Possibly inspired by his recently published book, Boris Becker is not holding anything back these days. His star pupil, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, is dealing with the fallout of claims that his team coaches him during matches. “There are moments when he looks up and he needs assurance that what he is doing is right,” Becker said on BBC Radio. “And then we have our ways about it to tell him it’s good or tell him it’s bad. And then it’s up to him to change it.”

The WTA has allowed on-court coaching since 2008 at all its tournaments; the Grand Slams, which are outside of the WTA’s jurisdiction, are the notable exceptions. Last fall, the WTA announced that coaches could even bring tablets on court so they could have mid-match stats on hand. But the ATP has not budged, clearly stating that any communication between players and coaches during matches is strictly prohibited.

There is precedent for all of this drama: In January, Becker admitted that he tries to communicate with Djokovic. “During a match the referee obviously watches me carefully and I can’t do a lot,” said Becker. “But there are people with me and they can use some Serbian dialect to let him know what I want. That works pretty well.”

Rafael Nadal has been accused many times for communicating with his coach and uncle, Toni, and was fined for it during Wimbledon in 2010. At the Australian Open in 2008, Jelena Jankovic paid a $2,000 fine after her mom spoke to her in Serbian during her match. Maria Sharapova was even part of a banana scandal at the US Open in 2006, where her entourage was allegedly signaling to her with fruit.

Nadal defended himself by saying that his uncle wasn’t giving him tips, just support. Which is what Djokovic echoed at this year’s Wimbledon. “I’m going to say that there are certain ways of communication which is encouragement, which is support,” Djokovic said. “… But it’s all within the rules.”

Nick Bollettieri has said in the past that “anyone in tennis who doesn’t think it happens should open their eyes and ears,” after admitting he has used signals like touching his sunglasses. Djokovic agrees. The Serb has never been fined for illegal coaching, yet even he sees that tennis is very susceptible to it. “This is a very competitive sport. You’re alone on the court,” Djokovic said. “We can’t pretend like that’s not happening in tennis.”

Coaching at WTA events hasn’t dramatically changed the purity of game, but what it has done is help stop all the finger pointing. On-court coaching is also a seamless part of college tennis—as well as the Davis Cup, one of the oldest men's tennis competitions—so why is it so taboo at other levels? Pro coaches are certainly being paid enough to do more than sit back and relax during bloodthirsty Grand Slam battles.

If coaching became legal across the board, players would spend more time talking about their games rather than defending their coaching boxes. Less time would be wasted debating whether a few raised fingers or a piece of fruit makes a cheater—aren't there more important things the sport can focus its energy on?

The core of tennis is that it’s a fiercely individual cage fight, and many traditionalists would say to leave coaching for team sports. Yet if coaching is already slipping by at such a scale that the world No. 1 is acknowledging it, what’s the real harm of allowing it everywhere? The speculations would be silenced once and for all.

Follow Nina on Twitter at @NinaPantic1.