Andy Murray says that changing court conditions would be a way to speed up matches, suggesting the increase in playing times is due to the game being slowed down.
"I do think [the sport] could do a better job of adjusting the surfaces,” Murray said, speaking at the Tiebreak Tens event at Royal Albert Hall. “I think the indoor courts are probably too slow, grass courts are also too slow."
However, Murray questioned whether long matches were a real issue. “We were told after the Australian Open a few years ago when I had that semifinal with Novak [Djokovic] and then he played with Rafa [Nadal] in the final, we were told that none of the TV companies complained about the semis or the final being too long, it was great for them, so I don’t really know how much of a problem it is."
Either way, the 28-year-old does not want to see drastic adjustments to the scoring system. Murray said having a tiebreak at 5-5 instead of 6-6 would be preferable to any fundamental changes.
"I think one way of speeding the game up is to make the courts a bit quicker and the balls a bit quicker," he added. "That would then change the length of some of the matches but I think we genuinely have a great scoring system in tennis, one of the best across all of sports.
“It’s just because the courts have become so slow that the matches have become very long."