Rafael Nadal Afraid of what Tennis could Become

Rafael Nadal climbed back to the top of the world rankings after arch-rival, Roger Federer lost the Halle Open final. The French Open champion decided to give the warm-up grass-court tournament a miss.

But one thing that concerns him is how tennis as a game is progressing. He revealed that he would like to see a few changes happen in the sport, else it could be in danger. Nadal was speaking to French newspaper, L’Equipe.

The first thing he wanted to see was a change in the rankings system. He wanted it to be a two-year system and not just a single year as is the case now. “It is the best way to protect players in case they are struck down by injury”, was the reason Nadal provided.

“I have been thinking about it for several years, but it would be even more important at the end of my career”, he added. Nadal also wanted to change a particular rule of tennis.

“I don’t know how, but we should be more careful about this story of serve and power in general. Players are becoming bigger and faster. If we don’t find a solution, it will come a time when tennis will be just about this shot.”

“In ten years, tennis could be in danger”, Nadal said.

The concerns raised by the Spaniard do have some merit to them. Players like Raonic and Del Potro have a booming serve, which more often than not takes the wind off the sails of their opposition.

They are unable to return them a lot of the times and so face little chances of a break-point. Though it may not always help them win matches, the contest becomes more of a competition of ‘who has the better serve’.

Goran Ivansevic was known to be one of the fiercest servers of the ball and he won a Wimbledon title with the help of his blazing aces.