By Tony Fairbairn At Wimbledon
- Tennis players were asked during Wimbledon which rule changes that they would make in a bid to modernise the sport
LONDON, ENGLAND – Tennis have players have been debating what rule changes they would make to tennis as the sport continues to try and modernise itself for the future.
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Every sport is continuing to modernise itself and Tennis is no different as the ATP, WTA and ITF constantly look for new and innovative ways to improve the sport. Whether that’s making Grand Slam draws bigger in the past or using Hawkeye Live now, Tennis has always adapted to the times.
In other recent examples Patrick Mouratoglou has constantly looked for ways to improve the sport with his Ultimate Tennis Showdown. The event includes a number of wacky rules during matches which most of the contests are timed.
Mouratoglou recently said that it’s an innovative event that can give Grand Slams the options to innovate the sport for the future.
“We’re going to do everything we can to get young people to come, obviously,” Mouratoglou told Eurosport at the end of last year.
“And I think it’s an innovation in the sense that we intend to let the audience express themselves completely, which is absolutely not the case in the classic tournaments. Because the things you hear the most are ‘shhhh, please be quiet’.
“We’re going to do the opposite and we’re going to encourage people to express all their emotions because, in fact, for me, sport is pure emotion, and I think that players are capable of playing in noise. They are just not used to it.
“It’s not about distorting tennis. I think there are maybe one or two things that could be added to the ATP or the Grand Slams that I think would be in the direction of history, and I think it would be positive for the game.”
The event has had mixed reactions as not everyone necessarily believes what Mouratoglou is saying is necessarily true. However the ATP haven’t been afraid to try new things as is evident with the Next Gen Finals in Milan.
The rules for the event in Italy have included no lets, no Ad-scoring, a video review system and a quicker shot clock. Furthermore the ATP have trialled off-court coaching on the main tour as well as implementing Hawkeye Live across the tour from 2025.
It’s clear from a commercial point of view tennis wants to continue to bring new fans in especially given their new Netflix documentary ‘Break Point.’ This use of innovation could mean that the sport could soon be abandoning the traditionalist fans in favour of the younger generation as the sport looks to adapt with the times once again as it has done in the past.
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Players debate rule changes
So how do tennis players feel about the Tennis entering the next phase as the sport looks to continue it’s innovation? Well some of the players were asked during Wimbledon about if they could change one real in Tennis what it would be and here are some of the solutions they came up with.
Shortening matches and draws
The most vocal person about potential rule changes was Victoria Azarenka as the former Grand Slam champion speaking positively about innovation and growing the sport. The former Australian Open champion acknowledged the improvement in changing traditions from Wimbledon after they changed the rule about the female players having to wear all-white.
However surprisingly Azarenka also recommended that shortening matches may bring new fans in and said this should be part of Tennis’ aim to grow the sport.
“Honestly, for me, the important part is, to grow our sport, is to be able to have a bit more predictability with the scheduling that it’s going to be easier for people to follow,” Azarenka stated.
“So I feel like if that takes maybe to shorten the matches a little bit and have more, when people come, like, okay, I come to the match, it’s going to be from hour and a half to two hours, and then the switch. So I feel like that will bring a little bit more marketing opportunities, and it will help grow our sport. I know people say, well, lose the five sets and the marathon matches? It’s a debatable thing, but from a business standpoint, from growing our sport, I feel like it could be a pretty good one.
“I appreciate the non full-white rule for the girls. I think that was an important step. I think that’s very thoughtful. I don’t need to change that. I think the traditions are good, but we do want to innovate sometimes, so I think with the rule of scheduling, there will be couple of things that could be adjusted. For me, that would be that one.”
On a similar note, one of Mouratoglou’s players in the form of Dane Holger Rune suggested that shorter matches would be more intense and would be more engaging for the fans. In particular Rune suggested eliminating Deuces in tennis’ bid to shorten matches.
“No-ad scoring at 40 all,” Rune suggested when asked what rule he would change.
“To make it, like, more interesting for the fans I think. There’s more exciting points. Also it will shorten the matches, which is also better for the fans. Make it more, like, intense.”
Agreeing with Azarenka and Rune is semi-finalist Elina Svitolina with the Ukrainian not only suggesting shorter matches but also shorter draws. Svitolina hinted that the idea behind it is that tournaments finish quickly so that players have time to recover at home for the next tournament.
“Probably would be like smaller draws, so then the tournaments are going a bit quicker,” Svitolina said.
“Because obviously, you know, the tournaments are one week or sometimes two weeks like Grand Slams. Somehow the scoring maybe system. Yeah, just then we would get a chance to go back home a bit quicker, you know. So yeah, shorter matches probably, something like that.”
Specific times for matches
Speaking of scheduling one idea that former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu had was to specify times of matches after the first match. The Canadian said it can be hard to prepare for a match and it’s not good from an athlete’s perspective if there is no specific times set for matches as it can be unpredictable when each match will take place.
“You know how there is like “followed by,” if there is a time frame after each match, even just 15 minutes, just to have that warmup so you don’t have to like stop and go,” Andreescu explained.
“And, you know, sometimes it will go in three sets, or I mean, now, four sets, five sets. Having that on-and-off feeling is not good at all. It’s very tiring and time-consuming when, in reality, maybe we can just have even 10 minutes at the end, after the match you have 10 minutes to warm up. That’s sad, I think.”
Consistent tennis balls
One of the major topics around every tournament is the tennis balls as they can change from tournament to tournament. Some players prefer heavier ones while others want faster and lighter tennis balls to work with given the lack of pace on some of the courts.
Grigor Dimitrov found it tough to answer the question about rule changes but did admit it would be nice to have the same tennis balls at each tournament.
“I think the general answer is the tennis balls,” Dimitrov said.
“Everyone wants to play with the same tennis ball. Other than that, I think we already are going through so many changes, plus the past years with everything that has been happening around. So we already go through I think enough changes, so I like things the way they are at the moment. Yeah, for me I think that would probably be one of the things.”
Grunting
Finally the last word goes to two-time champion Petra Kvitova who gave a comedic response to the question. Kvitova would like people to stop grunting which has been a topic amongst fans of the game for a long time.
“I think we should stop having the noises with the screaming when the people are playing, I think.”
Whatever the future holds for tennis, it will certainly come with its obstacles as traditionalists amongst tennis will continue to question future innovations. However for now tennis is only at its experimental stage with implementation of new technology and ideas seemingly a few years away, so enjoy the traditional side of tennis while it’s still here.
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