Will change in intrinsic rules bring more excitement to tennis? – Tennis Special
Evolution in the rules of every sport has been going on to bring more excitement and charm to the game. What about we change the basic rules of tennis? How entertaining the newer version of the sport will be? Let us have a look
at a few ideas.
In the modern era of tennis, we observe that the serve in the game has become the most powerful weapon of players. It is perhaps the most vital criticism the game faces that such big serves reduce the lengths of rallies, mitigating
them to two or three shots, and not providing ample opportunity to players to exhibit their skills. What to do about it? Let us start with a suggestion of moving the service line closer to the net an inch or two. We see that mostly aces land right on the line
or an inch inside of it. Bringing the service line closer will make the players to add more spin on the ball in order to bring it down swiftly and they have to cut the speed on it for such purposes. This will surely bridge the gap between the pace of the first
serve and the second one, hence bringing longer rallies and more excited games.
What about the tie breaker, the most thrilling part of a match? Most of the tennis fans love to watch a close tie breaker in a game as the degree of the involvement and thrill rises to the top level during it. But don’t you think
it is too early to bring in a tie breaker to settle a set at six games all? Will the amusement not be more if some sets are extended to seven all or even eight and nine games all in big matches like the Grand Slam?
Let us go forward with these radical changes suggestions of ours. Don’t restrict the fans to be totally silent while the rallies are going on. The crowd must be silent when a player serves the ball but they should be cheering for
their players and even give a short clap during thrilling rallies filled with great shots. Let them make noises of praise when Nadal turns an apparent winner into a smash to one of the corners of the court or when Fedrer sprints to his side and extend his
long backhand to counter-reply the opponents’ belted shots. Some of you might be thinking that the fans already do this. Well they certainly do but they always know that at the end of the rally the referee would make an announcement to them demanding a pin
drop silence so that the players can concentrate. Fans should be let free to express their jubilance in the game.
Well there is no such logic presented to as why a tennis player cannot play among crowd noises. If a basketball player can blow a free shot among ear popping noises of the audience in the last moments of the game or a cricketer
can belt a six right at the last ball of the innings with deafening noise in the stadium, then what is holding the tennis players back? The other professionals do it because they have become accustomed to loud noises while performing. Let the fans chant and
scream for their players during the rallies as they will enjoy the moments more and the players will adjust according to it. It should be a live arena with fan noises rather than the dead arenas like they look seem these days.
Another radical modification to the game could be the “mulligan shot”, given to players in each set of the match, which allow them to win a point for the second time. The rule basically runs like that a player can have an opportunity
to take back and re-play any point in the set which he had poorly played. Imagine a player needs a single point to win the match and he gets it but the opponent forces him to play that particular point once more, using his mulligan shot option. A player should
need to win a set point twice, before he claims the set to his name. Won’t that be a treat for the tennis fans?
Well, we see some tremendous games of tennis with the world finest players competing and exhibiting excellent tennis skills. Change is good. Perhaps the “modifications” may make the Gentleman’s game more thrilling and exhilarating.
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in the article are the writer’s own personal views and have nothing to do with bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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