There are few sounds in sport as satisfying as a cleanly struck tennis ball. There are also few sounds as badly timed as someone opening a fizzy drink during a second serve. Tennis has a reputation for being fussy about silence, and from the outside it can look a bit precious. Why should a cough, a phone ping, or a shouted “come on!” matter so much? The short answer is that quiet helps players do something incredibly difficult: judge, move, decide and swing in a fraction of a
