Tennis chiefs announced on Sunday that they were replacing the third set in doubles matches with a tie-breaker, brushing off objections from top players.
The third set will consist of a first-to-10 tie-breaker to speed up play. There will also be no advantage played in the first two sets, with games decided by the first point after deuce.
”We just want to try to make it more exciting,” said ATP chairperson Etienne de Villiers. ”We want to make it more attractive. We want to get people to watch this wonderful game of doubles, and we think this will do it.”
The ATP has experimented with a number of different formats and the new rules will be in effect at its tournaments next year.
Disgruntled doubles players have sued the ATP, charging that the body that governs men’s pro tennis is trying to run doubles specialists out of the game.
”The players are fed up,” Mark Knowles of the Bahamas said earlier.
The suit was filed in US District Court in Houston, Texas, in September on behalf of a slew of players who make doubles their primary focus, including US twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan and Knowles and Daniel Nestor, who all played here.
Sunday’s doubles final was between India and Serbia-Montenegro pair Leander Paes and Nenad Zimonjic, and French duo Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro. – AFP
