After "two decades of dwindling" U.S. TV ratings and a
"steady popularity fade-out, the potentates who oversee"
men's int'l pro tennis are "making an all-out effort to
revamp the game," according to Sam Walker of the WALL STREET
JOURNAL, who writes that the effort includes "everything
from painting courts purple to permitting John McEnroe-style
tantrums during play." Tennis execs are also "quietly
experimenting with one of the most significant rules changes
in the sport's history: cutting the number of games in a set
to four from the traditional six." The "goal" of the effort
is to "add some pizazz to a sport that has been plagued in
recent years by dull matches and vanilla personalities."
ATP Tour CEO Mark Miles: "We want every match to feel like a
duel to the death." Meanwhile, the ATP Tour has spent about
$200,000 on "media coaching" for its players, "with the
emphasis on a new breed of younger, flashier athletes who
look a lot more like rock stars than Rod Laver." But Walker
adds that some observers are "skeptical about the
anticipated benefits of the changes" and that others say the
"changes may be too late to matter." Paul Kagan Associates
analyst Brian Schecter: "Tennis has become a niche sport.
This is not a slump. It's reality" (W.S. JOURNAL, 8/15).
