E-Paper
Nadal staunchly opposes plans to change match format
BEIJING: Rafael Nadal slammed changes being mulled by tennis governing bodies to shorten matches and make them more TV-friendly, saying Sunday that the move goes
BEIJING: Rafael Nadal slammed changes being mulled by tennis governing bodies to shorten matches and make them more TV-friendly, saying Sunday that the move goes against the sport’s “values”.
“The kind of matches that stay on (in) the memory and on the history of our sport are a little bit long matches and dramatic matches that become emotional,” Nadal told reporters in Beijing as he prepares for this week’s China Open.
Women’s tennis boss Steve Simon told AFP last week the WTA was considering introducing super tie-breakers and no-ad scoring for singles matches.
The potential changes mirror the still-controversial rule shift made to non-Grand Slam doubles a decade ago.
The new format would create shorter matches that are more predictable in length, making them easier for broadcasters to accommodate.
“If you want to change the values of the sport, maybe yes,” the 30-year-old Spaniard said. “Tennis has values that we need to follow, in my opinion.”
Simon said the shift was necessary to accommodate the shortening attention span of audiences — another point the former world number one took umbrage with.
“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,” Nadal said.
“You need to put everything together to create a great show, to create a show (so) that the people emotionally feel involved in the match.”
MURRAY TARGETS NO 1 RANKING
Andy Murray is hoping to cap his strong season with a late-season run at Novak Djokovic’s long-held No 1 ranking.
Djokovic is not in the Chinese capital after an elbow injury picked up earlier in the season forced him to withdraw.
If Murray can scoop his fifth title of the season at the China Open, he would close the 4,695 point gap between him and Djokovic to 1,000 points.
“I think obviously trying to reach number one is a goal,” Murray said. “It’s something I would like to do for the first time, which is maybe more of a motivation for me than some of the guys that have been there before.”
