Novak Djokovic’s controversial calls to change the tennis rules have not gone down well with fans, players, or pundits.
In a recent interview, Djokovic lobbied wholesale changes to the points system in tennis, which would coincidentally aid him in his quest to win another Grand Slam.
Speaking to Nick Knows Ball, Djokovic said he wanted tennis to “not play up to six games in the set, play it up to four, possibly no advantage. Best of five sets, keep the matches within a two hour window. It’s best for everyone.”
Kim Clijsters has disagreed with Djokovic’s stance, but Ben Shelton has been far more diplomatic with his response to the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s ideas.
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Speaking in his post-match press conference at the Canadian Open, the American said: “I think it could be cool. It was interesting coming from him, because he’s always been the guy who’s the fittest on tour, the guy that can last five hours, six hours, doesn’t matter.
“But I think it would be an interesting change, for sure. I think tennis is certainly a traditional sport, and tournaments like to stick with their traditions, but I would be interested to play some matches in this format.
“I thought it was cool the way they did it at the Next Gen finals. I like the five-set format. Whether it’s a shortened or a full format, I think could be cool.”
Shelton was speaking after getting his Canadian Open campaign off and running with a victory against Jenson Brooksby in the second round of the Masters event.
The American is the defending champion at the event, but he has already been aided by the early exits of Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, and Flavio Cobolli, who all surprisingly fell at the second round stage.
Add into that the withdrawals of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Djokovic before the tournament, as well as Felix Auger-Aliassime’s withdrawal ahead of his first match, and Shelton is one of the hot favourites to win the title yet again, which he will need in order to not slide down the rankings too much.
Shelton began the tournament as the fifth seed at the Canadian Open, but he is already the second highest ranked player left in the tournament, behind Alex de Minaur.
He will play Zizou Bergs in the round of 32 for the first time since 2024, when the American beat the Belgian at the Houston Open.
Whoever wins out of Bergs and Shelton will await the winner of Casper Ruud and Joao Fonseca in the fourth round, as the tournament reaches the latter stages.
