The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 5 April 2017
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Sport Tennis
Tennis planning revolution to speed up the game
E XC LU S I V E
Proposals for shorter
sets and faster matches
ATP wants to attract
fans and TV companies
By Charlie Eccleshare
Sets of first to four games, suddendeath deuce points and no service
lets could all be trialled this year as
part of a series of reforms to revolutionise tennis.
The Association of Tennis Professionals board will vote in the
coming days on the proposed
changes, which are set to be roadtested at November’s inaugural
Next Gen Finals in Milan.
The ATP confirmed last year that
the tournament, which is contested
by the world’s top eight singles
players aged 21 and under, would
be used as a testing ground for new
rules, and it can now be revealed
what is up for discussion as the
sport looks to follow Twenty20
cricket by introducing a shorter
form of the game.
In-game alterations being debated include no service lets being
played and the introduction of a
sudden-death deuce point, where
the receiver chooses which side the
server serves from, a rule already
enforced at doubles events outside
the grand slams. This would mean a
maximum of only one deuce per
game and an end to ‘advantage’
points for either player.
Mooted format reforms include
changing matches from best of
three sets of first-to-six games to
best of five sets of first-to-four
games. The logic is that doing so
would dramatically increase the
proportion of key games in a match,
and reduce the lull period that can
take place at the start of sets.
To further reduce ‘dead time’,
discussion is being given to having
a clock visible to supporters and the
umpire during the warm-up to ensure the players do not exceed the
allocated 10 minutes.
The clock may also then remain
in sight during the match to prevent players from taking more than
the allocated 25 seconds (or 20 seconds at grand slams) between
points. Rafael Nadal is one of the
players who has consistently taken
longer than permitted, a habit
Roger Federer described as “not
cool” three years ago. There is the
school of thought, though, that says
discretion should be applied to the
rule, especially in particularly gruelling conditions.
The possible reforms are an attempt to shorten the length of
matches and make the sport as attractive as possible to supporters
and television companies, without
losing the essence of the sport.
There is even an acceptance
among those involved that many
events are too long for fans. Britain’s Davis Cup captain, Leon
Smith, for instance, favours reducing Davis Cup singles rubbers from
best of five to best of three sets, a
reform to be voted on at the ATP annual meeting in the summer.
“That would be better for the
supporters,” he said. “For kids to
come and watch two best-of-fiveset singles on a Friday or Sunday
can be too much. Even diehard
tennis fans find nine or 10 hours
pretty tough. It makes a lot of
sense.”
Were the trialled changes successful in Milan, consideration
would be given to rolling them out
at ATP tournaments in the next
couple of years – though any plans
to do so are in their infancy.
The need for tennis to evolve and
stay relevant has been brought into
sharp relief by the England and
Wales Cricket Board’s plans to revise the already revolutionary
Twenty20 format and the proposed
changes to golf that would bring
about the sport’s biggest set of rule
changes in 100 years.
Attempts are already in place to
launch a tennis equivalent of
Twenty20. As of yet, they have either proved unsuccessful or are
only just starting out, such as the
International
Premier
Tennis
League and ‘Fast4’ first-to-fourgame sets used at the Hopman Cup
exhibition event in January.
Tie Break Tens – a first-to-10points tie-break – hopes to become
more of a regular fixture on the calendar, with events in 2015 and 2016,
and one scheduled for Madrid in
May including Stan Wawrinka and
Garbine Muguruza.
The ultimate aim of Tie Break
Tens is to have a stream of competitions to be run alongside the ATP
Tour, with one-day tournaments
held on the eve of the main events
at the same or nearby venues.
British No 2 Dan Evans told The
Daily Telegraph that he welcomed a
discussion around tennis’s future.
New balls Reforms that could be trialled
No lets on serves
If a serve hits the net and lands
in, the point would continue
– instead of a let being called
and the point replayed.
Break time: Rafael Nadal regularly
takes too long between games
Four-game sets
Rather than playing best of
three sets to six games, matches
would become best of five sets
to four games.
Sudden-death deuce points
When a game gets to deuce, there
would be one final point to
decide the game. There would be
no ‘advantage’ point for either
player.
Clock
There would be a visible clock to
prevent the players going over
the allotted time during the
warm-up and between points.