ATP World Tour to have shot clock at Masters events

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

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.

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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