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Australian Open to get shot clocks among other major changes at Grand Slams

Grand Slam Board (GSM) have introduced multiple changes starting 2018 including shot clocks, inforcement of early withdrawals in the first round.

Australian Open will see a shot clock in play Australian Open 2018 will get a 25 second shot clock. (Source: AP)

The Grand Slam Board, which looks after the rules and regulations of the four tennis majors in a year, made strong decisions which will come into effect starting 2019. But before that, a host of changes will be implemented to reduce the number of controversies that plague the high-profile tournaments. The first of which will be a strict shot clock at the Australian Open, in Melbourne, next year.

Grand Slams have previously allowed players 20 seconds between points but that was left up to the discretion of the chair umpire and in most cases, was grossly not followed. Now, following the two-day meeting of the Grand Slam Board in London, a strict 25 second shot clock will be followed. An electronic shot clock will tick down in the corner of the court as was trialled at the US Open qualifying earlier this year and then at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan this past month.

Another change to make Grand Slam matches snappier is enforcing a strict time rule on warm-ups. Players will be fined up to $20,000 to go beyond the stipulated time limit of: 1-minute after walk-on to be ready for the pre-match meeting, followed by the 5 minute warm-up, then 1 minute to be ready to start the match.

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Another change, advocated by Roger Federer, will see the number of seeds reduced from the present 32 to 16 from 2019. During the recently concluded ATP Finals, Federer had said, “That’s how it used to be when I came up, way back when. There’s definitely something intriguing about having 16 seeds. I do see the problem of the 32 seeds, plus you have eight seeds who get byes at Masters 1000 [events].”

Following numerous withdrawals in the first round of Slams, the Board has decided to incentivise players who pull out from the tournament before the main draw is made. Additionally, it will also reduce the number of matches with little effort. Any player who pulls out from a Grand Slam before the main draw will keep 50% of their prize money, with the replacement player receiving the other 50% and any prize money won thereafter.

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The statement in full: “The Grand Slam Board (GSB) completed two days of meetings in London on November 15-16. A significant portion of the GSB Agenda concerned possible Grand Slam Rule amendments and trials in 2018:

# It was unanimously agreed to support 2018 Australian Open’s application to the ITF for a waiver of the 20 seconds between points required by the Rules of Tennis, in order to allow for enforcement of a strict 25 seconds utilising a ‘serve/shot clock’ system in line with that trialled at the 2017 US Open.

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# The timing of the pre-match warm-up will be strictly enforced (1 minute after walk-on to be ready for the pre-match meeting, followed by the 5 minute warm-up, then 1 minute to be ready to start the match). Violation of this timing may subject a player to a fine up to $20,000.

# Any Main Draw singles player who is unfit to play and who withdraws on-site after 12:00 noon on Thursday before the start of the Main Draw will now receive 50% of the First Round Prize Money in 2018. The replacement Lucky Loser will receive the remaining 50% plus any additional prize money earned thereafter.

# Any player who competes in the First Round Main Draw singles and retires or performs below professional standards, may now be subject to a fine up to First Round Prize Money in 2018.

# The 2018 Grand Slam tournaments will continue with 32 seeds in singles and intend to revert to 16 seeds in 2019.”

First uploaded on: 21-11-2017 at 23:48 IST
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