Would Federer and Nadal like this? Rusedski proposes DRAMATIC new tennis rule change
ROGER FEDERER and Rafael Nadal are both against the new Australian Open rules - but now Greg Rusedski has proposed an ever bigger radical change.
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The Australian Open will use a 25-second shot clock for the first time when it kicks off later this month.
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The shot clock was trialled at US Open qualifying and the Next Gen ATP Finals and will be used in between points to ensure players serve within 25 seconds.
But former British tennis star Rusedski thinks a new rule should be brought in - first to five game sets.
Discussing rule changes at the Champions Tennis tournament at the Royal Albert Hall, Rusedski said: "The obvious one to use right away is the 25-second shot clock because that worked really well at the Next Gen finals.
"Nobody goes over the time limit and it speeds up the game so that's a no-brainer for me.
"The four-game sets I'm still not convinced because some of the of four-game sets, over five sets, sometimes the matches actually go on longer than suggested.
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"I would actually like to try something and play five-game sets and play best of three that way.
"Most of the players were exhausted after trying the new rules by the end of the Next Gen finals. They had to be switched on from the very first second and they were exhausted by the end of it.
"You've always got to try and new things to develop the game."
Both Federer and Nadal have reacted negatively to the introduction of the shot-clock.
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Federer believes it could become "quite stressful" and says it may lead to players cramping up.
While Nadal said: "I believe it is not something that is good for the future of the Tour.
"For me personally, I am not worried at all. I don't want to play for 10 more years. I can adapt easily to that.
"But in my opinion, it's not the same playing at 15 degrees [Celsius] or 18 degrees than playing at 35 degrees and that's why we have umpires, as they have to evaluate all the conditions to create the best show possible for the fans. "
