Why won't tennis institute a serve clock?

[Lee James]

So I'm sitting here watching the NBA playoffs, and I'm wondering why pro tennis won't institute a clock on court which alerts the server as to how much time they have left in between points. Honestly I'm getting tired of the amount of time players are taking between points (Nadal, DJoko, Maria).

 

[SempreSami]

If you find it more tedious than commercials in an NFL match then go find something more exciting to do, like running down a steep hill really fast.

 

[TheTruth]

So I'm sitting here watching the NBA playoffs, and I'm wondering why pro tennis won't institute a clock on court which alerts the server as to how much time they have left in between points. Honestly I'm getting tired of the amount of time players are taking between points (Nadal, DJoko, Maria).

Probably because when they do the time spent is inconsequential. They had one on Maria recently and several times she was under the time limit and only a few times went 25 or 26. It would take more time away from the game trying to keep up than it would to let the few piddling seconds go. And you forgot Hantuchova and Ivanovic. They're pretty bad too!

 

[gj011]

Probably because when they do the time spent is inconsequential. They had one on Maria recently and several times she was under the time limit and only a few times went 25 or 26. It would take more time away from the game trying to keep up than it would to let the few piddling seconds go. And you forgot Hantuchova and Ivanovic. They're pretty bad too!

All those evil eastern european barbarians spoiling the nice game of tennis.:shock:

I am tired of threads like this. This supposed "time wasting" is greatly exaggerated.

Also there is no way to effectively implement the serve clock. For example often players have to wait for the crowd to get quiet to strart with the serve. So crowd could just be noisy until the serve clock expire.

 

[flyer]

i think it would add way to much structure to tennis, tennis is a traditional sport and like baseball goes at the speed of the players and the natural flow of the match, i think compromising that would kind of be changing the sport in a larger way than we might think

also I dont think its a big enough of a problem and i guess technically they do have a serve clock, the chair keeps it, i know they are not really strict on it but technically they do have it

 

[gj011]

i think it would add way to much structure to tennis, tennis is a traditional sport and like baseball goes at the speed of the players and the natural flow of the match, i think compromising that would kind of be changing the sport in a larger way than we might think

also I dont think its a big enough of a problem and i guess technically they do have a serve clock, the chair keeps it, i know they are really strict on it but technically they do have it

Very well said. Much better than my rant.

 

[flyer]

^^^^^thanks

 

[Lee James]

All those evil eastern european barbarians spoiling the nice game of tennis.:shock:

I am tired of threads like this. This supposed "time wasting" is greatly exaggerated.

Also there is no way to effectively implement the serve clock. For example often players have to wait for the crowd to get quiet to strart with the serve. So crowd could just be noisy until the serve clock expire.

I think that having more time for the crowd to be animated would be a good thing. Liven things up a bit more, make it a bit more dramatic.

 

[counter_puncher]

All those evil eastern european barbarians spoiling the nice game of tennis.:shock:

I am tired of threads like this. This supposed "time wasting" is greatly exaggerated.

Also there is no way to effectively implement the serve clock. For example often players have to wait for the crowd to get quiet to strart with the serve. So crowd could just be noisy until the serve clock expire.

VERY good point. crowd control.

 

[Leublu tennis]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Sentinel]

I don't think you can. Often a serve is held up due to a ball boy running across, spectators moving around or even the returner delaying.


However, if an ump sees that a player is regularly exceeding the limit, he should give a warning. He could advice the server on a changeover that a warning is on its way.

 

[vince916]

Theres a rule for free throws in the NBA also, but no one ever enforces it.

 

[callitout]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

As a spectator sport LIVE there is no problem. Attendance records are being set constantly.
Tennis on TV is pathetic. It was impossible even for players to watch much of the tournament from their hotel rooms in Miami...because it wasnt on a standard feed.
The players could get paid quite a bit more if they could get decent US TV ratings. There are downsides to making tennis more lucrative, like it would attract better athletes from the US and it would become harder to get a public court. Furthermore the walkup tickets in Cincy or IW would start to disappear.

 

[gj011]

As a spectator sport LIVE there is no problem. Attendance records are being set constantly.
Tennis on TV is pathetic. It was impossible even for players to watch much of the tournament from their hotel rooms in Miami...because it wasnt on a standard feed.
The players could get paid quite a bit more if they could get decent US TV ratings. There are downsides to making tennis more lucrative, like it would attract better athletes from the US and it would become harder to get a public court. Furthermore the walkup tickets in Cincy or IW would start to disappear.

It ain't broke, so don't fix it. Who cares about some US couch potatoes. The world is not US only. There are other 200 or so countries.
For US ratings would be much more beneficial if there is some decent US player that can compete on the highest level, then some petty and stupid rule change that is so often advocated here.

 

[Nadal_Freak]

Yawn. Another terrible thread. If they are going to complain about taking too much time, they should also make it so you can't rush the returner.

 

[Djokovicfan4life]

The players KNOW the rule, it's not like they're totally clueless as to how much time they have left. They know when they're pushing the limit and it's up to the officials to decide how strictly they want to enforce the rule.

 

[cknobman]

People who take abnormally amounts of time to serve(nadal, djoker, maria) should be polked with a cattle prod to get their @sses moving faster.

 

[Max G.]

The players KNOW the rule, it's not like they're totally clueless as to how much time they have left. They know when they're pushing the limit

Are you sure about that? If the players have never really been told by officials that they've been taking too long, are you sure that they know they're consistently going over the rules? It's not like they have a stopwatch on court to time themselves.

 

[Lee James]

Are you sure about that? If the players have never really been told by officials that they've been taking too long, are you sure that they know they're consistently going over the rules? It's not like they have a stopwatch on court to time themselves.

Exactly! If not some sort of serve clock on court, the officials should at least enforce the rules.

 

[yellowoctopus]

i think it would add way to much structure to tennis, tennis is a traditional sport and like baseball goes at the speed of the players and the natural flow of the match, i think compromising that would kind of be changing the sport in a larger way than we might think

also I dont think its a big enough of a problem and i guess technically they do have a serve clock, the chair keeps it, i know they are not really strict on it but technically they do have it

very well put.

What's next, no-ad scoring in Doubles?

 

[scineram]

very well put.

What's next, no-ad scoring in Doubles?

No, we will have to put up with match tiebreak first.:shock:

 

[HyperHorse]

If you find it more tedious than commercials in an NFL match then go find something more exciting to do, like running down a steep hill really fast.

Post of the WEEK!!
All other suggestions to speed up the time delay between points with the serve= idiotic.

 

[Deleted member 743561]

It's a reasonable question. Felicitously, the long puzzlement may at last be approaching resolution.

 

[Deleted member 688153]

So I'm sitting here watching the NBA playoffs, and I'm wondering why pro tennis won't institute a clock on court which alerts the server as to how much time they have left in between points. Honestly I'm getting tired of the amount of time players are taking between points (Nadal, DJoko, Maria).

Coz they're lame and five hour matches means more ad breaks.