Allow on-court coaching

The opaque nature of the rule makes it redundant

A singular irony in the face-off between Serena Williams and umpire Carlos Ramos is that the US Tennis Federation was the first to experiment with on-court coaching in the qualification tournament for the US Open last year. The persistent aftershocks from the Williams-Ramos controversy a week after the event, however, point to the urgent need for the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to take a definitive call on on-court coaching.

There are compelling arguments for permitting the practice in all tournaments. First, it will end the subjective element in the umpire’s judgement. The rules states: “Communications of any kind, audible or visible,