The 2024 edition of the Billie Jean King Cup is well underway in Malaga as the competition reaches the quarter-final stage.
Eight teams remain in the Billie Jean King Cup, as the final competition of the season really begins to heat up.
Two-time defending champions Canada are joined by Great Britain, Australia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, and Japan in the quarter-finals.
The event is named after WTA legend, Billie Jean King, who won 12 singles Grand Slam titles during her career.
Since retiring, King has never strayed too far from the headlines and has now stirred up fans with her most recent suggestion.
Tennis fans moan as Billie Jean King proposes ‘absurd’ new scoring system
Speaking ahead of the Billie Jean King Cup finals, King proposed a number of changes to the sport, to make it more accessible to younger viewers.
“I personally would like to see names and numbers on the back of shirts in tennis, not just team sports,” she said.
“I want to make it easy for fans.
“I think it should be one, two, three, four. Not 15-love, 30-love.
“If we want to get eight, nine, ten, 11, 12 year old children involved in our sport we have to make it accessible to them.
“We have to grow the sport.”
Fans immediately took to X, to show their anger at King’s suggestion.
“No,” one fan said.
“Davis Cup changes were bad enough.
“There’ll be no lines people at Wimbledon next… oh wait.
“Keep the traditions.”
Another fan disagreed with the claim that young fans struggle to understand the current system.
“I’ve followed tennis since I was five or six and understood the scoring straight away from watching one match, don’t need to fix something that’s not broken,” he said.
One more fan agreed.
“Why change something that isn’t broke,” they said.
“She couldn’t be more wrong,” another added.
Another felt very strongly about King’s suggestion.
“As for kids not understanding, that’s absurd,” she said.
“Billie Jean King, kids are extremely bright and pick things up very quickly.
“It’s demeaning to kids, leave tennis alone.”
Some fans were more open to the change however.
“I love the idea,” they said.
“Simplifying the scoring could make the game more accessible and enjoyable for newcomers.
“Let’s embrace change in sports.”
They weren’t alone in their support of the idea as another felt there was need for a change.
“Nice idea,” they said.
Why is tennis scored the way it is?
Whether you agree or disagree that the scoring system should be changed, what can’t be denied is that 15, 30, 40 is a slightly unusual way to judge a match.
But why is tennis scored this way?
There is no exact answer, but many have theorized that the scoring system derived from the use of clock-faces.
The minute hand would be moved from zero, to 15, to 30, and then to 45, with the winner of the game turning to 60.
Eventually, the introduction of the deuce saw 45 change to 40, so players could move the clock face forward without ‘winning the game’ and moving the minute to 60.
Players would instead move between 40 and 50 during the deuce, before advancing to 60, when a game is won.
Other suggestions include references from medieval ballads, street games played before the French Revolution, and Latin phrases.
No-one quite knows for sure where the 15, 30, 40 scoring system came from, but most fans are fairly happy for it to stay, no-matter what King suggests.
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