U.S. Open 2023 - Top 5 Rallies

[@adamwilliams4489]

I hope Rodriguez plays another 10 years

[@ralphbuschmann740]

Sugarman Rodriguez

[@georgekrumm1857]

A let request like Khan's at 0:55 should result in a conduct warning along with no let. That's just not a legitimate attempt to play the ball.

[@zhengheng8421]

What are you on

[@logx-ow1us]

He’s just tired. It’s understandable after a long rally.

[@simesaid]

While I can understand where the other responses are coming from, I'm inclined to agree with you. Not because of Khan, or even this point in general, because there are much, much worse examples of "hopeful" let requests by PSA players that happen every day, but because of the broader implications that such requests hold. Namely, there are clear implications for the future viability of squash as a spectator (TV) sport. This is because of all the challenges that squash faces to draw new viewers to the game, there can be no greater impediment than the inscrutable, subjective, and (for those not immediately familiar with the game) utterly bewildering concept of the "let" call. And this rally gives a prime example. Two players are fighting their hearts out in this point, they're using the whole court and displaying great racket skills and simply phenomenal athleticism, and then, after some dogged defensive work, Khan is eventually outplayed in the front forehand corner, and can't reach the drop. Now, if this were ANY OTHER SPORT THAN SQUASH then the point would be over, you know, because _the point was over!_ But, as this _is_ squash, then just because somebody won a point it doesn't mean that they've _actually_ won the point. I mean, they _might_ have won the point, but then they might _not_ have won the point also, and perhaps it was actually the player that _lost_ the point that _won_ the point, or, as equally likely, perhaps despite one player _appearing_ to have won the point, maybe in reality _neither_ player won the point, and so everyone just has to go back and _replay_ the point from the beginning. Where, of course, exactly the same outcome could just as likely happen again! Now, even for viewers that _are_ fully conversant with the arcane mysteries of the let system in squash, then having such points as the one here end with the referee, rather than one of the players, deciding the winner can be frustrating at the best of times, but, for the uninitiated, it simply looks ridiculous. To put it bluntly, squash looks like a stupid sport. And _nobody_ wants to invest their time in a stupid sport. Nobody. And so, it is for this reason that, although let decisions, given their safety implications, are obviously a crucial aspect of the sport and cannot be done away with, PSA policymakers have to do everything that they possibly can to diminish the number of let calls that are made during tournament play. Khan didn't do anything outrageously contemptible here, in fact, he just did what comes naturally as a squash player - which is when _you_ can't win the point, why not ask the referee to do so _for_ you? As I've already said, I'm not picking on Khan in any way, and I probably even may have asked the question myself had I been in his position, this is just a comment on let calls in the sport in the more general sense. We all do it, yet it's hard to argue that any of us, either the players _or_ the spectators, benefit from it. And perhaps, as the above commenter suggested, some form of stronger disincentive is required to break us all out of our bad habits. Perhaps we need help to quit our "let" call addiction.