Overview
- A chair umpire issued Alexander Zverev a time violation during his US Open semifinal tiebreak after extended ball‑bouncing between serves, though Zverev still won and advanced to the final.
- Karen Khachanov said the routine “annoys a lot of players” because repeated bounces force returners to reset their split step and disrupt rhythm during points.
- Zverev denied any deliberate gamesmanship, saying he does not count bounces and that he was surprised by broadcasters’ tallies that put his tournament total at roughly 12,000.
- Former players and commentators including Andy Roddick and Sam Querrey have publicly urged rule changes such as a short clock for second serves and bans on catching a toss, saying current rules let players exploit gray areas.
- Under present USTA/Grand Slam practice a 25‑second shot clock applies to starting the first serve but no fixed clock governs the second serve, so any formal change would require tennis rulemakers to rewrite timing rules and standardize umpire procedures.