Tennis: Becker attacks rule changes
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Boris Becker yesterday launched a bitter attack on the International Tennis Federation and threatened to pull out of next January's Australian Open. In an astonishing tirade following a straight-sets semi-final win over Mark Woodforde at the Australian Indoor championships, Becker said that the ITF treated the world's top players like puppets. 'I don't know why they want to hurt the game like this - and they are the governing body,' Becker said. Becker was particularly scathing about a decision to reduce the time available to players between points from 25 seconds to 20 seconds. He said the move would put players' health at risk, especially at the Australian Open. 'We will have to wait until people fall down in the fifth set and then we will see that maybe it was not such a good idea,' Becker said. Jared Palmer of the United States and Magnus Larsson of Sweden reached the final of the Toulouse Open tennis tournament yesterday. Palmer defeated the German fifth seed Bernd Karbacher, of Germany, 6-4 6-1 while Larsson beat Andrei Chesnokov, of Russia, 6-1 1-6 6-1 in the semi-finals. Natalia Zvereva of Belarus and fifth-seeded Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria advanced to the finals of the European Indoor tennis tournament in Zurich yesterday. Zvereva trounced Dutch qualifier Mirjam Oremans 6-0 6-2. Maleeva defeated Helena Sukova of the Czech Republic 6-2 7-5.
(Photograph omitted)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments