Alex de Minaur In Favour Of Rule Change To Help Speed Up Matches

Alex de Minaur believes stricter rules on a player’s ball toss when serving will speed up the game.

The Australian world No.9 spoke about the topic after beating Japanese qualifier Rei Sakamoto 7-6(6), 6-4 at the Shanghai Masters. De Minaur is enjoying a surge in form since the US Open, winning eight out of nine matches played. Last week he was runner-up at the China Open.

“It’s been a couple of really good weeks in Asia, where I feel like I played some great tennis,” de Minaur told reporters.

“I’m very happy with where I’m at on the court, and I think I’m becoming that dangerous player, which is a good feeling.”

After beating Sakamoto, De Minaur was asked about using a countdown between first and second serves to speed up play. Under current rules, players have 25 seconds after each point to get ready and serve. If they repeatedly exceed this time, they could be penalised. However, no clock counts time between the first and second serves.

Weighing in on the subject, de Minaur suggested that a better way of speeding up play was to make sure players have to hit the ball when they throw it in the air, no matter what. Currently, they can catch the ball and reset within the time limit if they are unhappy with their toss.

“I’ve said this for a long time now, I would have only one ball toss,” he said.

“So, once you throw the ball, you got to serve, no matter what. If you decide not to, it’s a fault.

“That’s another way that people sometimes get away with it: once they’re about to serve, and they have a bad ball toss, they get to restart their routine again.

“That’s another personal opinion that I think would be a good addition.”

De Minaur is a win away from reaching the quarter-finals of a Masters event for only the second time this season after Monte Carlo. In the next round he faces the in-form Karen Khachanov, who defeated Adrian Mannarino in his latest match in Shanghai.

The Australian is seeded ninth in this year’s draw. His best Masters result came in 2023, when he finished runner-up to Jannik Sinner at the Canadian Open.