00:00A revamped mixed doubles tournament featuring 10 singles stars such as Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu has started in New York.
00:10But the 16 pair events that sees a host of top singles players compete in a quickfire format for $1 million prize money is causing controversy.
00:22Jono, why? Why?
00:24Why? Simple answer is traditionals versus innovators and both have very different opinions in this.
00:31Purists will say that this is devaluing the Grand Slam.
00:33They will also say that it is taking away from what the sport of tennis really is.
00:38While others will see this as kind of a fresh reinvigoration of the sport in general and introducing it to a new audience who may not have the attention span to sit there and observe the entirety of a tennis match.
00:49What it is going to do is, with some of the pros that you currently have, we're seeing them perform far less well than they would if they were in a singles game.
01:00And that's because singles players are not doubles players, understandable.
01:03But you're seeing these amazing world-class players fall out at the very, very early stages of this game.
01:08And it has become somewhat of a glorified exhibition more than anything else.
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