The question whether the tennis matches last too long is often a debate between fans as well as the officials. Also, we are all aware that players go from one tournament to another without almost any break or rest. So does the calendar need to be modified?
The WTA CEO, Steve Simon told reporters at the Wuhan Open in China that changes are inevitable.
According to Simon, matches suppose to last no longer than 90 minutes and one way to shorten the matches is to add no-advantage scoring and 10-point tiebreakers instead of a whole third set.
Simon declared:”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, [one] that’s going to have a lot more action points. The no-ad scoring creates drama in the middle of the sets … I think there’s a lot of things that we have to look at in our sport to continue building the interest.
He also indicated that the changes need to be gradual:“…The conversation should be held, and I’m sure the first conversation will be, ‘No, I don’t want to do that.’ But if we start doing that—maybe at the lower levels—and then it becomes normal and then you slowly begin phasing it in over generations, maybe it’s something that we could get to, and we’ll ultimately be in a better place.”
However, according to TennisTips, the changes will come into force in 2019 or 2024.
He also told Sport 360:“The attention span of the audience today is shrinking. Everybody wants it in very short nuggets, and to see somebody sit for two to three hours and watch anything anymore is getting harder and harder.”
Simon wants for WTA calendar to look similar to the ATP’s Masters series. In ATP, there are nine Masters tournaments compared to only four Premier Mandatory series tournaments in WTA. Those tournaments are Miami, Madrid, Indian Wells and Beijing.
Moreover, he announced:“What I want to try to do is to clean up and create a better definition of what our tournaments are. I think there’s a lot of confusion out there with respect to the differentiation of what type of event are you watching; What level of the event, and what is its relevance on the tour? And I think we have to better define that. And I also like to create a higher amount of events in which we deliver what I consider our premium product. I don’t think we provide it on enough frequency out there.”
