"What are we trying to fix?"- Andy Roddick baffled by suggestion to speed up tennis, insists it's doing well despite end of Big-3, Serena Williams era

Andy Roddick was perplexed by a former tennis pro's suggestion to only allow five '2nd serves' in a set to speed up the game. The American insisted that the sport have been doing well despite the end of Big 3 and Serna Williams' era and hence there was no need to change rules.

Recently, Petchey suggested that players should only be allowed five '2nd serves' per set so that they take more risk and go big in the first serve. According to him, this would create more rallies.

"Always wondering how we can change tennis. So I was thinking you should only be allowed 5 second serves a set. Would speed the game. Bring more strategy into when you go big with a 1st and up the risk profile of missing it and create more rallies," Mark Petchey wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.

Andy Roddick did not take fancy to this idea and he asked if there is even a need to change tennis when it has been performing well despite losing some of its biggest stars recently, like Roger Federer and Serena Williams.

The American also pointed to the off-field tennis content like documentaries being produced and US Open tickets being sold out as a sign of the sport flourishing.

"But what are we trying to fix? And why? Tennis is exploding even in the vacuum of big 3 towards the end, Serena gone etc. mainstream docs regularly made/streamed about our icons. Ratings strong, participation up, US Open tix already sold through at a record level. Are we entertaining ourselves w this practice?" Roddick replied.

Andy Roddick to Mark Petchey's suggestion: "You’re being serious?"

Andy Roddick at the Statoil Masters Tennis

Andy Roddick continued the discussion with Mark Petchey over his proposal of limiting the number of 2nd serves. Petchey explained his stance by stating that this rule would help to level up the odds at the amateur level. He provided an example that if a player has a higher rating than his opponent he gets no 2nd serves.

"It is five 2nd serves a set, not 5 seconds. I am back off to primary school to relearn how to write. Basically premise is, you have to choose your risk profile for your 1st serve as you only get five 2nd serves a set to use. I will give an extra 2 for the TB because I am purely spitballing here, You can also use it as way of levelling up the odds in the amateur/club scene," Mark Petchey said.

"One player gets no 2nd serves if their rating is x higher than their opponents Appreciate its the early stages of this evolution (revolution) but in general, reading the comments, it’s gone down very well with nearly everyone ."

Roddick did not like the proposition and replied:

"You’re being serious?"