’25 second shot clock good for business’- Rafael Nadal

Published 04/18/2018, 5:06 AM EDT

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Rafael Nadal, who is currently gearing up to defend his Roland Garros crown, said he was not a big fan of the new 25 second shot clock rule, that is going to be introduced at the US open, later this year. Nadal has often been criticized for slowing down the tempo of the match during his service games, and has also been issued a warning multiple times in his career. The introduction of the new shot clock rule has not gone down well with the world number one.

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“It’s obvious that sometimes when you play a rally with 56 shots as I did with Novak (Djokovic) a couple of years ago in the final (US Open 2013), you cannot expect a good point if you have 25 seconds on the next point”, said Rafael Nadal. He also added, “In my experience, on the tennis court, the crowd gets more crazy, the crowd gets more emotional and enjoys the match with more passion when you play good points.”

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Nadal implied that while the shot clock would fetch more businesses, it would be negative for the sport, as it would decrease the possible intensity in the rallies. “Maybe for the business, it’s better but in my opinion for the good show and the show that the people get more involved, it’s probably more a negative thing”, he said.

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However Rafael Nadal said that he is ready to change his approach if that is what the sport wants from him. “For me, it’s not the ideal thing but if the sport is moving that way or they want to move that way, the only thing I can do is accept it and play. That’s why I am here, to play tennis and to accept all the rules.”

Nadal returned to professional tennis, after taking a break since retiring from the Australian Open, to guide Spain to a thrilling victory over Germany in the Davis Cup earlier this month. The Spaniard is expected to play in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Barcelona, in his attempt to prepare to defend his French Open title.

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