Tennis legend calls for major change in sport and also wants names on the back of jerseys

ONE of tennis’ GOATs has called for the sport to CHANGE its iconic scoring system.

Billie Jean King, 80, is one of the biggest names in tennis history.

Billie Jean King revealed how she thinks tennis should be updated and changedCredit: Getty

She won 39 Grand Slam tournaments – 12 in singles, 16 in doubles and 11 in mixed – and was one of the nine founding members of the WTA Tour.

However, she has certainly ruffled a few feathers among traditionalists by suggesting how tennis can continue to be popular among future generations – particularly against the backdrop of the rise of padel.

And that meant doing away with the famous and unique 15-30-40 scoring format – which is said to have started by using a clock face to keep tabs – and doing away with it by using the word “love” to mean zero.

King told BBC Sport: “I want to make it easier for the fans.

“I think it should be 1-2-3-4 and not 15-love, 30-love.

“If you’re a kid – I don’t come from tennis – what does that mean?

“If we want eight, nine, 10, 11, 12-year-olds to get involved in our sport, we need to make it accessible to them – not a 60-year-old fan.”

Padel, however, uses the same scoring system as tennis and has not stopped a huge wave of new players and fans.

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King did not specify the format of points, games and sets – which can make for incredible drama and mini-battles against the backdrop of epic matches.

But his suggestion of a major change to simplify scoring did not go down well with his supporters who called the move “ridiculous”.

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One said: “Ridiculous idea! I started watching tennis when I was around seven and ‘figured out’ the scoring system after the first match or two. It’s not It’s not complicated!”

Another wrote: “This is absurd, Billie. Aspiring tennis players aren’t put off by a rating system… they just want to hit a ball and ‘play like Rafa’ or any other tennis player that They were able to see.”

A third added: “I’ve been following tennis since I was five or six and I understood scoring straight away from watching a match, no need to fix something that isn’t broken.”

A fourth replied: “Ironically, by wanting to make tennis easier for children, she is showing her age… As a child, after watching a match, your brain is plastic enough to understand the scoring system, you don’t Don’t question the logic.”

And one end user commented: “Of all the problems facing tennis, the scoring system in matches ranks 547th on the list. »

King also has another bold idea to help new fans get into the sport.

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The six-time Wimbledon singles champion added: “I would like to see names and numbers on the back of the tennis jersey.”

Rugby and cricket are among the sports to follow in football’s footsteps in recent years by adopting names on jerseys to help identify players.

Elsewhere, King had some strong words of warning for both Emma Raducanu and the hypocritical stars complaining about the grueling length of the season while also playing lucrative, money-making exhibitions.

The American continued: “If Emma can stay healthy long enough, then we’ll see how well she does.

“But if you keep getting injured, you’ll never get that momentum back. If you’ve been injured – really injured – I always want to give a player at least a year and a half to recover.

“It takes a lot to come back from an injury and you have to be very patient.

“Katie Boulter, people should watch out for her.

“I’ve been watching her for about five years now and every year she gets a little better. I don’t think people appreciate her enough. She’s gotten faster, she’s more consistent.”

King continued: “It’s so interesting how they’re always complaining that it’s too much.

“By the way, they’ve been doing this forever – but then they have a month off and they go play exhibitions.

“I say, ‘Really?’ You said you needed rest. Don’t tell me you think the season is too long.

“I know if there’s enough money, we go out there and play. It’s a really difficult argument for me to listen to the players.”

King reckons Katie Boulter is the one to watch in British tennis over Emma RaducanuCredit: Getty

Names and numbers are now commonplace in Test cricketCredit: Getty

Wimbledon ditch line judges double fault for British tennis

By Joshua Jones

The absence of linesmen at Wimbledon will be a sad spectacle.

For as long as I can remember, men and women in their Ralph Lauren outfits have been part of the furnishings of the All England Club.

Yes, they provided some light on-court entertainment when what could be described as “faulty” was a lot of extra, unnecessary enthusiasm and volume that exploded around center court, provoking a snicker from the fans.

Then there was the ongoing game of dodgeball they had to play when a big serve landed a gigantic ace down the line and they had to take quick evasive action or take a hit to the top of the head.

And the challenges allowed for some audience participation, enthusiastically joining in with the countdown of applause before the inevitable “oooh” when the graphic showed how close the ball was to landing or coming out.

From a purely objective point of view, Wimbledon’s decision to replace the linesmen with Hawk-Eye Live makes perfect sense.

Real-time call accuracy and consistency will speed things up, save time, and should mark the end of arguments over incorrect calls – that is, until the technology malfunctions.

And Wimbledon was somewhat forced to abandon the tradition because of its position in tennis.

The Australian Open and US Open already use electronic calling and the ATP Tour is adopting Hawk-Eye Live in all its tournaments starting in 2025.

Wimbledon’s refusal to comply would leave them behind and expose them to the threat of unnecessary controversy over human error.

But the impact – as is so often the case in these decisions – has ramifications further down, beneath the surface, with very little impact on the Wimbledon Championships or the players.

This is on the line of the judges themselves.

Around 300 officials – aged 18 to 80 – covered more than 650 matches at Wimbledon.

A fraction of them travel abroad with the tour, but the vast majority of them are part-time lines judges based in the UK, earning up to £180 a day to work on the prestigious tournament and have the chance to play their part at Wimbledon.

For many, they will be contributing to British tournaments throughout the year, boosted by the opportunity to take to the pitches of the All England Club.

But it is understood many of those officials would be reluctant to work at lower-level tournaments without the carrot of Wimbledon this summer.

This in turn will pose a major stumbling block in the path of British tennis referees as they climb the ranks to reach the top of the sport.

Like football with referees, tennis needs referees and linesmen.

So the failure to bow out at Wimbledon could prove to be a major ‘fault’ for the future of British tennis officials and therefore the state of the sport on these shores.