Next Gen ATP Finals announces bold new format
The inaugural November event features short sets, no lets and muc
Understandably, whenever there is change in tennis, there are mixed reactions. The Next Gen ATP Finals recently announced a new scoring format and different rules for the inaugural tournament in November. The event will feature the best eight players on tour, ages 21 and under.
The Next Gen ATP Finals committee opted to boost crucial moments and create quicker entertainment. These changes have been tried before (like in World TeamTennis and Fast4 Tennis), but not on this big of a scale.
Twitter immediately became a sounding board for some disgruntled fans:
While others were more open minded:
The players certainly seem on board. Alexander Zverev, the points leader in the Race to Milan, sent out his approval.
World No. 2 Novak Djokovic, who is nearly a decade too old to play in the event, told press in Rome that he likes the idea.
“In terms of introducing new things and new rules to the tennis, I think everything is evolving in life and sport does, too," he said. "Tennis has to be open-minded for these kind of new potential changes."
Regardless of where you stand on the format of the Next Gen ATP Finals, it's certainly drumming up plenty of attention.