Isner, Navratilova agree with Andy Roddick's serving suggestion - "It's part of the execution of a serve"
ATP
Former World No.1 Andy Roddick recently came up with a suggestion to change the rules for ball-toss while serving.
As per the current rules, players can either catch the ball or let it drop if they are not satisfied with the toss, and they won't be penalized in any way. However, if a player swings their racquet at the ball after tossing and misses, it's considered a fault.
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Tossing the ball is not a hard-and-fast rule. Players often go for underarm serves, popularized by Nick Kyrgios in recent times. Although it was initially seen as unethical by some players and fans, the underarm serve has become more acceptable, especially after players like Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray spoke in its favor.
2003 US Open champion Roddick took to social media to point out that since the toss was a part of the serve, players should not be allowed to catch the ball and try again without getting penalized.
"I kinda think you shouldn’t be able to catch your toss, and try again. It’s part of the execution of a serve… Am I wrong on this?" tweeted Roddick. "You’ve definitely started your motion once the toss goes up …. Thoughts?"
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Andy Roddick's suggestion immediately struck a chord with 48th-ranked John Isner, tennis legend Martina Navratilova, and American volleyball player Erik Shoji.
"YES 100%. Half the doubles tour would be out of a job though," Isner responded.
"Was just talking about that today when doing a match," said Navratilova. "Agreed. It’s a live ball. Could be really interesting- like some serves would be good gets."
"I’m with you. In volleyball we have no second toss option. 1 toss and gotta play," tweeted Shoji.
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As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
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