Zverev secured his second Grand Slam title by beating Shelton 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 in Sunday’s final at Flushing Meadows, but his serving routine became one of the major talking points of his fortnight.
The German regularly bounced the ball more than 10 times before a second serve, with some rallies seeing him bounce it upwards of 20 times. While there is a 25-second limit between points, there is currently no separate restriction governing the time taken before a second serve, provided the player remains within the permitted period.
Zverev received a time violation during the final and acknowledged afterwards that he had pushed his routine further than usual.
“I think I have to criticise myself. It was a bit extreme this tournament,” Zverev said.
“Normally I am one of the faster players, I don’t usually take my time.
“But I am still always within the time frame, so at the end of the day, you can do whatever you want within the actual 24 seconds of serving.
“But it was a bit extreme, I have to admit that.”
Shelton had already become frustrated by the delays during the final and argued that the rules should be changed to prevent players from effectively having unlimited time before second serves.
“For a first serve you should be able to do whatever you want and use the full 25 seconds every time,” Shelton said.
“I think that there should be some sort of rule – I’m not sure exactly how you would do it – limiting time on second serves. You shouldn’t have unlimited time.
“For our sport, for the fans. I think it’s tough to be sitting there for that long for the next action to happen.”
The American was not the only player to raise concerns. Karen Khachanov made a similar complaint after losing to Zverev in the semifinals, saying the repeated bounces made it difficult for opponents to know when to prepare for the serve.
However, Khachanov also acknowledged that Zverev was operating within the rules unless he exceeded the permitted time.
Former player and coach Mark Petchey similarly defended the German, pointing out that he was using the time available to him.
Zverev has previously said that he does not deliberately aim for a particular number of bounces and suggested during the tournament that he had tried to reduce them after noticing how much the routine had increased.
