Changes to the rules of tennis have been given the thumbs down by some of the sport's biggest names, with Roger Federer leading the way.
The ongoing NextGen ATP Finals in Milan, set up to showcase some of the emerging stars of the game, are trialling some new rules, including first-to-four-games sets, a shot clock between points and no lets on serves.
However, few of the established stars of the game, who gathered at London’s O2 Arena on Friday ahead of the ATP Finals for the best eight players of the season, have welcomed the changes with suggestions they could be introduced to the main tour largely dismissed.
Wimbledon champion Roger Federer was the highest-profile critic.
He said: “I don’t see that much wrong with our tour right now, that it needs that much fixing.
“Shorter sets can be intriguing but at the same time the longer sets allow you to stretch a lead, you are more comfortable at times, can try different things, you can work on stuff.
“(Under the new system) every point counts so much that there’s no room for anything (like that) any more.
“For the moment, I don’t like to see any change on the tour.”
World number three Alex Zverev was also dismissive. At the age of just 20, he qualified for the NextGen Finals but opted out to focus on playing in London. By far the youngest of the field, he perhaps more than anyone would have been expected to be open to change.
However, while he did highlight the shot clock and automatic line-calling by the Hawk-Eye system (rather than line judges) as good things, the German was forthright in his views.
“Everything else will never happen (on the main tour) in my opinion,” he said.
Dominic Thiem joined the criticism, saying: “The scoring system I don’t really like. I like the shot clock – that’s a very good thing.
“But everything else I think we should keep the good old rules.”
Marin Cilic was another unhappy with first-to-four-game sets.
“The system of playing sets is just slightly too short. For a player losing serve, it’s tough to come back in a set.”
However, he did implore those in charge to introduce a shot clock, saying that was “something that we can introduce straight away”.
World number one Rafael Nadal gave arguably the warmest reception to the trial but even he admitted that if he were asked to make the decision, he would not implement changes at main-tour level.
“If you don’t try anything you cannot sat that it’s better or worse,” he said.
“You need to find a way to have the best show possible.
“If you say ‘do you want change?’, I say no. I’m number one in the world.
“But if the game needs something to be more attractive for the fans that is the way to move forward.
“It’s not my job (to make a decision). The people who run the sport need to look around and take the right decisions to make the sport even more interesting than it is today.”
The ATP Finals begin at the O2 Arena in London on Sunday. The final of the NextGen Finals takes place the previous day.