BBC's Martina Navratilova calls for tennis rule to be scrapped after Wimbledon

Martina Navratilova reiterated her calls for tennis to remove service lets at Wimbledon after branding that aspect of the rule "useless". The nine-time champion made her latest plea to speed up matches during the women's singles quarter-final between Karolina Muchova and Naomi Osaka.

Navratilova, 69, was commentating on the BBC's coverage when Osaka benefited from a let call on serve after hitting the net chord. Per the rules of tennis, she got her first serve back because her initial serve hit the net and landed in the service box, as would also have happened if it had hit the receiver.

Speaking on BBC One, Navratilova said: "Do away with that let cord, you know I talk about it all the time. Nobody's moving forward on that; get rid of it, it's useless!

"No, play the let, play the ball, it's a live ball. Every once in a while, you get that dribbler that would be an ace, but that happens once every three matches, so just play. Most of the lets are just a little nick, keep playing, speed up the game."

Wimbledon notably does not enforce the rule in its boys' and girls' events - which Jordan Lee and Anna Pushkareva won at this year's championships, respectively - following a change across all Junior Grand Slam tournaments in 2018. They also do the same at the Next Gen ATP Finals.

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Navratilova says she has wanted to rule change for over two decades. In response to tennis commentator Steve Weissman "saying no more lets on serves" on the Tennis Channel in October 2023, she replied: "Been screaming that for about 20 years!!! NO MORE LETS!!!!" Weissman explained: "It happens in every other part of the game other than the serve. No more lets."

It also came up during last year's US Open women's singles final, prompting Navratilova to say on Sky Sports: "It's such a stupid rule. I am really fed up with it. I have been talking about it for decades, it feels like! Why? Somebody made that rule 150 years ago, and we have not changed it!"

John McEnroe also called for the same change at last year's tournament. He said on BBC Radio 5 Live's 6-Love-6: "Play lets, I would play lets. I think that is more exciting, but the top players would not want it because it adds an element of uncertainty and luck. That is why I don't think you will see it, but I would like to see it."