By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, October 3, 2016

 

"It's about to change things that makes the game more interesting, not about having shorter points," says Rafael Nadal.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Tennis' leaders are proposing a shortened scoring system that would supplant a third set with a super tie break.

Rafael Nadal is not a fan of condensing matches asserting you can't put a clock on quality.

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"If you want to change the values of the sport, maybe yes. But the tennis has values that we need to follow, in my opinion," Nadal told the media in Beijing. "It's clear that all the sports needs an improvements. All the sports needs to improve and adapt to the new things.

"But I am not sure if that's the way, to make the matches quicker, make the timing between points quick, with matches at four games. I think there is a point with other solutions to make the people involved. (It) is not about the scoring, in my opinion. It's about to change things that makes the game more interesting, not about having shorter points."

WTA CEO Steve Simon said he supports no-ad scoring and playing a 10-point super tie break in lieu of a third set in singles to speed up the pace of play.

Pointing to the fact both ATP and WTA doubles matches feature a 10-point tie break instead of a third-set, Simon says the shortened scoring system will make tennis a more attractive sport for television, fans and sponsors.

“The doubles format is where tennis was progressive, at least on the ATP and WTA side, where we’ve gone to two-set matches with no-ad scoring and a super-tiebreak for the third and you can put your clock on those matches, that they don’t go longer than an hour and a half. They’re 60-90 minutes max. And that’s great,” Simon told the media at the Wuhan Open last Friday. “And I think we need to do that with tennis. It will help us with broadcast, it will help us keep people in the seats—you’re much more likely to sit there and watch that match, that’s going to have a lot more action points too, the no-ad scoring creates drama in the middle of the sets, the tiebreaks…

“I think there’s a lot of things that we have to look at in our sport to continue building the interest... When we switched the format for doubles, it wasn’t liked, but it became normalcy."

The International Tennis Federation is also considering limiting Davis Cup matches to best-of-three sets, rather than the current best-of-five-set format.

In the 2012 Australian Open final, Novak Djokovic outlasted Nadal, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7 (5), 7–5 in an epic 5 hour, 53-minute marathon that was the longest Grand Slam final in history.

"By far one of the greatest tennis matches we've ever seen. I have never seen anything like it," Hall of Famer John McEnroe said of that match.

Supporters of a shortened scoring system point attribute mounting player injuries to the physicality of long, grueling matches and argue in order for tennis to grow as a television sport it must move to a more condensed format.

Nadal counters fans can become more emotionally engaged in longer matches and says many of the most memorable matches in tennis history have been extensive battles.

"I think depends. Depends on what you are looking for," Nadal said. "If you are looking for just hitting balls and don't think much, yes. I mean, if you're looking for work little bit more on the longer points, the things that really makes the people involved on a tennis match, probably is a mistake.

"I don't remember no one match in my life, not of me, or tennis in general, that the match finished in one hour. I think is not in the memory of the people, these kind of matches. The kind of matches that stays on the memory and on the history of our sport are a little bit long matches and dramatic matches that become emotional, the physical issues, everything. You need to put everything together to create a great show, to create a show that the people emotionally feels involved on the match.

"I don't know. I don't remember a match that the people remember with just serves and winners and mistakes and short points. I am not sure if the people are looking for that."