A Shot Clock for Tennis?

Friday, 01 July 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Novak Djokovic loves to bounce the ball. Mardy Fish reaches for his towel a million times per match. Tennis fans are getting bored, which, the New York Times, says is prompting some in the sport to rally around the idea of introducing a shot clock. Technically, players are only supposed to take 20 to 25 seconds to get ready for a serve, but it’s difficult to enforce that without a clock running. Experts say procrastinating on a serve “can create issues of fairness to the player returning the ball, particularly if the player serving it disrupts the rhythm of the match by saving the longest delays for critical points.”