NCAA Format Changes Causes Uproar Among College Fans

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NCAA Format Changes Causes Uproar Among College Fans

By Erik Gudris

(August 17, 2012) -- Players, coaches and fans of college tennis are up in arms over a plethora of proposed sweeping changes announced by the NCAA that could fundamentally alter how matches are played next season.

As first reported by ZooTennis.com, the NCAA report that was published after a committee meeting held in July would seek to shorten both singles and doubles matches in an effort to help make NCAA tennis more viable especially in terms of being broadcast on T.V. or streamed online so to increase revenue opportunities.

The changes, which according to the report would shorten the length of overall matches in order to better protect student-athlete welfare, would have best two out of three set singles matches decided by a final set tiebreak and doubles matches reduced to a six-game set with a tiebreaker at 6-all.

Critics of the new format changes say that it will decrease interest in new players taking part in college tennis as the shortened length of matches will not prepare those who eventually want to compete at the pro level. The report's goal of reducing match time so to protect student-athletes' health and welfare is viewed by many as being completely unnecessary and unproven.

"Few matches take that long and as you may have noticed, they provide absolutely no match duration statistics to support that red herring," said Colette Lewis, founder of ZooTennis.com. "The ones that do extend to that length are the absolute pinnacle of the genre, akin to Nadal-Djokovic in the AO final. No self-respecting Division I player would see that as a benefit to this plan and believe me, none were consulted about this change."

The USTA issued a statement that it was planning to release a letter later this month in conjunction with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) opposing the new format changes.

Active and former college players have taken to social media to voice their opposition to the changes and raise awareness. A Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/400386836676614/ with over 2,000 members was started along with the Twitter hashtag #savecollegetennis.

John Isner, who played at the University of Georgia and is the most well-known college player to achieve significant success on the pro tour in recent years sent out a message on his Twitter account saying, "I got where I am bc of college tennis. The new proposed rule changes will b detrimental 2 player development. If its not broken don't fix it."