Fast4 tennis

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fast4 Tennis is a tennis variant that was initiated by Tennis Australia and, thanks to modified rules, leads to a shorter tennis game.

While the vast majority of professional tournaments are still held in the traditional format, there have been some pilot attempts of the Fast4 format or its variants in professional tournaments (e.g. the Hopman Cup or the NextGen tournaments ). The NextGen 2018 edition, on the other hand, did not use the no-let rule for serves. In some countries (e.g. the UK) the format is already used more frequently in tournaments at lower levels. The advantages include shorter tournaments (thus less time spent by the players), shorter games (less physical stress on the players) and usually more predictable game times.

history

Testing with the Fast4 format began in Melbourne in October 2014. But clubs all over Australia also tested the format. Fast4's first major public game took place on January 12, 2015, when Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt played against each other in an exhibition match in Sydney. Federer won 4: 3 (5: 3), 2: 4, 3: 4 (3: 5), 4: 0, 4: 2. Rafael Nadal took part in the Fast4 promotion on January 13, 2015 with an exhibition match in Melbourne Park, the venue of the Australian Open.

U10 to U18 tennis tournaments in the Fast4 format have been held in Great Britain since September 2015.

At the international Hopman Cup in Perth in 2017 and 2018, the final mixed games were played in Fast4 format. The Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan are also held in Fast4 mode.

All games of the Swiss Tennis Pro Cup at the end of July 2020, in which the Swiss national tennis teams for men and women dueled each other in Biel, were played according to the Fast4 rules.

regulate

The Fast4 tennis rules (excerpt) are a modification of the traditional tennis rules, with the following major changes:

  1. Individual games are played with best-of-three (three winning sets), short sets (on four games won) with a short tie-break when the score is 3: 3.
  2. A short tie-break is a tie-break that is played up to five points. Sudden Death decides when the score is 4: 4. The player whose turn it is at the start of the tie-break (Player A) receives two serves. The opposing player (player B) then receives two serves. Player A (or player A's team-mate in doubles) then two serves. Player B (or teammate of player B in doubles) then receives two serves again. If the score reaches 4: 4, player B (or player B's teammate in doubles) will serve at the last point, with player A deciding which side to return from. Players do not switch sides until after the first four points have been played.
  3. All single and double games are played without a no-advantage, with the receiver choosing the service side when the game reaches the score 40:40.
  4. No-let is played, i.e. H. if the ball hits the edge of the net during service and lands in the correct service area, play continues. If the ball hits the edge of the net in doubles and lands in the correct service area, both reciprocators may return the ball.
  5. When changing sides at the end of a game and during a tie-break, play must be ongoing and players must be ready to play within 60 seconds of the end of the previous game. Players are not allowed to sit down during a set when changing sides.
  6. At the end of each sentence there must be a break of 90 seconds maximum. The maximum pause time starts from the moment a point ends until the first service is performed for the next point. Players are allowed to sit down at the end of a set.
  7. If the set is tied after the 2nd set, a champions tie-break to 10 points with a two-point lead at the end is played.

controversy

Since the first spread of the Fast4 format in competitive tennis in Australia and Great Britain, some aspects have been discussed controversially.

  • More and other decision points (tension)
    • Since two points difference are no longer required in the tie-break, decision points are reached more quickly, which can be set, match point or even championship point for both players at the same time.
    • Without a debut, there are more “big points”, so a game can be won or lost more quickly. An outsider has more chances of winning a game against a much higher ranked opponent.
  • Relief for professionals and the tournament calendar
    • The often very long games with high physical strain lead to increased injuries for professionals. Shorter games reduce this risk. The very dense tournament calendar is also relieved.
  • Serve less decisive for the game
    • Statistical studies at Cardiff Metropolitan University have shown that the mark-up in the Fast4 format has less of an impact on the game result than in the traditional format. In addition, the games last less long.
  • No-let surcharges
    • This rule states that serves that get stuck on the edge of the net and still end up in the correct service field must be played. This includes impacts that are significantly slowed down by such contact. As a result, net rollers that are practically unplayable can already occur when serving; even with important points in a game.
    • One of the main arguments in favor of no-let serves is that there is no possibility of the receiver cheating on the service: the receiver can no longer request the service to be repeated by claiming that a valid serve has hit the net.
  • The end result is more determined by random factors.
    • While in the traditional format the stronger player usually wins when opponents are almost equally strong, the outcome of the Fast4 format is more determined by random factors. There are often limited opportunities to recover from a bad start or break.
    • On the other hand, the organizers hope that the outcome will be more open for players of different strengths.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fast4 tennis. LTA Tennis for Britain, 2019, accessed October 18, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Hopman Cup breaks with a tradition. tennisnet.com, December 27, 2016, accessed on October 28, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Securitas Pro Cup. In: swisstennis.ch. Swisstennis, accessed on July 25, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Fast4 Tournament Scoring Format & Rules. Tennis World (Australia), accessed October 29, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Luca Betschart: Five reasons why the Fast4 mode should establish itself in tennis. bluewin.ch, January 9, 2019, accessed on October 29, 2019 .
  6. ^ Paul Newman: Fast tennis: the game's answer to Twenty20. In: Indipendent.co.uk. January 12, 2015, accessed October 29, 2019 .
  7. ↑ What are the new rules for the Next Gen ATP Finals good for? In: Tennismagazin.de. November 12, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2019 .
  8. ^ Simmonds, E., O'Donoghue, P .: Probabilistic models comparing Fast4 and traditional tennis. International Journal of Computer Science in Sport, December 2018, p. 159 , accessed on October 29, 2019 .