Alibi

n: An excuse offered by a loser as the reason for his defeat. No sport is immune, but tennis seems to have more than its share of alibiers. "The linesmen were blind," "Nobody can play in that wind," "I didn't get a wink of sleep last night," "My knee is still bothering me from that tumble I took a while back," "I raised a blister midway in the first set," and so forth, ad infinitum and ad nauseum. This virus never seems to have infected Australian or Swedish players, more credit to them.