Nadal against shot clock in tennis

Rafael Nadal believes epic encounters of the sort he and Novak Djokovic produced at the US Open would be impossible with the advent of a shot clock in tennis.

Organisers in Flushing Meadows implemented a shot clock – to measure the time players took between one point ending and serving to begin the next – during US Open qualifying this year.

The initiative will not feature in main-draw matches, something the Spaniard is no doubt pleased about.

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“About the clock on the court, well, I tell you one thing: Depends on what the fans want. If the fans want short points and players playing without thinking, the matches, only going for the shots, maybe is good,” said the world No.1 on Saturday in New York.

“If you want to have matches like I played here with Novak, probably the three finals that I played here with Novak, probably that kind of match that the crowd is more involved because the points are so long, well, you cannot expect play 50 shots’ rally and in 25 seconds be ready to play the next tennis point.

“I think that’s not possible for a great show. But if you don’t want a great show, of course it’s a great improvement.”

Both Nadal and Djokovic – Nadal in particular – have frequently fallen foul of time rules, receiving warnings from the chair umpire for exceeding the 20-second period allotted between points at Grand Slam tournaments.

Nadal defeated Djokovic in four-set finals at the US Open in 2010 and 2013, while Djokovic won a particularly bruising four-set encounter between the pair in the 2011 final.

It was reported that their five-hour, 53-minute Australian Open final of 2012 would have been 70 minutes shorter had they played according to time limits.