{"id":2080348,"date":"2026-08-06T11:00:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T08:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2080348"},"modified":"2026-08-06T11:00:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T08:00:46","slug":"ben-shelton-says-what-he-really-thinks-about-novak-djokovics-calls-to-change-the-rules-of-tennis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2080348","title":{"rendered":"Ben Shelton says what he really thinks about Novak Djokovic&#8217;s calls to change the rules of tennis"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Ben Shelton says what he really thinks about Novak Djokovic\u2019s calls to change the rules of tennis<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/liam-mcmillen\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Liam McMillen                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"06 Aug 2026 12:00 PM\" data-ps-date=\"06 Aug 2026 12:00 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1786014046\"><br \/>\n                            06 Aug 2026 12:00 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on 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src=\"https:\/\/images.ps-aws.com\/c?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Fcontent%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F01%2FShelton-Djokovic-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured: Ben Shelton and Novak Djokovic.\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Ben Shelton and Novak Djokovic.                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/novak-djokovic\">Novak Djokovic<\/a>\u2019s controversial calls to change the tennis rules have not gone down well with fans, players, or pundits.<\/p>\n<p>In a recent interview, Djokovic lobbied wholesale changes to the points system in tennis, which would coincidentally aid him in his quest to win another Grand Slam.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Nick Knows Ball, Djokovic said he wanted tennis to \u201cnot play up to six games in the set, play it up to four, possibly no advantage. Best of five sets, keep the matches within a two hour window. It\u2019s best for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/kim-clijsters-verdict-on-novak-djokovics-ideas-to-change-tennis\">Kim Clijsters has disagreed with Djokovic\u2019s stance<\/a>, but Ben Shelton has been far more diplomatic with his response to the 24-time Grand Slam champion\u2019s ideas.<\/p>\n<h2>More Novak Djokovic news<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/atp-tour\/alexander-zverev-nonsense-rule-change-suggestion-insists-novak-djokovic-doesnt-care\">Alexander Zverev counters \u2018nonsense\u2019 rule change suggestion by saying Novak Djokovic \u2018doesn\u2019t care\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/daniil-medvedev-surprised-by-what-novak-djokovic-has-done-recently\">Daniil Medvedev admits he\u2019s been surprised by what Novak Djokovic has done recently<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Speaking in his post-match press conference at the Canadian Open, the American said: \u201cI think it could be cool. It was interesting coming from him, because he\u2019s always been the guy who\u2019s the fittest on tour, the guy that can last five hours, six hours, doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I think it would be an interesting change, for sure. I think tennis is certainly a traditional sport, and tournaments like to stick with their traditions, but I would be interested to play some matches in this format.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought it was cool the way they did it at the Next Gen finals. I like the five-set format. Whether it\u2019s a shortened or a full format, I think could be cool.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/ben-shelton\">Shelton<\/a> was speaking after getting his Canadian Open campaign off and running with a victory against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/jenson-brooksby\">Jenson Brooksby<\/a> in the second round of the Masters event.<\/p>\n<p>The American is the defending champion at the event, but he has already been aided by the early exits of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/alexander-zverev\">Alexander Zverev<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/Taylor-Fritz\">Taylor Fritz<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/flavio-cobolli\">Flavio Cobolli<\/a>, who all surprisingly fell at the second round stage.<\/p>\n<p>Add into that the withdrawals of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/carlos-alcaraz\">Carlos Alcaraz<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/jannik-sinner\">Jannik Sinner<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/novak-djokovic\">Djokovic<\/a> before the tournament, as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/Felix-Auger-Aliassime\">Felix Auger-Aliassime\u2019s<\/a> withdrawal ahead of his first match, and Shelton is one of the hot favourites to win the title yet again, which he will need in order to not slide down the rankings too much.<\/p>\n<p>Shelton began the tournament as the fifth seed at the Canadian Open, but he is already the second highest ranked player left in the tournament, behind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/Alex-de-Minaur\">Alex de Minaur<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He will play <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/Zizou-Bergs\">Zizou Bergs<\/a> in the round of 32 for the first time since 2024, when the American beat the Belgian at the Houston Open.<\/p>\n<p>Whoever wins out of Bergs and Shelton will await the winner of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/casper-ruud\">Casper Ruud<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/joao-fonseca\">Joao Fonseca<\/a> in the fourth round, as the tournament reaches the latter stages.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ben Shelton says what he really thinks about Novak Djokovic\u2019s calls to change the rules of tennis Liam McMillen 06 Aug 2026 12:00 PM Ben Shelton and Novak Djokovic. Novak Djokovic\u2019s controversial calls to change the tennis rules have not gone down well with fans, players, or pundits. In a recent interview, Djokovic lobbied wholesale [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-2080348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2080348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2080348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2080348\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2080348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2080348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2080348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}