Tennis stars have called for 4 rule changes after Emma Raducanu issue and Wimbledon impact

Tennis is a sport of many rich traditions but several star names have recently proposed rule changes. There have been calls for more measures to be implemented to better protect players, following Emma Raducanu's recent struggles at the Ningbo Open.

The British star suffered a surprise defeat to wildcard Zhu Ling earlier this month, with Raducanu twice requiring medical attention during her match. The first incident was to monitor her blood pressure, and later for treatment on her back. The 22-year-old had previously withdrawn from the Wuhan Open due to dizziness. After the Ningbo Open, Raducanu ended her season early, cancelling her plans to compete at events in Tokyo and Hong Kong. Other current players have argued over the temperatures they are forced to play matches in.

Heat rule

Tennis star Matteo Berrettini has expressed concerns about the implementation of heat rules at certain tennis tournaments. The four Grand Slam tournaments set their own limits for extreme heat.

However, during ATP events, the power to grant extended breaks or suspend a match lies with individual tournament officials. Berrettini has argued that the Grand Slam protocols should become standardised across the sport.

"During the Asian swing, I experienced conditions I'd never experienced before," Berrettini said. "Hangzhou was hotter than Shanghai, but the tournament was smaller, so no one noticed.

"The first few days were so hot we couldn't believe it. Luckily, they had a roof, and it rained a lot. When conditions are so extreme, the ATP needs to do what the Grand Slams did: introduce a heat rule or something similar.

"We don't want players to get injured or have those difficulties. In the end, health comes first, but also the spectacle: if players don't feel well, they withdraw. We don't want that. Most people don't even understand how different it can be to play even in the same tournament with only five degrees less or more."

Three-set matches

Former US Open finalist Jessica Pegula has argued that men's Grand Slam matches should be changed from five-set matches to three sets. This would have an impact on Wimbledon and the other Grand Slams, where men's matches can last up to two sets longer than their female counterparts. However, Pegula believes that three-set matches are a harder task as the shorter contests leave less room for error.

"100 per cent I think it's harder to win two-out-of-three than it is to win three-out-of-five," she said after her surprise first-round loss at Wimbledon this year. "Not physically, obviously, but I think it always is going to cater to the better player in the long run if you're playing three-out-of-five. I think you'd see a lot more upsets of top players if men played two-out-of-three in slams.

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"It's a lot harder when you don't have that much time. You get down one break, especially for the men, and you're like, 'Oh, gosh, I'm kind of done. I need some luck. I need someone to choke a little bit.'

"There's a lot [that] needs to happen. I definitely think three-out-of-five you have way more time to turn around. You do. You have an extra set."

Scoring system

The unique tennis scoring system is one of the most recognisable quirks across the sporting world. However, tennis legend Billie Jean King has previously argued that it is time for tennis to adopt a simpler scoring system to help young fans better understand the game.

"I want to make it easy for fans," she told the BBC last year. "I think it should be one-two-three-four, not 15-love, 30-love. If you are a kid - I didn't come from tennis - what the heck does that mean? If we want to get eight, nine, 10, 11, 12-year-old children involved in our sport we have to make it accessible to them - not to a 60-year-old fan."

Shorter changeovers

Pegula once again proposed another rule change regarding the changeovers in tennis. The changeovers refer to the breaks that occur between odd-numbered games or at the end of each set, though these rules have been relaxed at some tournaments. While several tennis stars take issue with the number of fans moving around during changeovers, Pegula has argued that it is unfair for fans to miss significant portions of a match.

"I don't really get bothered by crowd or fan movement and stuff like that, " Pegula explained in August. "I think they've kind of tried to change some of that already, maybe making it more fan-engaged, like, throughout the match.

"Yeah, I think you should be able to probably... I hate when you're standing outside and it's two really long games and you have to wait for a changeover and you miss... I think that should change."

"I don't really get bothered by fans having to come in and out, if there's a lot going on. I know some players are, like, nobody can move in the whole stadium.

"I'm not like that, so I would like to see that change because I think from a fan perspective, to have to wait and miss, like, a huge part of the match, that's not fun for a fan. Yeah, I think maybe that should change."