Tennis is one of the sports that has grown the most in recent years thanks to relevant figures such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovicamong others. Currently, the number one in the ATP ranking is the Italian Jannik Sinnerwho took the lead from the Serbian tennis player in recent weeks.
In the last few hours, a momentous change was confirmed in one of the rules of the sport of small ball, which caused a great controversy among the protagonists.
This was confirmed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) at its last general meeting in Hong Kong.
The new rule establishes that coaches will be able to give instructions to tennis players either verbally or by signs, something that is widely used in soccer, but was resisted in tennis due to the silence with which it is usually played.
One of the first to react to the controversial rule was the Canadian Denis Shapovalovwho strongly opposed the decision, arguing that it takes away the naturalness of the sport.
“Not only as a tennis player, but as a fan of this sport, it is sad to see this new rule for off-court coaches. Tennis is special because you are out there alone. “Why try to change the beauty of this game?” he said after the rule was enacted.
Likewise, the American Taylor Fritz was against it, even since the rule was tested in 2022.
“I really hate him. It is not something that should be part of our sport. Tennis is an individual sport, so why would someone else be able to help you?” he said on that occasion.
The rule will begin to be implemented from January 2025.
