Nadal no fan of tennis shot clock

World No.1 Rafael Nadal does not think using a shot clock in tennis would improve the sport as a spectacle.

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal's pre-serve routine is one of the most recognisable in world tennis. (AAP)

Rafael Nadal believes introducing shot clocks into tennis would ruin the sport as entertainment.

The US Open is the first grand slam tournament to trial the innovation, with a clock on the scoreboard counting down the time taken by players between points during qualifying.

It is not being used in the main tournament, where players exceeding the limit is much more of an issue.

Nadal fully accepts he is one of the slower players, and he receives frequent warnings, but the apparently arbitrary nature of them has been a frustration both for those players penalised and opponents who feel they are not punished enough.

The Spaniard, though, thinks policing it with a shot clock would make the titanic matches he has played at the slams against Novak Djokovic in particular, impossible.

"It depends on what the fans want. If the fans want short points and players playing without thinking, maybe it is good," he said.

"If you want to have matches like I played here with Novak, the three finals, the kind of match that the crowd is more involved in because the points are so long, well, you cannot expect to play 50-shot rallies and in 25 seconds be ready to play the next tennis point.

"I think that's not possible for a great show. But if you don't want a great show, of course it's a great improvement."


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Source: AAP



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