Thoughts on Making the Sport of Tennis Even Better for the 21st Century!

[chrislewit]

HERE ARE SOME THOUGHTS THAT I HAVE ABOUT THE SPORT OF TENNIS AND HOW TO MAKE THE GAME MORE POPULAR FOR THE 21ST CENTURY–AND BEYOND!

A NOTE TO TRADITIONALISTS–TRY NOT TO HATE WITH YOUR COMMENTS!

HERE WE GO (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER):

1. MAKE TENNIS SHORTER TIME DURATION AT ALL LEVELS EXCEPT PERHAPS THE GRAND SLAMS. AT THE SLAMS LET’S KEEP AS MUCH TRADITION AS WE CAN TO PRESERVE HISTORICAL ROOTS AND THE INTEGRITY OF RECORDS AND THE GAME.

EMBRACE NEW SCORING SYSTEMS TO MAKE TENNIS SHORTER! EXAMPLES ARE FAST 4, THIRTY30, NO ADS, PLAYING LETS, ETC AND OTHER CREATIVE FORMATS THAT MAKE TENNIS FAST AND FUN FOR THE MODERN GENERATION OF SPORTS CONSUMER.

2. Embrace smaller court size tennis games and let the sport encompass many footprints. I call this Big Tent Tennis: a sport that offers many varieties of tennis sizes and formats for its fans.

Games like Touch Tennis, Padel, paddle tennis, pickleball, and others are very popular and we should embrace and integrate these tennis cousins into the mainstream tennis conversation and messaging.

Let’s get the world playing tennis, no matter what length or size court and no matter what type of ball or instrument used.

3. Allow on court coaching at all levels. Kids, amateur and pros. If boxers can get coaching, so can tennis players. Mic the coaches and make their talks part of the show.

For young players, allow parents and coaches to intervene and support children when they are struggling with overwhelming emotions. Don’t let little kids endure traumatic moments on court without parental or coach support.

4. Integrate new technologies to eliminate cheating at all levels of the game, from junior to lower level pro and college. The future is camera review. It’s just a matter of time before high speed line call review will transform the tennis landscape at all levels and eliminate cheating once and for all.

Check out Playsight’s PlayFair initiative to get a glimpse of what’s coming down the road.

5. Restructure the Pro Tour to allow a real offseason for the pros for 3-4 months so they can have a real family life and to reduce burnout and injury rates. Make tennis competitive with other pro sport schedules.

6. Restructure prize money so the best top 1000 players can make a decent living. It’s ridiculous that players that good are losing money.

7. Embrace college tennis. The Tennis Channel’s College Game Days are awesome! Keep promoting college tennis and build excitement for the game at that level!

Work to create college systems world-wide–not just in the US. In this way, we can have a world college championships. There is no reason why other colleges and countries can’t copy the American system and build college tennis around the world.

8. Listen to Dave Miley and others and institute a Regional Pro Tour or Transition Tour based on the PGA model. Keep an open and democratic entry point for aspiring professional players. Scrap the current ITF Transition Tour model. It’s a flop.

9. Allow Davis Cup/Laver Cup type atmosphere at all Tour events. NOISE! Get fans pumped and excited to participate in the games like soccer and football fans do.

10. Offer pastoral counselors and non-denominational ministers–worship and services–at all Tour events. Let’s promote spirituality and character building to all these young guns who sometimes lose their moral compasses. Not all young champions can be lucky enough to have a Toni Nadal guiding them through life. Tour players shouldn’t have to give up their spiritual or religious worship when they become pros.

11. Restructure junior tennis tournament scheduling to demand less tournament travel and STOP holding big events during typical family holidays and on Sundays or other religious days. Offer fewer big events and don’t make families choose tennis over family bonding and unity or their religious worship. Too many families give up on tennis and choose other sports because of the ridiculous expectations in the tennis junior schedule and ranking system.

There should also be a junior tennis offseason 3-4 months for the same reason as the pros. Prevent injuries and give kids a healthier balance, family time, and time to work on their games rather than chasing points year-round.

12. And finally, let’s get the cost of playing tennis down to a reasonable level! For juniors, the game is too expensive. We will never be able to win against other sports if the cost of tennis stays as high as it is now. The industry leaders need to come together and bring down the costs and price points throughout the industry. Families just won’t choose tennis over some other sports because of the financial negatives which are currently in the game.

More suggestions to come.

Let me know if you agree or disagree. More importantly, let me know why you agree or disagree.


Thanks

Chris Lewit

ProdigyMaker.com

[stotty]

I am your biggest fan, Chris, but can't go along with around half of this.

I don't like watering the sport down just because peoples attention spans aren't what they used to be. I like the long game because it weeds out those who aren't as good over the course of a tournament. The longer the haul, the more likely the truly better player will prevail. I don't like messing with a format like that. It's fundamental.

I don't like the idea of morphing into other sports. Tennis stands alone and bears no resemblance to paddle tennis or touch tennis in my view. We could end up roping in squash and badminton if we adopt such an all encompassing approach.

Tennis is a solitary, problem-solving sport. Keep it that way. I have never liked the Davis Cup for that reason.

I am all for stamping out cheating.

I love the college system. Bring it on.

I am not religious so cannot relate to the spirituality stuff. My wife is very religious and just takes it with her wherever she goes.

I don't like the big time wrestling, pumped up crowds. I am British. Like the umpire says..."Quiet ladies and gentleman, please".

I like the idea of restructuring the tour and making prize money fairer.

Yes, juniors can play less and can be just as good. I am all for 'managing' juniors better.

You last question is very noble but you offer no examples of how to do it. Are coaches to charge less, are tournament organisers to charge less, are referees to charge less, are clubs to charge lower fees? Or are governing bodies going to subsidise potential tennis players? At today's exchange in sterling, my club is 100 dollars a year for kids to join and there are no additional courts fees to pay. Floodlights are thrown in free. I charge 40 dollars per hour, 30 dollars for 45 minutes, or 20 dollars for 30 minutes. Not too bad in my view. How are fees over there?

Personally I would like to see some tour tournaments speed up their courts or introduce a longer grass court season. The game is a little boring because all players play the same. Results will be more mixed if there were greater differences in surface. Once the Big 3 bow out, the game could bottom out with them if we're not careful.

By the way, I have both your books on my bookshelf. I admire your knowledge and skills as a coach. And I love the way you have interacted with us anoraks on the forum in the past.

I don't know what the future holds for the game, but so long as they keep serving strawberries and cream and high teas at Wimbledon, I'll be going.

If you want to watch something stunning beautiful, watch this. The picture quality has been enhanced. Watch out for Frank Sedgman at 1:27 serving at the far end - the finest volleyer the game has ever seen by a thumping great margin....technically brilliant.

https://commerce.wazeedigital.com/search/asset/8903884

[doctorhl]

Chris: A few comments:

The U. S. Is one of the few, if only one of the educational systems in the world that integrates and funds athletics at the university level. I don’t think other countries will copy the U.S. system and will continue to develop players through non-educational agencies The U.S. is at a disadvantage in junior development because of this integration(even though I would prefer to keep professional athletics out of academics).

Tennis is one the last holdouts of the degradation of U.S. sport culture. I cringe as a Southern Yank to think the NFL cheerleader show is coming to U.S. tennis.

There me is a downside to letting parents on the cou

[doctorhl]

There is a downside to letting parents on the court in any capacity for juniors.

[johnyandell]

My own number one thing would be no add scoring. Tennis is the only sport in which being ahead by one point isn't enough. How ridiculous would it be in basketball or football to have to win by two points. Last second jumper! Sorry only ahead by one. Last second field goal--same. I played tournaments with no ad in Cal for 10 years and grew to love it. Focus, bear down and win the no ad point.
I have often wanted to chart one of those marathon pro 5 setters as a no ad match and see how much it shortened it. I also coached high school tennis for 30 years with no ad. I lot less stress and struggle.

[doctorhl]

Chris, go to: www.core.ac.uk Type in: “Sport Specific Policies”. The 2015 article gives some info on how government sporting ministries need to decentralize somewhat and increase interaction iwith the private sector and the media on the tennis environment and the tennis culture.

The U.S. is one of the best examples of private interaction. However, with no centralized sport ministry, there is little incentive(and consequent remuneration) for a comprehensive coaching system. The USPTR is geared toward providing certified teaching instruction, primarily at private clubs. The USTA is geared toward a broad based agenda to increase participation at all levels and ages. Therefore, it’s coaching education efforts are spread pretty thin. The coaching culture in the U.S. is dominated by football, basketball and baseball/ softball. Tennis is an after thought. Sports governing bodies in the U.S., like the state high school athletic associations and the NCAA see no real need to have a real coaching certification process. There are no requirements to coach in the NFL or the NBA. It’s strictly win/loss reputation and “who you know”. Of course, there are downsides to a centralized system and perhaps others can speak to the downside.

The article mentions Sweden’s effort to decentralize somewhat in the 80’s and it rode a tennis wave of popularity during the Borg, Edberg, etc. era. Sports policy researchers are closely watching the recent and successful Icelandic experiment with football.

[don_budge]

HERE ARE SOME THOUGHTS THAT I HAVE ABOUT THE SPORT OF TENNIS AND HOW TO MAKE THE GAME MORE POPULAR FOR THE 21ST CENTURY–AND BEYOND!

A NOTE TO TRADITIONALISTS–TRY NOT TO HATE WITH YOUR COMMENTS!

HERE WE GO (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER):

1. MAKE TENNIS SHORTER TIME DURATION AT ALL LEVELS EXCEPT PERHAPS THE GRAND SLAMS. AT THE SLAMS LET’S KEEP AS MUCH TRADITION AS WE CAN TO PRESERVE HISTORICAL ROOTS AND THE INTEGRITY OF RECORDS AND THE GAME.

EMBRACE NEW SCORING SYSTEMS TO MAKE TENNIS SHORTER! EXAMPLES ARE FAST 4, THIRTY30, NO ADS, PLAYING LETS, ETC AND OTHER CREATIVE FORMATS THAT MAKE TENNIS FAST AND FUN FOR THE MODERN GENERATION OF SPORTS CONSUMER.

2. Embrace smaller court size tennis games and let the sport encompass many footprints. I call this Big Tent Tennis: a sport that offers many varieties of tennis sizes and formats for its fans.

Games like Touch Tennis, Padel, paddle tennis, pickleball, and others are very popular and we should embrace and integrate these tennis cousins into the mainstream tennis conversation and messaging.

Let’s get the world playing tennis, no matter what length or size court and no matter what type of ball or instrument used.

3. Allow on court coaching at all levels. Kids, amateur and pros. If boxers can get coaching, so can tennis players. Mic the coaches and make their talks part of the show.

For young players, allow parents and coaches to intervene and support children when they are struggling with overwhelming emotions. Don’t let little kids endure traumatic moments on court without parental or coach support.

4. Integrate new technologies to eliminate cheating at all levels of the game, from junior to lower level pro and college. The future is camera review. It’s just a matter of time before high speed line call review will transform the tennis landscape at all levels and eliminate cheating once and for all.

Check out Playsight’s PlayFair initiative to get a glimpse of what’s coming down the road.

5. Restructure the Pro Tour to allow a real offseason for the pros for 3-4 months so they can have a real family life and to reduce burnout and injury rates. Make tennis competitive with other pro sport schedules.

6. Restructure prize money so the best top 1000 players can make a decent living. It’s ridiculous that players that good are losing money.

7. Embrace college tennis. The Tennis Channel’s College Game Days are awesome! Keep promoting college tennis and build excitement for the game at that level!

Work to create college systems world-wide–not just in the US. In this way, we can have a world college championships. There is no reason why other colleges and countries can’t copy the American system and build college tennis around the world.

8. Listen to Dave Miley and others and institute a Regional Pro Tour or Transition Tour based on the PGA model. Keep an open and democratic entry point for aspiring professional players. Scrap the current ITF Transition Tour model. It’s a flop.

9. Allow Davis Cup/Laver Cup type atmosphere at all Tour events. NOISE! Get fans pumped and excited to participate in the games like soccer and football fans do.

10. Offer pastoral counselors and non-denominational ministers–worship and services–at all Tour events. Let’s promote spirituality and character building to all these young guns who sometimes lose their moral compasses. Not all young champions can be lucky enough to have a Toni Nadal guiding them through life. Tour players shouldn’t have to give up their spiritual or religious worship when they become pros.

11. Restructure junior tennis tournament scheduling to demand less tournament travel and STOP holding big events during typical family holidays and on Sundays or other religious days. Offer fewer big events and don’t make families choose tennis over family bonding and unity or their religious worship. Too many families give up on tennis and choose other sports because of the ridiculous expectations in the tennis junior schedule and ranking system.

There should also be a junior tennis offseason 3-4 months for the same reason as the pros. Prevent injuries and give kids a healthier balance, family time, and time to work on their games rather than chasing points year-round.

12. And finally, let’s get the cost of playing tennis down to a reasonable level! For juniors, the game is too expensive. We will never be able to win against other sports if the cost of tennis stays as high as it is now. The industry leaders need to come together and bring down the costs and price points throughout the industry. Families just won’t choose tennis over some other sports because of the financial negatives which are currently in the game.

More suggestions to come.

Let me know if you agree or disagree. More importantly, let me know why you agree or disagree.


Thanks

Chris Lewit

ProdigyMaker.com

Reduce the official spec size of the tennis racquet to 80 square inches. We go backwards to go forwards. The completion backwards principle.

Number 10 is an interesting suggestion. Providing a tour chaplain for the young athletes...both men's and women's tours. An excellent idea. It must be tough being out there on the road away from home.

When I was in school we had seasons for sports and that was the best arrangement possible. In the fall it was football, cross country running or golf. Winter was a choice of wrestling, basketball or swimming and the spring was a choice of baseball, track and field or tennis. All provided on school grounds. My high school had eight tennis courts.

The summer recreation department had a tennis program. In fact there were three sites throughout the city and numerous surrounding cities that we competed with and against. Many of the programs in my region were not sponsored by any governing body of tennis people although there was a USTA body of course. But the USTA was mostly arranging and organising tournaments. The programs were basically run by a local tennis aficionado on public courts.

[bottle]

Tennis players react. I am a tennis player. Make the chaplain Zoroastrian.

[nytennisaddict]

HERE ARE SOME THOUGHTS THAT I HAVE ABOUT THE SPORT OF TENNIS AND HOW TO MAKE THE GAME MORE POPULAR FOR THE 21ST CENTURY–AND BEYOND!

A NOTE TO TRADITIONALISTS–TRY NOT TO HATE WITH YOUR COMMENTS!

HERE WE GO (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER):

1. MAKE TENNIS SHORTER TIME DURATION AT ALL LEVELS EXCEPT PERHAPS THE GRAND SLAMS. AT THE SLAMS LET’S KEEP AS MUCH TRADITION AS WE CAN TO PRESERVE HISTORICAL ROOTS AND THE INTEGRITY OF RECORDS AND THE GAME.

EMBRACE NEW SCORING SYSTEMS TO MAKE TENNIS SHORTER! EXAMPLES ARE FAST 4, THIRTY30, NO ADS, PLAYING LETS, ETC AND OTHER CREATIVE FORMATS THAT MAKE TENNIS FAST AND FUN FOR THE MODERN GENERATION OF SPORTS CONSUMER.

you mean for tv purposes? feels like if i bought tix to the live event, i'd be annoyed it was so short...

2. Embrace smaller court size tennis games and let the sport encompass many footprints. I call this Big Tent Tennis: a sport that offers many varieties of tennis sizes and formats for its fans.

Games like Touch Tennis, Padel, paddle tennis, pickleball, and others are very popular and we should embrace and integrate these tennis cousins into the mainstream tennis conversation and messaging.

Let’s get the world playing tennis, no matter what length or size court and no matter what type of ball or instrument used.

love this idea... organization would be a challenge, as there are many "federations" all fighting for some piece of the recreational pie
to add to this, i'd love if live events (like a carnival!) let you do things kinda like bigger baseball stadiums do (eg. more stuff fo the kids to do... maybe speed guns for serving, 10 in a row type challenges, etc...)
then the event becomes more than just sitting there and watching (which my kids can only stand for a hour at a time)...

3. Allow on court coaching at all levels. Kids, amateur and pros. If boxers can get coaching, so can tennis players. Mic the coaches and make their talks part of the show.

agreed. in the end we want all players playing their best...while it was a controversy, i think when lahyani coached kyrgios (who went on to win), wsa great for fans (sucks for his opponent though)

For young players, allow parents and coaches to intervene and support children when they are struggling with overwhelming emotions. Don’t let little kids endure traumatic moments on court without parental or coach support.

hmm... parents on court, might be a disaster, unless they are VERY GOOD at wearing the parent vs. coaching hat (IMO most parents can't!)

4. Integrate new technologies to eliminate cheating at all levels of the game, from junior to lower level pro and college. The future is camera review. It’s just a matter of time before high speed line call review will transform the tennis landscape at all levels and eliminate cheating once and for all.

Check out Playsight’s PlayFair initiative to get a glimpse of what’s coming down the road.

gosh i hope they can make a commercial In/out device like under $1k for every court. heck make the players buy them (i'd definitely buy it), then link them up for improved accuracy. in the end, i don't care so much that the specific line call was correct (ie. within 2-3in), i just want a consistent line (ie. even if the ball was half on the line and is called out, if it's called out on both sides, i'm ok with that)

5. Restructure the Pro Tour to allow a real offseason for the pros for 3-4 months so they can have a real family life and to reduce burnout and injury rates. Make tennis competitive with other pro sport schedules.

agreed, but problem is that the Qualifiers and first round losers need more tourneys.

6. Restructure prize money so the best top 1000 players can make a decent living. It’s ridiculous that players that good are losing money.

agreed.

7. Embrace college tennis. The Tennis Channel’s College Game Days are awesome! Keep promoting college tennis and build excitement for the game at that level!

Work to create college systems world-wide–not just in the US. In this way, we can have a world college championships. There is no reason why other colleges and countries can’t copy the American system and build college tennis around the world.

but i'm presuming folks are coming to the US for the education (and scholarships!), and not necessarily because of the outstanding tennis program.
then again the US in general is the best at stealing top talent from other countries (paraphrasing lee kuan yew on why US will remain a powerhouse over China)

8. Listen to Dave Miley and others and institute a Regional Pro Tour or Transition Tour based on the PGA model. Keep an open and democratic entry point for aspiring professional players. Scrap the current ITF Transition Tour model. It’s a flop.

9. Allow Davis Cup/Laver Cup type atmosphere at all Tour events. NOISE! Get fans pumped and excited to participate in the games like soccer and football fans do.

i'm still amazed they don't sell player jerseys. i'd have bought them, especially if tasteful like RF does... the nadal hats too.

10. Offer pastoral counselors and non-denominational ministers–worship and services–at all Tour events. Let’s promote spirituality and character building to all these young guns who sometimes lose their moral compasses. Not all young champions can be lucky enough to have a Toni Nadal guiding them through life. Tour players shouldn’t have to give up their spiritual or religious worship when they become pros.

11. Restructure junior tennis tournament scheduling to demand less tournament travel and STOP holding big events during typical family holidays and on Sundays or other religious days. Offer fewer big events and don’t make families choose tennis over family bonding and unity or their religious worship. Too many families give up on tennis and choose other sports because of the ridiculous expectations in the tennis junior schedule and ranking system.

There should also be a junior tennis offseason 3-4 months for the same reason as the pros. Prevent injuries and give kids a healthier balance, family time, and time to work on their games rather than chasing points year-round.

12. And finally, let’s get the cost of playing tennis down to a reasonable level! For juniors, the game is too expensive. We will never be able to win against other sports if the cost of tennis stays as high as it is now. The industry leaders need to come together and bring down the costs and price points throughout the industry. Families just won’t choose tennis over some other sports because of the financial negatives which are currently in the game.

now this would be an interesting proposition, considering the costs of top instruction in ny is in the 200-300/h range.
i always presumed the best way to reduce cost, is to move somewhere where real estate and cost of living is cheap.
so that means moving tennis out of places like NYC (big cities) area...
i always thought r williams decision to stay in compton despite having the means to move out, was genius from a financial perspective (albeit dangerous)... free court time, all day, everyday.

More suggestions to come.

Let me know if you agree or disagree. More importantly, let me know why you agree or disagree.


Thanks

Chris Lewit

ProdigyMaker.com

[chrislewit]

Really intelligent comments. Thank you. I’m with you on on JERSEYS!

Chris

[chrislewit]

Chris, go to: www.core.ac.uk Type in: “Sport Specific Policies”. The 2015 article gives some info on how government sporting ministries need to decentralize somewhat and increase interaction iwith the private sector and the media on the tennis environment and the tennis culture.

The U.S. is one of the best examples of private interaction. However, with no centralized sport ministry, there is little incentive(and consequent remuneration) for a comprehensive coaching system. The USPTR is geared toward providing certified teaching instruction, primarily at private clubs. The USTA is geared toward a broad based agenda to increase participation at all levels and ages. Therefore, it’s coaching education efforts are spread pretty thin. The coaching culture in the U.S. is dominated by football, basketball and baseball/ softball. Tennis is an after thought. Sports governing bodies in the U.S., like the state high school athletic associations and the NCAA see no real need to have a real coaching certification process. There are no requirements to coach in the NFL or the NBA. It’s strictly win/loss reputation and “who you know”. Of course, there are downsides to a centralized system and perhaps others can speak to the downside.

The article mentions Sweden’s effort to decentralize somewhat in the 80’s and it rode a tennis wave of popularity during the Borg, Edberg, etc. era. Sports policy researchers are closely watching the recent and successful Icelandic experiment with football.

Thank you amigo

[chrislewit]

I am your biggest fan, Chris, but can't go along with around half of this.

I don't like watering the sport down just because peoples attention spans aren't what they used to be. I like the long game because it weeds out those who aren't as good over the course of a tournament. The longer the haul, the more likely the truly better player will prevail. I don't like messing with a format like that. It's fundamental.

I don't like the idea of morphing into other sports. Tennis stands alone and bears no resemblance to paddle tennis or touch tennis in my view. We could end up roping in squash and badminton if we adopt such an all encompassing approach.

Tennis is a solitary, problem-solving sport. Keep it that way. I have never liked the Davis Cup for that reason.

I am all for stamping out cheating.

I love the college system. Bring it on.

I am not religious so cannot relate to the spirituality stuff. My wife is very religious and just takes it with her wherever she goes.

I don't like the big time wrestling, pumped up crowds. I am British. Like the umpire says..."Quiet ladies and gentleman, please".

I like the idea of restructuring the tour and making prize money fairer.

Yes, juniors can play less and can be just as good. I am all for 'managing' juniors better.

You last question is very noble but you offer no examples of how to do it. Are coaches to charge less, are tournament organisers to charge less, are referees to charge less, are clubs to charge lower fees? Or are governing bodies going to subsidise potential tennis players? At today's exchange in sterling, my club is 100 dollars a year for kids to join and there are no additional courts fees to pay. Floodlights are thrown in free. I charge 40 dollars per hour, 30 dollars for 45 minutes, or 20 dollars for 30 minutes. Not too bad in my view. How are fees over there?

Personally I would like to see some tour tournaments speed up their courts or introduce a longer grass court season. The game is a little boring because all players play the same. Results will be more mixed if there were greater differences in surface. Once the Big 3 bow out, the game could bottom out with them if we're not careful.

By the way, I have both your books on my bookshelf. I admire your knowledge and skills as a coach. And I love the way you have interacted with us anoraks on the forum in the past.

I don't know what the future holds for the game, but so long as they keep serving strawberries and cream and high teas at Wimbledon, I'll be going.

If you want to watch something stunning beautiful, watch this. The picture quality has been enhanced. Watch out for Frank Sedgman at 1:27 serving at the far end - the finest volleyer the game has ever seen by a thumping great margin....technically brilliant.

https://commerce.wazeedigital.com/search/asset/8903884

Thanks amigo. We can agree where we can. I want the game to GROW!

[chrislewit]

Reduce the official spec size of the tennis racquet to 80 square inches. We go backwards to go forwards. The completion backwards principle.

Number 10 is an interesting suggestion. Providing a tour chaplain for the young athletes...both men's and women's tours. An excellent idea. It must be tough being out there on the road away from home.

When I was in school we had seasons for sports and that was the best arrangement possible. In the fall it was football, cross country running or golf. Winter was a choice of wrestling, basketball or swimming and the spring was a choice of baseball, track and field or tennis. All provided on school grounds. My high school had eight tennis courts.

The summer recreation department had a tennis program. In fact there were three sites throughout the city and numerous surrounding cities that we competed with and against. Many of the programs in my region were not sponsored by any governing body of tennis people although there was a USTA body of course. But the USTA was mostly arranging and organising tournaments. The programs were basically run by a local tennis aficionado on public courts.

Thank you

[chrislewit]

My own number one thing would be no add scoring. Tennis is the only sport in which being ahead by one point isn't enough. How ridiculous would it be in basketball or football to have to win by two points. Last second jumper! Sorry only ahead by one. Last second field goal--same. I played tournaments with no ad in Cal for 10 years and grew to love it. Focus, bear down and win the no ad point.
I have often wanted to chart one of those marathon pro 5 setters as a no ad match and see how much it shortened it. I also coached high school tennis for 30 years with no ad. I lot less stress and struggle.

Yes. Why not? I’m with you