The ATP is aiming to tighten up time between points—and tidy up towel usage.
The ATP will likely add a 25-second shot clock—and require players to use a towel rack at the back wall rather than use ball kids as towel deliverers—either next year or in 2020, the BBC's Russell Fuller reports.
Watch: Thiem Trashes Stick
The ATP will implement a 25-second shot clock, reduce the warm-up by a minute and add towel racks in an effort to speed up the pace of play.
ATP executive chairman Chris Kermode discussed the proposed changes at a press conference to promote the launch of the 2018 NextGen Finals.
The inaugural NextGen Finals last November introduced a number of innovations, including four-game sets, a 25-second shot clock, no ad scoring, no let rule and coaching.
This year's edition of the NextGen Finals will feature a one-minute reduction in warm-up time to four minutes and the towel rack on the back wall where players will retrieve their own towels.
Kermode said he believes the rule changes used in the NextGen Finals will eventually be adopted by the ATP Tour.
"I think that's a good thing," Kermode said in comments published by BBC. "When we first started this we never committed to what date we would do any of these, because we needed to take a cautious approach.
"I think we can also look at the medical time outs and the toilet breaks, again to speed up play. I think we can get those done quite quickly as well."
The 2018 US Open will clock a major rule change.
For the first time in Grand Slam tournament history, the Open will use a 25-second shot clock during main-draw matches. Players will have 25 seconds from the end of a point to serve the next point.
The US Open and Australian Open have already employed a shot-clock during qualifying rounds; Roland Garros announced it will use a shot clock in the qualifying tournament this month.
Former world No. 1 players Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova are among the players who tend to play at a more deliberate pace with Nadal and Venus Williams both known for their liberal use of the towel.
The 16-time Grand Slam champion suggests a shot-clock will diminish the quality of play.
"If the fans want short points and players playing without thinking, the matches, only going for the shots, maybe is good,” Nadal said during the 2017 US Open. "If you want to have matches like I played here with Novak, probably the three finals that I played here with Novak, probably that kind of match that the crowd is more involved because the points are so long, well, you cannot expect play 50 shots rally and in 25 seconds be ready to play the next tennis point.
"I think that's not possible for a great show. But if you don't want a great show, of course it's a great improvement."
While Kermode favors four-game sets, he suggested it will take much longer for the Tour to adopt four game sets, if it ever happens.
"When it comes to the scoring of the game, that's getting into the ethos of the sport and that takes much longer because you do need everyone to buy into this," Kermode said. "I personally loved it: what was incredible was the intensity from point one. But I'm doing this as a collective; I'm not running it as a dictatorship.
"So all the traditionalists don't need to panic that I am single-handedly going to do this. I personally like it, but we've a long long way to go until we do anything else."
Photo credit: AP Photo