12,040.
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That’s the total number of times Alexander Zverev bounced the ball this year at the US Open across his five matches, accounting for over two and a half hours.
This practice doesn’t only apply to Zverev. It’s a common ritual for most players to bounce their balls 20-25 times before each serve, making for a frustrating ordeal for opponents. That is when Alex de Minaur felt that it was time for a crucial rule change and found support from Coco Gauff’s ex-coach.
“He’s 1000% right I’ve been saying for 40 years,” wrote Brad Gilbert on X. “That it’s ridiculous you can get as many redos on ball toss as you want.”
The support coming from Gilbert makes perfect sense as he himself tried to bring some notable changes to Gauff’s serve in his tenure as coach. In his time as her coach, he brought in Andy Roddick to help with raising her ball toss, as she was throwing it from too low.
Gilbert also was one of the first people who emphasized that Gauff’s serve struggles were largely mental and gave her the impetus to play to her strengths. These minor yet effective changes led her to win the 2023 US Open.
Those practices that were initiated by Gilbert allowed her to gain a complete reassessment of her serve motion after their split in 2024. Now, with the help of Gavin Macmillan, a biomechanics and serve specialist on her coaching team, Gauff has found steadier ground with her serves.
However, that is not the case for all top stars.
After defeating Rei Sakamoto 7-6, 6-4 in the Shanghai Masters, De Minaur addressed the delay that is caused by such prolonged serve routines. This prompted him to suggest imposing stricter regulations to prevent this practice from being misused and getting out of hand.
“Between first and second? Yeah, that’s fine,” said the world No. 8 in support of introducing a clock between first and second serves. “I think, ultimately, you would get away from people trying to take a little bit more time in between first serve and second.”
De Minaur had observed that some of his opponents end up repeating their entire serve routines if their ball toss goes wrong. Tennis rules currently enforces a 25-second serve clock before first serves, but second serves do not have a time limit, allowing players to extend routines. Noticeably, Novak Djokovic and Zverev repeated their serve routines multiple times during the China Open, which has led the Australian to bring this set of suggestions forward.
“I think one of the things I would say personally is I would have only one ball toss. So, once you throw the ball, you got to serve, no matter what. If you decide not to, it’s a fault,” he explained.
As of now, the official bodies have not issued any statement on this matter, but Alex De Minaur seems to have stirred the conversation for a major overhaul.
Ben Shelton and Karen Khachanov Might Stand By Alex De Minaur
Ben Shelton and Karen Khachanov might support Alex De Minaur’s wish for stricter rules as they spoke about Alexander Zverev’s bizarre serve routine during the US Open. The American was even more frustrated as the incident took place in the final match of the tournament.
He stated that umpire Marijana Veljovic spoke to him about not being in line during Zverev’s serve, which bought him even more time. This displeasure continued even in the presser when he spoke about the incident.
“I was like, ‘He can start his routine whenever he wants. I promise you there will never be a time where he serves and I’m not ready,'” Shelton said. “But if he’s bouncing the ball 20 to 25 times, I shouldn’t have to just sit there for that.”
Khachanov, on the other hand, faced the same incident in the semifinal and said, “The way he bounces the ball, look, it annoys not only me, of course, [but] a lot of players, because it takes so much time, really. You don’t know how to prepare for the serve. You are, like, ready, and then it’s another 12 bounces.”
Zverev, who was targeted multiple times over this, clarified that this is not something he does intentionally. However, three events since, it doesn’t seem like he is willing to change it either.