Fast4 Tennis

Fast4 Tennis is a format for playing a tennis match, initiated by Tennis Australia, which leads to a shorter match, by the use of varied rules compared to the traditional rules of tennis.

Whilst the majority of professional tournaments are still run using the traditional format, there have been some pilots of the format, or its variants, in professional tournaments (e.g. the Hopman Cup and the NextGen tournaments). However the 2018 NextGen tournament, for example, did not use the no-let serve, so was not strictly Fast4.

There is significant uptake of the format in some countries (such as the United Kingdom, encouraged by the UK governing body) in lower-level tournaments. The benefits of this include, shorter tournaments (hence less time commitment for players); shorter matches (less wear and tear especially on young players); typically more predictable court usage time. However some criticism exists, including, unpredictability of results in close matches due to the shorter format rules; reduction in on-court time per match (hence less match practice opportunity and effectively increased price per point); the encouragement of this shorter format whilst ignoring valid alternatives which do not have some of the features which are criticised in fast 4 (for example single-set matches, single tie break matches, traditional setting to 4 games).

Fast4 has been described as the tennis equivalent of the Twenty20 format of cricket.^[1]

The rules are similar to the traditional format, but are specifically targeted at shortening match time, including:-

• The use of no-let serves (a traditional “let” must be played as a normal point)
• Deciding point (aka sudden death deuce) in games on reaching deuce (40–40).
• A set is won if a player reaches 4 games with a 2-game lead
• A set tie-break takes place if the set score is 3–3
• The set tie break is won by the first player to win 5 points, with a deciding point if required, at 4–4.
• In some tournaments, the final set (i.e. at 1–1 or 2–2) is run as a match tie-break, which is won by the first player to win 10 points, with a deciding point if required, at 9–9.

With effect from September 2019, the UK governing body (the LTA) has harmonised to a single short match format for all short matches. It is still calling this Fast4, but has the following differences from the Australian Fast4 format:-

• The traditional let serve rule is to be used. Ie the no-let rule has been dropped.
• Traditional set tie break is to be used (first to 7 points with a 2-point margin)
• Traditional match tie break for the third set. This tie break is to 10 points with a 2-point margin.

The following are retained from the Australian Fast4 format

• Sudden death deuce
• A Set is won if a player wins 4 games with a 2-game lead.
• Set tie break at 3–3