barnes labored his first occasion in Guam in 1990 and accomplished his event report on three laminated items of paper. Known by many as ‘Baaaaarnes‘ after being given the moniker by former World No. 4 Brad Gilbert, the Californian mentioned that over time he bonded with a number of the sport’s extra prickly gamers.
“I are inclined to get alongside higher with the tough gamers than the not-so-difficult gamers,” he mentioned. “Why, I don’t know. Maybe it’s due to my marine corps background. It’s all private relationships.
“We have one aim in thoughts and that is to supply good tennis. The Supervisor is in command of all the things and is the ultimate authority on website. The most difficult a part of the job is to maintain all the things in stability and make judgments when it’s essential. I at all times attempt to contemplate what’s finest for the event, gamers, and spectators.”
Karlberg was a Supervisor for the Men’s International Professional Tennis Council and Tournament Director of the Bastad ATP occasion earlier than becoming a member of ATP in 1991, the yr after the Tour was fashioned. Having labored alongside hundreds of gamers from Jimmy Connors to Pete Sampras to Carlos Alcaraz, Karlberg mentioned that to protect impartiality he can be pleasant to gamers, however wouldn’t search to grow to be their mates.
“It’s like a circus with everybody travelling round, gamers, coaches, officers, and everybody else, so it’s inevitable that you just develop relationships, however you need to be clear the place the road is,” Karlberg mentioned. “Of course we could have pleasant conversations with gamers and their groups, however we wouldn’t exit for breakfast or dinner.”
“Every Supervisor and Chair Umpire currently working for ATP has been mentored by Tom and Thomas,” mentioned Ali Nili, ATP Senior Director, Officiating Administration. “They are an institution in Officiating and there will never be another Tom Barnes or Thomas Karlberg. They will be truly missed, but their legacy will live forever.”
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While components of the job have advanced by the continued development of expertise, Barnes mentioned that the important thing high quality he appears for in good Supervisors has not modified in his 30 years within the job.
“Common sense is the primary factor,” he mentioned. “We continually need to make selections and a few of them are fairly important, like defaulting a man. You can simply make the unsuitable alternative in both route. You need to have a mindset that may have a look at incidents and shut out all the opposite noise and take into consideration what the state of affairs deserves.
“The most difficult factor is to maintain all the things in stability and make judgments when it’s essential. Always try to contemplate what’s finest for the event, gamers, and spectators.”
Karlberg added: “Knowing tips on how to cope with folks can also be essential. To be calm when one thing goes unsuitable, to take heed to different folks, present respect to the gamers and the folks you’re employed with.
“And there’s no substitute for having full information of the principles. When you’re known as out on courtroom within the warmth of the second with hundreds of spectators wanting on, you’ll be able to’t attain for the rulebook.”
Thomas Karlberg sends Rafael Nadal again to the locker room throughout a rain delay on the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. Photo: Getty Images
Both males have been privileged to take a seat courtside for hundreds of matches, watching the sport’s biggest champions up shut. But they don’t view matches in the identical method as followers.
“It is a pleasant perk of the job, however I don’t watch tennis like my spouse does,” Barnes mentioned. “I’m it from a technical standpoint and probably not from the inventive stage. I’m ensuring the ballkids are doing what they’re presupposed to do, linespeople, chair umpire are doing issues appropriately and the gamers aren’t misbehaving.”
With each males spending a long time on the highway away from their households and houses, Karlberg and Barnes paid tribute to their wives, Eva and Debbie, for the sacrifices they made that allowed them to pursue their careers with the ATP.
“I didn’t realise once I began this job what my life would grow to be,” Karlberg mentioned. “I used to be like, ‘Okay, I’ll attempt that’. Now I’ve had greater than 30 years with the ATP. My spouse has at all times supported me to do that; she realised I actually cherished to work in tennis. I thank her very a lot. I realise that she has performed a hell of job elevating three children and dealing on the identical time. I’ve her to thank.”
Barnes mentioned of his spouse, Debbie: “She’s my rock. We made the choice collectively that I’d pursue this as a full-time profession. I did it just a little later in life, our son was already off in faculty so no younger ones at house to fret about, which can have made it just a little simpler.”
Both males are additionally grateful for the friendships they made on the Tour, in what Roger Federer as soon as known as his “second household”.
“The relationships that I’ve developed, the buddies that I’ve made is one thing I’ll at all times treasure,” Karlberg mentioned.
Barnes added: “With my colleagues, everybody, travelling and seeing completely different international locations and assembly completely different folks, I realized quite a bit from that. It’s like we reside collectively; in lots of instances guys spend extra time with one another than their very own household, particularly at first while you work 30 weeks in a yr.”
Now each males can get pleasure from loads of household time at house.