Players, fans react to proposed Grand Slam rule changes
If there's one thing tennis fans love, it's arguing about hypothetical rule changes. Well, the Grand Slam Board announced some actual rule changes on Tuesday, and, naturally, Tennis Twitter chimed in.
First on the list of amendments is that--at the 2018 Australian Open--instead of a 20-second rule between points that's rarely enforced, there will be a "strict" 25-second shot clock.
Also, warm-ups will last five minutes, with a potential $20,000 fine for violating.
Next, in light of some low-quality first-round matches at Wimbledon this year, players who withdraw right before a tournament will get half their first-round prize money, wth the lucky loser getting the other half. This aims to prevent injured competitors from playing bad matches just so they can collect their ~$50,000.
Relatedly, any player who retires or "performs below professional standards" in the first round may have to forfeit their prize money.
Last, for 2019, the Grand Slams "intend to revert to 16 seeds." This means the top seed could draw the would-be 17th seed in the first round.
That was the real controversy.
Overall, reactions to the moves were mixed.
World No. 10 CoCo Vandeweghe had the strongest public opinion (thus far):