INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Following his opening win, Rafael Nadal denounced the ATP Tour’s new rules aimed at cracking down on the time allowed between points, calling them a “disaster” and “wrong.”
The 2013 policy relaxed penalties for repeat violations in an effort to encourage enforcement and uniformity of the rule, which stipulates a period of 25 seconds between points.
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Instead of a warning followed by a point penalty, players are warned and then have a serve taken away before being docked a point.
The rule for the four majors, which have a 20-second rule, are unchanged.
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After beating Ryan Harrison on Saturday night, Nadal offered a blistering critique, saying that the rule would limit the ability of players to engage in show-stopping rallies that thrill fans.
“The best points of the season are long rallies and amazing points,” the 11-time Grand Slam champion from Spain said. “With this 25 seconds, you play a long rally and you think you can play another long rally next point? No.”
“The rules go against the great points of tennis,” he added, citing the third set of his 2011 U.S. Open final against Novak Djokovic that featured numerous 30- and 40-shot rallies.
Nadal, one of the slower players on tour because of his ritual-laden quirks, said it is particularly cumbersome in humid climates because of the need to towel off.
“The guy who really accepted this rule was not very smart, in my opinion,” he said.
Athletes are often resistant to change, and certainly Nadal is not alone in resisting the new rules, which were approved with the support of the ATP Player Council last fall.
At an event in Doha last month, Gael Monfils of France engaged in a long argument with the umpire about a time violation warning he received.
Some players are in favor of an NBA-style shot clock, but even that wouldn’t necessarily eliminate gray areas.
“I would say the only thing that’s a little bit hairy or a little bit vague is when does that clock start?” said Bobby Reynolds, who likes the rule even though he has gotten away with 40-second delays.
“Is it when the ball bounces twice?” added Reynolds, who lost Sunday to No. 32 seed Mardy Fish. “If they do go to a shot clock and you’re bouncing the ball and you’re at the (service) line, does that count?”
Unlike basketball, play in tennis is not continuous and point initiation can be dependent on factors outside a player’s control, such as crowd disturbances and ball kids.
Novak Djokovic said that contributed to the time violation he received Sunday evening against Fabio Fognini. He later complained to the umpire during the changeover.
“I’m not blaming them,” he said of the ball kids. “Several times it took them quite a bit to give me a towel, to understand what I want, dropping the balls. So you’re losing a lot of time there.”
Andy Murray, who received a violation at the Brisbane event in January when he was bouncing the ball for his serve, wouldn’t mind a shot clock as long as it didn’t go off mid-serve. He then then mimicked the sound of a buzzer.
“I can’t see that happening in tennis,” he laughed.
South African Kevin Anderson, who sits on the Player Council, said he had received mixed feedback from players with regard to umpire enforcement and that it would be discussed at the player meeting in Miami.
“It’s a work in progress,” he said.
