Interview with: Mark Milne (Thirty30 Tennis)

Q.) To any of our readers that haven’t heard about Thirty30, give them an explanation of the rules and scoring etc.

A.) Thirty30 (or T30) tennis is the equivalent of cricket’s shorter faster-paced Twenty20 (or T20) format where a set is completed in 20 minutes. Everything about the scoring in Thirty30 is identical to traditional scoring except that every game starts from 30-all, i.e. 30-30 – called a “SHORT GAME” – and is announced “thirty-thirty” – the clue is in the name! If a set reaches 6 games all, a 9-point tie-break (first to 5 points) is played with ‘sudden-death’ at 4-4. Change of ends is after the first two games then every four after that. All very simple!

Q.) What inspired you to start Thirty30?

A.) Three years ago for the winter months I started playing TouchTennis – similar to ‘Short Tennis’ but with a faster sponge ball – indoors on a badminton court in a one hour booking slot.

We used traditional tennis scoring and were constantly being frustrated that our ‘best-of-3’ sets matches were not being completed in the available time. I had remembered that during my junior tennis days coaches had used 30-30 game starts as a method to give players more experience in playing the crucial ‘big’ points.

We started using the 30-30 game starts, tweaked the ‘change of ends’ rule and used the 9-point tie-break at 6-6 and found that invariably we would complete the best-of-3 sets match in the hour. The matches were shorter, faster-paced and more dynamic – the game-score ticked over more quickly and still felt, looked and sounded like traditional tennis.

I was very aware of cricket’s extremely successful shorter Twenty20 format that has taken the sport of cricket to new levels, and when I looked at “30-30” the obvious thing to do was to call the new shorter tennis scoring method “Thirty30” tennis – the name says what it does on the tin! Every game starts at “thirty-thirty”.

Q.) What benefits would it bring to the sport of tennis?

A.) Shorter scoring formats are being introduced in many sports in an effort to remain relevant in today’s fast paced world where people do not have the same time to devote to playing or watching sport – Even the die-hard tennis fans do not have time or patience to watch every second of ‘best of 5 sets’ matches that last 4 hours straight.

It is time for tennis to speed up. Speeding up matches by using Thirty30 will work well to generate more excitement and help players to rest and recover faster. It will also attract a younger generation to tennis which is vital for any sports to grow, and to capitalise on.

With the Thirty30 tennis format, sets are estimated to take no longer than 20 minutes, so a ‘best of 3 sets’ match can be completed in an hour (and a ‘best of 5 sets’ match in around 90 minutes). This is a perfect length of time for a sporting event to play recreationally or to stream and enjoy from anywhere in the world.

Shorter formats also provide the opportunity to innovate with tournament formats where round-robin and compass draws events can be utilised more often instead of traditional straight knock-out events – players will be guaranteed to play more matches, more opponents and have more fun.

Q.) Cricket has transformed to new level over the past years, due to the T20 and T10 formats becoming more entertaining and enjoyable for people to watch…do you think Thirty30 could have the same impact on tennis?

A) Yes, anything is possible! My dream is to see both T20 cricket and T30 tennis played at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles or failing that, at the 2032 Games possibly in India! T20 and T10 are used as shorter alternatives to the traditional 5-day Test and the 1-day cricket matches. It is extremely important that these traditional versions still exist, as everyone’s taste is different.

Thirty30 tennis is similar to T20 cricket – it is only to be used as an alternative to traditional scoring. The Grand Slams, ATP 1000, Davis Cup and Federation Cup events should never change – they provide the ultimate tests. In a similar way to T20 cricket, alternative T30 tennis events can be introduced.

Lower level ATP and WTA events have fairly poor spectator attendances and the shorter, faster-paced T30 format can be used to improve this. Complete with its’ more “bite-size” intense periods of play, it can be more family friendly and is also ideal for television and streaming.

Using shorter scoring methods, many more combined men’s and women’s events are possible and this would be great for the fans. A greater number of Thirty30 matches can be completed in the same time, e.g. a tournament ‘Session’ will have more matches and spectators will see more players compete.

Thirty30 matches are still long enough to provide a fair test of skill and ability where the better player still generally wins. This is very important to me going forward, as any shorter format has to be credible and accepted by the competing players, spectators and viewers.

Cricket has been very successful, T20 leagues are played all over the world but are called “Big Bash” in Australia. There is no reason why tennis cannot have equally successful Thirty30 (T30) “Big Smash” leagues played all over the world!

The match format for the “Big Smash” leagues could be:

Teams are mixed, consisting of 2 men and 2 women and include both singles and doubles players. A “Big Smash” League Match consists of five matches:

Women’s Doubles (WD), Men’s Doubles (MD), Women’s Singles (WS), Men’s Singles (MS) and Mixed Doubles (MXD). WD, MD, WS & MS matches are one Thirty30 “Tie-Break Set” and the MXD match is one Thirty30 “Advantage Set” (lead by two games). WD & MD matches are worth one point each. WS & MS matches are worth two points each. MXD match is worth three points.

There are a total of nine points to be won ensuring that a drawn match is not possible. Using one court, the five matches are completed in no longer than two hours and using two courts the five matches are completed in one hour – great for local clubs and for both adults and juniors. Team tennis competitions are great fun with the recent USA World Team Tennis (WTT) mixed matches and the Laver Cup (Team Europe v Team World) Events proving to be very popular.

Q.) What are the next steps for Thirty30, do you want to trial it as a junior or ITF tournament for example?

A.) In early 2017 I completed the ITF’s “Application to amend The Rules of Tennis” application form. I was then informed that Thirty30 would be on the agenda at their next Rules of Tennis (RoT) Committee meeting to be held in Paris in June 2017.

In early July I received a letter telling me that the RoT committee had decided not to put Thirty30 forward to the Board for consideration as their Rules already had alternative methods for shortening tennis matches.

In Appendix V “Alternative Procedures and Scoring Methods” of the ITF’s Rules are listed the following: “No Ads” (i.e. ‘sudden-death’ deuce), Short Sets (to 4 games, T-B at 3-3), Match Tie-Break (7 points), Match Tie-Break (10 points) and “No Let”.

I pointed out that “Short Sets” (to 4 games, T-B at 3-3) with “No Ads” (i.e. Fast4) is not tennis as we know it and that that Thirty30 was possibly better as it retains the best bits of traditional scoring, i.e. sets to 6 games, tie-break at 6 games all, and the Deuce / Ad points are all still played.

I told them that I would go and get T30 trialled all over the world and then re-apply at some time in the future.

At the end of 2017 I started contacting people through social media explaining the Thirty30 tennis project and asking them to try T30 and to send me feedback.

Feedback has been very encouraging, with youngsters especially liking the faster-paced format, and there are now almost 270 Testimonials (April 2020) on the Thirty30 website.

Please see: https://www.thirty30tennis.com/testimonials 

The Foreword of the ITF Rules states:

In addition, on its own behalf or on application by interested parties, certain variations to the rules may be approved by the ITF for trial purposes only at a limited number of tournaments or events and/or for a limited time period.

My goal is to re-apply to the ITF with ‘Proposed Amendments’ to ‘trial of a variation of an existing rule’.

30-30 game starts are nothing new. All that I have done is taken them, tidied it up with regards to ‘change of ends’, used the 9-point tie-break, formalised it as a competition format and called it “Thirty30” tennis.

Q.) How can we support Thirty30 and help you grow the format?

A.) You can support Thirty30 very simply just by spreading the word via your blog and also by sharing on social media.

To take the format forward, I require more people to try Thirty30 tennis and to send me feedback.

I firmly believe that alternative shorter formats are the future of tennis and can help the sport attract younger people into the sport which can only be good for everyone involved with tennis.

Also, with the current corona-virus pandemic situation where the WTA, ATP and ITF tours are suspended for the foreseeable future, together with possible travel restrictions in the future, there is a big window for innovation because there’s no live sport and won’t be for a while for the players and fans.

An opportunity for some privately organised exhibition matches using alternative match and event formats may be possible to take place where and when local government restrictions allow, and these can be attractive opportunities for players to play some competitive matches and earn some income.

I would love to see the annual Home International Tennis (“Big Smash”?) matches between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales resurrected and streamed live – the ‘auld enemy’ match between England and Scotland would be very interesting!

Any live sport which takes place in the months to come will be a novelty, and a welcome diversion during these days of restricted movement.

There is a window for innovation right now to create entertainment for fans and opportunities for players and alternative shorter faster-paced scoring methods can be trialled.

Big thanks to Mark for the interview, we wish him the very best with Thirty30 Tennis. Check out his website, social media accounts and if you have any questions, drop him an email. Email: contact@thirty30tennis.com Website: https://www.thirty30tennis.com

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