Court Report: Australian Open to introduce 10-point tiebreaker in deciding set

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The ATP Masters events will be required to have a visible 25-second shot clock and other tour events will also be allowed to introduce the measure next season, TENNIS.com has confirmed.

The shot clock will therefore be a regular feature when professional tennis re-starts next week, since the WTA recently announced that it was introducing a shot clock at Premier events and the Australian Open will also be using the shot clock.

The ATP Board approved the introduction of a shot clock at meetings during the ATP Tour Finals, followed by a similar approval by the WTA Board.

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ATP World Tour to have shot clock at Masters events

ATP World Tour to have shot clock at Masters events

The change is accompanied by strict time limits for the beginning of matches, with a minute for the walk-on period, a 5-minute warmup and then a minute to commence play. It also increases the time allowed between points at tour events, which had been 20 seconds.

The changes were trialled during the lead-up events before the US Open, which had introduced the shot clock during qualifying a year before and used this year in main draw play for the first time.

According to initial data, it has not had a significant effect on the length of time players take between points. Umpires have flexibility in when to start the shot clock and are allowed to stop it during an interruption.

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