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Billie Jean King has always been vocal about her thoughts on the current issues in the tennis world. She recently did not mince words when asked about the changes she would like to bring to the current tennis circuit.
Billie Jean King shared a video on social media platform X on September 18 in which she pondered upon the future of tennis and proposed three changes she would implement to make the game more accessible to young people, in particular. First, the American legend suggested revamping the scoring system from 15-30-40 to a more straightforward 1-2-3-4 system.
“I cannot stand the scoring. I think it's hard to get new people into the sport, particularly young people. I think we should get rid of the 15, 30, 40 game. We should have 1, 2, 3, 4. If you have to win by two, then at three all do two points in a row or whatever but get rid of 15, 30, 40,” Billie Jean King said.
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King then proposed changes in the way players dress for matches. The 80-year-old opined that players should have their name and a number on the back of their t-shirts while playing matches so they can be promoted better. She took inspiration from other sports, such as basketball and football.
“Every player should have their name and a number on. Why? We need to promote our players like every other sport does. You look at basketball, you look at football, baseball, they have their name and their number.”
The third and final change Billie Jean King put forward pertained to the length of matches in men's and women's tennis. The American wants the best of three sets implemented across the board so women don't get "shortchanged" when it comes to media dollars.
“I definitely want two out of three sets. Or we have to play the same amount, men and the women. Because we're getting paid by media content, and women always get shortchanged because of the content,” she said.
King's proposals drew strong reactions from across the tennis world, and let's take a look at what prominent tennis personalities have said on the issue:
Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick focused on Billie Jean King's suggestion to switch to the best of three sets. In an interview with Tennis Channel, the American laid out his disagreement with King by arguing that a five-set match is the best way to fill hours on TV when a tournament gets to its final stages.
While he was scared to disagree with a tennis icon like Billie Jean King, Roddick stated that the extended format helps tennis compete with other programs by filling more hours on television.
"I don't know that I'm much of a fan of that. I think, especially later on in tournaments, you look at slams where, you know, it's tough scheduling the first week of a slam, but by the end, you need the extended format just to fill hours, right?" Andy Roddick said.
"If we can, offer for TV contracts eight hours of tennis versus five hours of tennis, I feel like eight hours is worth more value. So again, I'm scared to disagree with Billie Jean King, but I would," he added.
Paul Annacone
Famed tennis coach Paul Annacone also gave his take on Billie Jean King's three proposals during an extended debate on the Tennis Channel. Annacone, known for coaching the likes of Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Sloane Stephens, Stan Wawrinka, and currently Taylor Fritz, concurred with King's idea to change the scoring system to 1-2-3-4.
He liked the simplicity of the proposal but opined that the complexity of the tennis scoring system is not a problem that needs urgent attention. Annacone stated that there are other issues that he would like to see resolved for the betterment of the sport before changing the 15-30-40 system.
"I like the simplicity of it. I think that makes a ton of sense. But when you look at the plethora of issues that face out game, that wouldn't be at the top of my list. I mean, Billie Jean has great ideas here as she does across the board. I would look at most of these as the micro issues though, not the macro, but that doesn't mean disregard them. That means look at them after the macro issues," Annacone said.
Moving on to the idea of putting player's names on t-shirts while playing matches, Paul Annacone again agreed that the concept would bring more recognition to lesser-known players. However, he also noted that clothing contracts and other such factors might make it challenging to achieve this goal.
"It's great for the players that we don't know. I think it's a great concept but I, I think that,, as no, he said, you know, clothing contracts, agents, independent contractors, global individuals for tough, tough to do it," Annacone stated.
Mark Knowles
Bahamian tennis legend Mark Knowles appreciated Billie Jean King's attempt to promote tennis across the world with her suggestion of basketball-type jerseys for players during matches. However, he also explained the difficulty of implementing the idea.
Knowles, currently the head coach of Jessica Pegula, stated that the modern-day structure of the tour, with agents playing a more significant role in a player's career, will make it hard to adopt Billie Jean King's approach.
"I understand the concept obviously from Billie Jean, obviously more promotion but the way that the tour is set up with agents and so forth and with players, you know, they own their own space. And so it's very hard, it's more of a socialistic approach, right?"
"To get everybody promoted. But, you know, top players, they're agents, they're gonna keep that really tight, they're gonna have their own deals. So I understand the concept of getting it done is a whole another bag of... it's just tough to get done," Mark Knowles said.
John Millman
Australian tennis player John Millman gave his thoughts on Billie Jean King's idea via posts on the social media platform X. Millman pointed out that tennis is the only sport that offers equal pay to men and women. He disagreed with King's "flawed" argument that women make less money because they play shorter matches than men.
The Aussie went on to say the only tournament where men and women play different set formats is the Grand Slams, and now every Grand Slam offers equal pay.
"We are in a unique position where our sport can be nearly the only in the world where men and women are paid equally. A bit to go but on the way! But the argument we should play same format bo3 and bo5 because we get paid on media content and women are shorted is flawed," John Millman tweeted.
"Slams are one of the places that despite the format, women and men are paid equally which is great. I don’t understand how the longer format at grand slams is advantageous to the men?"
Ben Rothenberg
Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg admired Billie Jean King's commitment to improving tennis and always speaking her mind on pressing issues. While he did not give his opinion on any of King's suggestions, Rothenberg welcomed the American legend's "fresh" ideas.
"One of the many great things about BJK is that, even as a tennis lifer, she always has the ability to step back and see the sport with the clarity of fresh, outside eyes," Rotherberg tweeted.
Apart from these major tennis personalities, fans also had their say on Billie Jean King's ideas. Many fans flocked to social media to state their ardent rejection of the proposals, finding them flawed as they would have little impact on the current system.
