Richard Gasquet and Adrian Mannarino are two of the longest active serving players on the ATP Tour.
Gasquet will retire later this year, with the 38-year-old currently in his 23rd and final year as a professional tennis player.
The Frenchman has seen many changes on the ATP Tour throughout his career, with Gasquet now suggesting that even more need to be brought in after his retirement.
Richard Gasquet and Adrian Mannarino call for change on the ATP Tour
One of the many events that Gasquet has played in his career is the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS).
Ahead of the upcoming event in Nîmes, France, Gasquet, Mannarino, David Goffin and the now-retired Jeremy Chardy discussed what the ATP could take from UTS.
UTS has innovative scoring systems and fan movement, the latter something that Gasquet and Mannarino in particular thought should be brought in.
“UTS is extreme compared to the regular tour. It’s basically the opposite, with time limits, cards, etc,” said Goffin. “But there are some fun elements. Maybe the tour will adopt one or two rules to make it a bit more modern.”
Gasquet replied, “Yeah, the tour isn’t modern at all, you can’t do anything. It’s still an old school sport. We’re like that (waves hand) if someone moves in the stands, we freak out, but really people should be able to eat, drink courtside.”
Goffin added, “Yeah, it’s tough – it’s a traditional sport.”
Followed by Gasquet saying, “But there should be a middle ground. Right now there isn’t one.”
Chardy joined the conversation by saying, “We need more entertainment. The goal is to attract a younger audience. A lot of people who don’t know tennis come to UTS and like it because there’s so much happening, music and everything.”
While Mannarino added, “Spectators come for a show. Sometimes, you’re playing your second round in Montpellier and some guy is eating chips, that drives you crazy.
“But you realize he paid for a ticket to be entertained. He doesn’t realize it distracts you. Looking back you think, ‘Damn, I lost it, I was an idiot’. It has to be a show, fans should enjoy it. With the current ATP rules a lot needs to change.”
The ATP have come under the spotlight a lot in recent weeks, following the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) filed a lawsuit against them.
This has prompted many different opinions, with Novak Djokovic actually disagreeing with the PTPA on some parts of the lawsuit.
Where is Richard Gasquet playing his final tournaments?
Former top 10 player Gasquet is retiring at Roland Garros in-front of his home crowd later this year, but will play some other clay court tournaments beforehand.
His most recent came at the ATP 250 tournament in Bucharest this week, where he beat Botic van de Zandschulp before losing to Flavio Cobolli.
The now world number 148 is next scheduled to play at the Monte Carlo Masters, after receiving a wildcard alongside Stan Wawrinka, Fabio Fognini and Valentin Vacherot.
Gasquet is an alternate for tournaments in both Barcelona and Madrid, but will likely require a wildcard if he is to play.
Roland Garros gets underway on Sunday May 25, with Gasquet already revealing who he wants to play in his final ever match.
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