He caused a stir when he recently branded today’s tennis elite, namely Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, as “boring” and “predictable”, but Pat Cash stands by his comments and insists that almost all ex-players agree with him.
The retired Australian, who won Wimbledon in 1987 and was renowned for his attacking style of play, said the baseline game which has taken over has made tennis mundane and is worried the volley might end up strictly confined to doubles competition, which in his opinion would be a “travesty”.
Cash claims a drastic change needs to be done to save the sport and the 48-year-old had some ideas of his own on how that can be achieved.
“I personally would ban certain strings. I think strings are giving an unfair advantage and I think making the courts a bit faster would encourage players to come forward and [make sure] they have to hit some winners,” said Cash, who has become an ambassador for Abu Dhabi's Mubadala World Tennis Championship.
“It’s ridiculous that a great shot, a forehand into the corner is not rewarded. The guys just come back here and scramble it back.
"It’s way too advantageous towards the baseliners these days and the players aren’t stupid. They know that you’ll win at the baseline so they’ll stay at the baseline.
“Almost unanimously all the ex-players (agree with me). Even baseline players like Mats Wilander agree things must be more encouraging for players to come forward. It would be horrible to see a volley resigned only to the doubles court, that would be a travesty to the game of tennis.”
One player who hasn’t completely abandoned the net just yet is Roger Federer. The 17-time Grand Slam champion had a difficult season where he failed to reach a major final for the first time since 2002.
The Swiss, however, said on Monday in Shanghai that he believes he can have a good 2014 considering he doesn’t have many points to defend, and Cash agrees a good season is on the cards for Federer.
The Australian added: “I think Federer played really well this season. He had a poor match in the US Open but in Wimbledon he played really well but got beaten by a guy who was red hot and that happens.
“He’s capable of beating any of the top guys. I’m not sure he’s capable of winning back-to-back five-set matches. But no doubts he’s capable of winning another Slam. He just needs a little bit of luck.”
Cash also weighed in on the draw fiasco in Linz where world No10 Angelique Kerber was given a last minute wildcard after the draw was made which meant a local player was left out of the tournament.
When asked whether he’d ever seen anything like thast Cash quickly responded: “Oh yes, the US Open did it, I think in 1990. They made the draw, Sampras and Agassi were in the same section so they redid the draw. The players got together but we decided not to take action.
“In Linz however, smaller tournaments need big name players. It’s unfortunate for the local player but for the long run I think it’s good for the tournament.”
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– Reem Abulleil: Draw for WTA even in Linz a farce
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