When Roger Federer talks about tennis, people tend to listen, but his latest comments throw up an intriguing – and not necessarily useful – topic of discussion.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion was one of the instigators behind the Laver Cup’s formation, and at the weekend, Federer shared why he decided to create the competition.
Federer still plays a bit of tennis, but his competitive days are now behind him, with the Swiss legend usually appearing in corporate boxes at the big events across the year.
During the Laver Cup, Federer suggested that tournament directors need to produce different court speeds, allowing the players to get different surfaces on the tour.
- READ MORE: Federer makes Sinner and Alcaraz claim
Roger Federer plea could make men’s tennis worse
Although Federer tends to be considered one of the greatest of all time, his suggestion for the good of tennis here could be slightly flawed.
There is definitely a sense that mixing up the speeds would create a welcome challenge for the players from one event to the next.
However, that might not make things any more enjoyable for the people paying to watch the events live.
Having super-fast courts would simply lead to even more one-sided matches, and having more unwatchable tennis in the modern era would be far from ideal.
Ultimately, with quicker courts there would be more aces and fewer rallies – especially in the men’s game – and that wouldn’t do the sport any real favours.
Tennis has to come up with a solution that suits everyone
Having super-fast courts is unlikely to make the game any less predictable, but perhaps Federer did make a good point with some of his comments.
Federer suggests that the courts are perhaps a bit one-dimensional and it would be nice if tennis did produce different court speeds from one event to the next.
That would certainly ruffle a few feathers and lead to players needing the ability to adapt to certain conditions quicker.
However, super-fast courts won’t help the other players have more of an even playing field with the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz and more boring matches will be evident.
Given the comments from Federer, it will now be interesting to see what, if anything, comes of the courts being produced on tour next year.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
