Following his US Open final defeat to Alexander Zverev, American tennis player Ben Shelton has called for a major rule change in professional tennis, specifically advocating for a shot clock on second serves. Zverev, the top seed, routinely took extended periods before his second serves, including numerous ball bounces, which Shelton believes disrupts the flow of the game and negatively impacts the spectator experience.
Currently, players have 25 seconds to initiate their first serve motion. However, the rules are less stringent for second serves, stating only that they must be hit 'without delay,' with no specified limit on ball bounces. This ambiguity has led to lengthy routines, and Zverev's repeated ball bouncing has drawn criticism from tennis figures like Andy Roddick and John McEnroe, and now Shelton.
"I think that there should be some sort of rule… limiting time on second serve. You shouldn't have unlimited time," Shelton stated after the match. "For our sport, for the fans, I think it's tough to be sitting there that long for the next play, the next action to happen." He added that he anticipates tournaments will eventually address the issue due to the significant delays in play.
Reports suggest Zverev bounced the ball over 12,000 times in his first five matches at the US Open. Following his semifinal loss, opponent Karen Khachanov commented that Zverev's routine "annoys not only me, of course, [but] a lot of players."
During the final, Shelton found himself in a dispute with chair umpire Marijana Veljovic regarding his readiness for Zverev's serve. Shelton argued that he should not be compelled to stand in a ready position for extended periods while Zverev completes his pre-serve ritual. "He never does less than ten bounces… I'm not going to sit there in a ready position with my knees bent, tension in my body for 30 seconds while I'm waiting," Shelton explained, referring to the rule about returners needing to be ready.
Zverev, however, has maintained that his routine is not a deliberate tactic to slow the game. "I'm not counting in my head... I don't know why it increased so much," he said after his semifinal victory.
