Photo by @nextgenfinals via Twitter.
By Ricky Dimon
Following a bizarre and controversial draw ceremony earlier in the week in which the NextGen ATP Finals participants were placed into round-robin groups based on which models they liked the most, on-court action mercifully began on Tuesday in Milan. Andrey Rublev, Borna Coric, Hyeon Chung, and Daniil Medvedev earned victories on Day 1 of the inaugural event.
But first, the rules. Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few months, you know the rules–even if you didn’t watch the tennis on Tuesday. But here they are:
– Three out of five sets
– Sets are first to four, with a tiebreaker (of normal length) played at 3-3
– No-ad scoring
– No lets (a serve off the net that goes in is in play)
– Coaching via headsets allowed in between sets
– No challenges because line calls are made electronically (no linespeople)
– Strictly enforced 25 seconds in between points
– Crowd can move around freely, not just during changeovers
The scoring format is why these results will look foreign to the eyes of even the most hardcore tennis fans:
– Andrey Rublev defeated Gianluigi Quinzi 1-4, 4-0, 4-3(3), 0-4, 4-3(3)
– Borna Coric defeated Jared Donaldson 4-3(2), 4-1, 4-3(5)
– Hyeon Chung defeated Denis Shapovalov 1-4, 4-3(5), 4-3(4), 4-1
– Daniil Medvedev defeated Karen Khachanov 2-4, 4-3(6), 4-3(3), 4-2
“It was actually amazing,” Medvedev said after winning the first match of the week–the first-ever NextGen ATP Finals match. “The crowd was big. Playing against your friend (Khachanov) for the first time on the ATP was a special feeling. I really liked it.
“I like most of the rules. I like to play without the let; it’s just fun. I like the deciding point. One minute (and) 30 (seconds) between games, two minutes between the sets gives you more time to recover . I didn’t really like that the crowd can walk (during points); this is too much I think. That’s probably the only thing.”
Medvedev and Coric, the two winners in Group B, will go head-to-head on Wednesday. That leaves Khachanov to face Donaldson. In Group A, Rublev will meet Chung and Shapolov will square off against Quinzi.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.
What a comeback! Chung rallied from a set down to d. Shapovalov & claim the 2nd victory of the #NextGenATP finals – Photo by @nextgenfinals via Twitter.
Photo by @nextgenfinals via Twitter.