The U.S. Open will experiment during its qualifying rounds this year with scoreboard clocks to limit how much time elapses between points and how long pre-match warmups or mid-match clothing changes can last.
Also set to be tried out at Flushing Meadows in August’s qualifying matches: letting coaches communicate with their players from the stands between points.
Depending on how the test runs go, those changes could wind up being used during the U.S. Open’s main draw in 2018, according to Stacey Allaster, the U.S. Tennis Association’s chief executive for professional tennis.
The USTA’s plans to try time clocks and in-match coaching were first reported Thursday on the website of the British newspaper The Telegraph.