The tennis rule has come under scrutiny at Wimbledon, with world number four Felix Auger-Aliassime branding it 'disgraceful'.
Canadian star Auger-Aliassime clashed with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina towards the end of their last-16 match at the All England Club.
Auger-Aliassime was leading by two sets to one and serving for the match when his Spanish opponent called for a medical timeout, receiving attention to his ankle but not seeming hampered by the issue when play resumed.
The Canadian star appeared briefly rattled by the timeout but regained his composure to dominate the fifth set and advance to the quarter-finals.
In his post-match press conference, Auger-Aliassime expressed frustration at the incident, accusing Davidovich Fokina of exploiting a 'disgrace of a rule'.
'The interactions between him and I, I don't want to get into that,' Auger-Aliassime said.
'If he wants to come in here and talk about it, he can. But he knows my opinion. That's one of these things that I have differences with people in my life on tour. They know what I think. That's the most important.'
Auger-Aliassime went on to say that he thinks the medical timeout rule has to change, citing that a player will use it to their advantage as long as the rule remains in place.
'I think that it's very simple. If you're hurt bad, or whatever you're hurt, while the game's going on of your opponent, in the middle of the game, the opponent is serving, the shot clock is on, basically when you're hurt bad, you're forfeiting every point until you can call the physio,' he explained.
Auger-Aliassime also stated that he believes players should only be able to take a medical timeout before serving, not during their opponent's service game.
'If the physio helps you recover, you play your service game. If you're hurt bad, then you retire, obviously. But to stop in the middle of an opponent's service game, and to be able to call the physio, I think that's a disgrace of a rule,' he said.
Former American tennis star Steve Johnson has also criticized the rule, saying that it allows players to receive medical timeouts before or during their opponent's service game.
'Felix has been playing great and he hadn't been broken in this tournament until that little kerfuffle late in the fourth set,' Johnson said.
'He was serving for the match, trying to close it out, and Fokina hurts his ankle or foot and limps off to get some treatment. He ices Felix pretty good and ultimately gets the break and wins the tie-breaker before Felix did what he needed to do.'
Johnson agreed with Auger-Aliassime that the medical timeout rule should be changed, saying that players should only be able to take a timeout before serving, not during their opponent's service game.
'I disagree with the rule as well, you should never take an injury timeout while your opponent is serving or while they are serving. You should always take it before your own serve,' Johnson said.
Johnson also expressed understanding for Auger-Aliassime's frustration with the rule, stating that he completely understands why the Canadian star is annoyed.
