United Cup can be breeding ground for innovation, says tournament director

BENGALURU : Tennis has been slow to embrace innovation partly due to its success in a golden era dominated by global superstars but the sport must now strive to move with the times, the tournament director of the United Cup said on Thursday.

Stephen Farrow, who oversees the popular $10 million mixed team event that signals the start of the new season, is keen to continue collaborating with the ATP and WTA to spark changes that can deliver a richer experience for players and fans.

"I think tennis is just a very traditional sport and certainly in more recent years it has been incredibly successful," Farrow told Reuters via phone from Sydney.

"We've had some of the greatest players ever to play the game. Obviously with Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic, we got so many great champions that tennis has done really well.

"We've seen that at the Grand Slams. We had over a million people come to the Australian Open last time. So when you see so many people coming in through the door, there's probably less pressure to try and look at ways that you can innovate.

"There's a lot that's right about tennis ... but all sports have a duty to renew themselves and continue looking at ways to enhance the game."

Farrow said that although tennis was among the first sports to adopt technology, specifically Hawk Eye replays and electronic line calling, it had held itself back from widely implementing features that have since become common elsewhere.

He pointed to the huge success of courtside team zones that help ramp up the atmosphere at the United Cup and where players and coaches can access live statistical data and analysis.

"We also introduced strategy rooms at the ATP Cup, the United Cup and the Australian Open where