Alexander Zverev‘s ball-bouncing saga has caught the attention of the tennis community, a topic that was also at play during the US Open final against Ben Shelton. While rules regarding time restrictions are subjective and often depend on the umpire’s discretion, former World No.1 Martina Navratilova has come up with another solution, one that puts the onus on the player.

“They need to make a rule- 5 bounces max,” wrote Navratilova on X. Zverev’s serve routine at Flushing Meadows has seen him bounce the ball countless times before he starts his motion, something which the German has repeated during first and second serves. While there’s a short clock of twenty-four seconds for the first serve, it is solely on the umpire to make any time violation calls against a player in case of delayed second serves.

It has not been without its consequences for Zverev, who received a time violation warning in the fourth set in the final against Shelton. The German was unhappy with the call after a brief chat with the umpire before going back on the line. That is why Navratilova’s suggestion of limiting ball bounces makes sense, as it is a more objective measure for stopping delays than the umpire’s subjective calls.

The ball bouncing also did not do Zverev any favors with the Arthur Ashe crowd ,who were already in favor of Shelton. The umpire had to issue repeated warnings for less noise between the Germans’ first and second serves, and when the time violation was called, there were loud cheers in the stadium.

Also, the incessant ball bouncing can often be disturbing for the opponent, who has to shift their return positions, not to mention the psychological impact of such a tactic. Zverev has got his fair share of complaints from his opponents at this year’s US Open, none more so than his semifinal opponent, Karen Khachanov. The Russian was not impressed by the top seed’s habit of taking too many bounces between serves, something that irritated the former in the semifinal.

Zverev is not the first player to have the habit of having too many ball bounces while serving, as Novak Djokovic and Marin Cilic are infamous for similar routines, although the Serb did change his style later. For Zverev, the World No.2 won’t care much about the criticism he gets, as he ended with the title in New York, his second at the Majors.

Playing in his sixth Major final, Zverev had a brilliant start in his match against Shelton, as the German played some excellent tennis to win the first two sets. The top seed did not let the New York crowd affect him at all, as he played calculated tennis, mixing his defensive rallies with his net approaches to keep his opponent guessing the whole time. Even though the American won the third set, the top seed was the dominant force, playing an excellent fourth set to close out the match.