ATP: Federer criticises planned change to towel regulation

Roger Federer is critical of the planned change to the towel regulation. In the Next Gen Finals, players must reach for the towel themselves.

After the Spaniard Fernando Verdasco had treated a ball child disrespectfully at the tournament in Shenzhen, a discussion arose about the role of ball children in tennis tournaments.

At present, the volunteers next to the balls must collect the players at their prompts to hand the towel. This will change in the future.

At the Next Gen Finals, towel holders will be placed on the field, from which the players can take the towel and wipe themselves off if necessary.

Record grade Slam champion Roger Federer has now criticized this idea: “At the moment the ball children are bringing the towels, because the game should be made faster. If you now have a holder at the back of the court, you’re wasting valuable time after every rally.”

That doesn’t sound like much, but in a best-of-five match you need the extra regeneration time to prepare for the next point. “So you could see a lot less tennis,” says the Swiss.

Kei Nishikori is not enthusiastic about the idea either. “You’d be in a hurry. But actually, you should think about the next point.” This could cause problems for some players.

Alexander Zverev, on the other hand, has a completely different score. The German describes the constant desire for the towel as “ridiculous”. “There are some players who, out of superstition, demand the towel after every point. That’s not the point,” says the triple Masters-1000 champion.