Carlos Alcaraz calls out officials for ignoring rule change requests – ‘waste of my time’ | Tennis | Sport

Carlos Alcaraz says he doesn’t want to “waste his time” speaking to tour officials about the shot clock, even though it’s riled him up in recent years. Players get 25 seconds to be ready to serve and return. Previously, the umpire could start the shot clock themselves, but since mid-2024, the countdown has automatically started three seconds after the last point was entered.

Alcaraz has had a problem with the speed of the shot clock ever since that change was introduced at Queen’s almost two years ago. And the world No. 1 has now called out tour officials for failing to come and discuss the issue with him, even though he’s made his feelings clear.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion was asked whether he’d discussed the shot clock rules with the ATP, and admitted he wanted to focus on other things. “Well, to be honest, I haven’t spoke to them. To be honest, nobody came to me to ask me what is my opinion about it,” Alcaraz said.

“So it’s like, yeah, it’s gonna be like that, I would say. I don’t want to waste my time, to be honest, because that’s have been in other situations that you go to complain or to give your opinion and then nothing change at all, so I don’t want to waste my time. They already know my opinion, what’s it been like for me. So let’s see if they’re gonna change it or not, but I just really want to be focused on other things.”

Alcaraz still wants some discretion on the shot clock and believes some umpires are better than others at entering the last point and, in turn, setting off the 25-second countdown. He added: “We could see there are different umpires. So it’s just about with one or two probably, the same guys that just have been problem with a lot of matches.

“But there are other umpires that they are flexible about it. I would say if they understand about tennis, they know how to do it. The guys who are really strict and not having that left hand, let’s say, is because they don’t understand tennis at all.”

Alcaraz has changed his tune since the automated shot clock was trialled at Queen’s in 2024. It bothered him during his shock early exit at the hands of Jack Draper, and he vowed to discuss the issue with the ATP. “I have never seen something like that in tennis,” the Spaniard said at the time. “Today I felt like I was in a rush all the time. I had no time to bounce and do my routine. Of course, it’s something bad for the players, I think. For sure, I will speak to the ATP.”

The world No. 1 got into an argument with chair umpire Fergus Murphy around the shot clock again at last year’s Japan Open. And the issue reared its head in Doha last month, when Alcaraz clashed with Marija Cicak. “The rule is always s***. S***. It’s always the same. Always. Super unfair,” Alcaraz ranted on court after asking the umpire to start the clock after he’d grabbed his towel.

However, not everyone feels as passionate about the automated shot clock. World No. 7 Taylor Fritz admitted it wasn’t a big problem, though he agreed some umpires should use discretion. “I don’t have that much of an issue with it,” the American explained.

“I think sometimes, you know, we can be a bit smarter with it if, like, if someone plays a long point and they finish the point at the net on the opposite corner, and we are playing somewhere where it’s humid and you kind of, like, you need to towel off your hands in between points, then, okay, maybe you give the person an extra five seconds. And that’s where the issue kind of comes in, because it just automatically starts after the point.”

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