Naomi Osaka booked her place in the third round of the US Open, but she was forced to survive a scare against Katerina Siniakova after her serve let her down.
The Japanese star was a set and a break up on two occasions, but she was unable to serve out the match against the talented Czech player.
Osaka was broken three times in a row to drop the set 7-5 as she struggled to get her first serve in.
She ultimately was able to recover, after taking a toilet break after losing the second set, and her serve looked back to its best as she romped to a 6-1 win in the decider.
However, Osaka’s inconsistent serving led Tim Henman to question whether there should be a new rule introduced into tennis in order to aid players struggling on serve.
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Speaking on Sky Sports Tennis, alongside Gigi Salmon and Naomi Broady, Henman said: “You wonder, it’s another rule that we probably discuss, whether you get rid of the let serve when the serve clips the top of the net.
“And whether you should only have one opportunity of throwing the ball up. If you throw the ball up, you’ve got to hit it. Well, you just wonder whether it might actually take away some of the pain.
“You’ve only got one chance, so here it goes. I wouldn’t say that your not allowed a second serve, but if you throw the ball up, you’ve got to hit it. If you miss the first serve, then you’ve got the second serve.”
This is not the first time tennis personalities have lobbied for players to only receive one ball tennis during matches.
Brad Gilbert, who has previously coached the likes of Coco Gauff and Andy Murray, has called the current rule ‘ridiculous’, while Patrick Mouratoglou believes stricter rules on serve would open up the flow of the game.
Speaking to Tennis.com in 2025, the French coach said: “The high number of aces and serve winners is detrimental to tennis. We want more rallies and less of these quick points—boom, serve, winner, ace, missed return. An occasional ace is fine, but not too many.”
Despite several high-profile names now lobbying for a change, there does not appear to be any of the powers the be budging when it comes to service rules.
Over the years, there has also been calls for let calls to be removed and for second serves to be banned completely, but nothing has changed in a very long time when it comes to serving.
