Taylor Fritz has really been enjoying himself on the clay this season, having stormed into the quarter-finals in Madrid with relative ease.
The manner in which he has reached such a position has been remarkably simple, and this comes just a week after he reached the final in Munich too, only losing to the hometown favourite Jan-Lennard Struff.
However, he will be hoping to go one step further here in this Masters 1000 event, but will be well aware of the fierce competition that remains in the draw.
What could have hindered him though, was tennis’ latest rule, which he has fortunately mitigated in order to boost his chances.
Taylor Fritz analyses tennis’ latest rule
This latest rule has been implemented for the first time in Madrid, and is billed on the ATP Tour website as ‘a bid to enhance the product for fans, players and tournaments.’
In an effort to encourage far more high-profile singles players to dabble in the far less-marketed doubles, the 32-team draw now features up to 16 slots reserved for those stars entering off their singles ranking.
However, to do this, a more streamlined schedule was needed, and thus far that has been delivered. To add to this, a reduced shot clock sought to accelerate the pace of play, and fewer changeovers have seen matches fly by.
Whilst this is certainly set to revolutionise this facet of tennis, Fritz offered his thoughts on it, having cancelled his planned participation with Ben Shelton.
He told Tennis Channel: ‘I like to play it [doubles] at the Masters. I think this new rule that we’re testing with this week, I think it’s good for singles players if you lose early. But it’s awful for someone in my situation who’s going to have to play singles tomorrow, I’d be doubling up playing doubles today and again tomorrow.
‘I think in some aspects it makes sense, in other aspects, it doesn’t make sense. I like to play when I can.’
Doubles certainly needs more love
Whilst Fritz might cite this change as a potential hindrance, all-in-all this marks a positive alteration for an unloved part of the sport.
For so long now, professional doubles has remained a quiet, content background option for those perhaps bored of the singles stars.
After all, there are few, if any world-renowned players forged solely from that part of the sport, with instead all of the legendary figures emerging from solo play.
And whilst this change is unlikely to spark some mass revolution, it could certainly increase interest by getting these bigger names into a less-followed game mode.
More needs to be done, but it is certainly a strong start to the revolution of doubles.
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