“Such a joke I’m in disbelief”;”Want to get rid of doubles specialists” – Tennis fans incensed by new proposed ATP rules aimed at speeding up the game

The proposed changes to the ATP rules, which will be tested in the doubles draw at this year’s Madrid Open, sparked a heated debate among tennis fans on social media.

According to journalist James Gray, players have been notified that a set of changes will be discussed at the upcoming ATP Player’s Council meeting this week. If approved, these changes will be implemented in Madrid and will primarily focus on increasing the pace of the game. This includes eliminating sit-downs in the first set and implementing a shorter serve clock after short rallies.

In contrast to the usual 25-second serve time, players will now have only 15 seconds to serve if the previous rally was completed in less than three shots. Additionally, doubles events will be modified to better accommodate singles players, potentially disadvantaging doubles players.

If the entry system is approved, singles pairings will receive 13 of the 32 doubles slots and will have a later entry date than specialist doubles teams. This sparked controversy among fans on social media, who believed that the ATP intentionally aims to eliminate doubles tennis players.

Despite tennis’ apparent desire to speed up the game by eliminating sit downs and implementing shorter serve clocks, fans were shocked by the sport’s trend of using increasingly slower courts each year.

“Why is tennis so obsessed with “speeding up the game” yet at the same time slowing down courts because “longer rallies are more entertaining” . Can’t have it both ways… this feels pretty shit for doubles players,”one fan said on Reddit.

“They already get less prize money (and points at these events now too, except for finals) – if most of the calendar is now getting taken up by these dragged out 1000’s and half the slots are reserved for singles players….and there’s no other ATP events on a the same time – seems like a good way to just kill off doubles specialists,”they added.

Fans were dissatisfied with the high number of slots given to singles players in doubles, as they believed it resulted in them using doubles as a mere practice instead of approaching it with the same level of seriousness and respect as singles matches.

“Revamped entry system to suit singles players better”is such a joke I’m in disbelief,”another fan stated.

“I don’t understand why they want to basically get rid of doubles specialists, these are the ones that actually take doubles seriously not like singles players from which many play doubles just to test courts and practice,”one fan tweeted.

The following are the responses from fans:

“ATP Under Fire: British Coach Criticizes Doubles Controversy at Indian Wells”

BNP Paribas Open 2024 - Day 13 — BNP Paribas Open 2024 – Day 13

During the Indian Wells Masters tournament this year, British tennis coach Calvin Betton criticized the ATP for the withdrawal of several all-singles pairings from the doubles competition without even playing a match.

Betton criticized the present system as “flawed”and strongly criticized the men’s tennis organization for neglecting doubles specialists and favoring singles players.

“You have doubles players ranked inside the top 35 in the world who can’t play in Masters tournaments, and can’t get any higher because they don’t have access to the higher ranking point events. It’s a totally broken system and you’re happy to let it drag on. Sort it,”Betton said.

“The difference between players ranked 50 and 25 in singles is 415 points. The same difference in doubles 1415 points. It’s almost impossible for a doubles player to break inside the top 30 with your current entry system. It’s a broken system and isn’t a meritocracy,”he added.