Naomi Osaka's coach suggests major rule change to make tennis less 'boring'

coach Patrick Mouratoglou has suggested a number of changes that could revolutionise tennis in an attempt to make the sport more entertaining for spectators.

With the draw of the 'Big Three' in men's tennis no longer guaranteed to bring in large crowds after Roger Federer's retirement and Rafael Nadal's impending farewell, Mouratoglou believes more must be done to convince people to watch tennis.

The 54-year-old believes that the rules should be changed so that players are limited to one just one serve, rather than two, which will likely result in a reduction of the number of aces and increase the average time that the ball is in play.

Mouratoglou also theorised that breaks between points, serves, and games should be reduced to ensure that fans will not have to wait 25 or 30 seconds for some action on the court.

"There should only be one serve," he said. "Because otherwise, with the quality of the servers now, there are too many aces, serve winners, and it's boring for the people. You know, [nowadays] you have one second of play and then 25 or 30 seconds of wait - it doesn't work."

Mouratoglou's suggestions may well be taken seriously as the Aussie is held in high regard in the world of tennis. He was Serena Williams' coach for a decade until 2022 when she retired from tennis with 23 Grand Slams to her name.

In September, it was announced that he would be linking up with four-time Major winner Naomi Osaka. The 26-year-old split with Wim Fisette, with whom she won two of her four Grand Slam titles, after four years working together.

And Osaka, who said she was initially hesitant about working with Mouratoglou because of his reputation in tennis, linked up with the experienced coach in September this year.

"The fact that he was Serena's coach made me want to avoid him just because his persona is so big," she said. "This isn't rude because I found out it's not true, but I didn't know if he was a good coach or he coached Serena.

"Then I met him, talked to him, worked with him on the court. He absolutely is a really good coach."

Mouratoglou is not the only notable figure to have called on ATP and WTA to consider major rule changes. Former world number one and 24-time Slam champion Novak Djokovic suggested that only the men's semi-final and final matches at Grand Slams should have five sets.

As things stand, every match in the men's singles competition is played to a potential five sets, whereas in the women's singles category, matches are limited to three sets.