In the ever-changing sport of tennis, rule changes are never too far away…
The big talking point this time last year was the planned introduction of off-court coaching.
Several players and pundits argued about the decision, but 12 months on, everyone seems to have gotten on board.
This year, there seems to be some desire to ban lets on serve, as they aren’t used for the remainder of the point.
If you could change one rule in tennis what would it be and why?
However, Australian tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt wants to see a different rule changed…
Lleyton Hewitt wants the injury time-out rule to be changed
During the latest episode of ‘The Tennis‘, several Aussie tennis stars were asked which rule they’d like to see changed.
“It would have to be something to do with injury timeouts,” said Hewitt.
“I think it’s a battle of will out there, and I think players use it as a tactic at times, when they’re struggling, or right before their opponent has to serve, right before a big game, late in the fifth set.
“I think try cut that out.”
Hewitt’s son, Cruz Hewitt, then weighed in on the debate.
“Play lets on serve,” he said.
“You play it in the point, you might as well play it on the serve.”
Former Billie Jean King Cup winner Daria Saville was also keen to share her thoughts on how tennis could be improved.
“I would go for an even shorter format, like up to four games,” she said.
Which tennis player am I thinking of?
“Controversial, right?
“But I didn’t mind the mixed doubles at the US Open, up to four
“I liked it, it was nice and short.”
After hearing the suggestions, Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley picked the three rules he wanted to change.
Craig Tiley wants to see three rules change
Tiley doesn’t want to see lets on serve anymore, or second serves altogether.
“It’s kind of a no-brainer, why do you play a let on the serve but not in the point?” he said.
“Doesn’t make any sense, it’s old-fashioned, right?
“So just change that overnight, it wouldn’t make any difference.
“I’ve always advocated for one serve. I always think that adds a different dynamic to the whole game, and more points with pressure.”
Tiley also agreed with Saville’s suggestion of shortening the format.
“To Dasha’s point, if you play to four, and a nine-point breaker at 4-4, everyone plays three out of five sets, the men and the women, and you have a bit of a shortened format with lots of points with pressure,” he said.
“But that may be too transformational, you’ve got to probably do that in a different format versus the Grand Slams.
“I think the way things go forward, you’ve got to have more points of pressure, more points of consequence.
“And you’ve got to design the scoring format that gives you more points of consequence and less time between points.
“None of that will happen!”
Tiley isn’t confident that any of those changes will be implemented, but are any of them realistic?
There’s definitely a chance that we will see lets removed before too long, as Tiley rightly mentioned, they are slightly ‘old-fashioned’.
Removing the second serve is a bit more dramatic, however, even though the rule will be in use at the upcoming ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match between Nick Kyrgios and Aryna Sabalenka.
What will the impact on women’s tennis be if Nick Kyrgios wins easily?
Finally, Tiley’s idea of a first-to-four-game format might be a tough sell…
Tennis fans love tradition, and forgoing the current scoring format entirely likely won’t go down well.
As he suggested, doing so at the smaller tournaments or in exhibitions may be the way to get things rolling.
Only time will tell whether rule changes will be made in the future, but it will certainly be something to look out for.
Perhaps Tiley will try to implement a few of his preferred rules at the Australian Open.
The 2026 Australian Open is scheduled to begin on Sunday, January 18.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
