Carlos Alcaraz has had continued issues with the shot clock rule over the past year.
Alcaraz recently called the shot clock ‘absurd’, after arguing with the umpire when he was given a time violation during his match against Karen Khachanov at the Qatar Open.
The shot clock, which has been enforced on the ATP Tour since 2020, gives servers a maximum of 25 seconds between points, but Alcaraz believes there should be more flexibility with the rule based on what has happened in the previous point.
Qatar was not the only time that this rule has frustrated Alcaraz, who also had an issue at the Queen’s Club Championships last year, but he has decided not to speak to the ATP about it.
Carlos Alcaraz says speaking to the ATP would be a waste of time
Alcaraz beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-3, in his first match at Indian Wells this year, extending his winning streak to 13 matches after winning titles at the Australian Open and the Qatar Open.
As well as being asked about the match in his post-match press conference, Alcaraz was also asked if he had spoken to the ATP Tour about the issue he had with the shot clock at his last tournament in Doha.
Alcaraz revealed that he had not, and had also not been approached about it, explaining that he had complained about other issues before but had not seen any changes.
“Well, to be honest, I haven’t spoke to them,” said Alcaraz. “To be honest, nobody came to me to ask me what is my opinion about it.
“So it’s like, yeah, it’s gonna be like that, I would say. I don’t want to waste my time, to be honest, because there have been other situations that you go to complain or to give your opinion and then nothing change at all, so I don’t want to waste my time.
“They already know my opinion, what it’s been like for me. So let’s see if they’re gonna change it or not, but I just really want to be focused on other things.”
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When asked a follow-up question about this, Alcaraz called for more discretion from umpires, before claiming that some ‘don’t understand tennis at all’.
“Yeah, I think so,” responded Alcaraz. “We could see there are different umpires. So it’s just about with one or two probably, the same guys that just have been problem with a lot of matches.
“But there are other umpires that they are flexible about it. I would say if they understand about tennis, they know how to do it. The guys who are really strict and not having that left hand (phonetic), let’s say, is because they don’t understand tennis at all.”
Taylor Fritz names umpire who he ‘always had an issue with’ in terms of the shot clock
Taylor Fritz, who won his first match at Indian Wells against Jacob Fearnley, was also asked about the shot clock in relation to Alcaraz’s comments in his own post-match press conference.
While he admitted that he did not have so much of an issue with the rule, Fritz did admit that he also wishes there was more discretion with the rule, before naming chair umpire Fergus Murphy as someone he has previously had issues with relating to it.
“I don’t have that much of an issue with it,” said Fritz. “I think sometimes, you know, we can be a bit smarter with it if, like, if someone plays a long point and they finish the point at the net on the opposite corner, and we are playing somewhere where it’s humid and you kind of, like, you need to towel off your hands in between points, then, okay, maybe you give the person an extra five seconds. And that’s where the issue kind of comes in, because it just automatically starts after the point.
“I had issues in the past when the umpires were the ones that were starting it, because I felt like some umpires would start it faster than others, so I always had an issue with specifically Fergus starting the clock super fast.
“And I’d never got called for time violations and no one ever got called for time violations against me, but then there was probably 10 in total in my matches when he was in the chair, and then it started just being automatic, like when the point ends, it just starts. It’s not really up to the umpire.
“Like I said, I think there can be some, you know, room to play around with it in certain situations, like if someone finished the point on the far side of the court at net, they need to go to the towel, there’s just not enough time sometimes.”
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The shot clock has not been a huge talking point in matches at Indian Wells so far this year, but Alcaraz’s frustrations are still clear to see.
While Fritz has not been so outspoken on the rule, he also clearly sees an issue with the way the rule is sometimes implemented.
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