MILAN, November 10, 2017
Andrey Rublev advanced to the semi-finals of the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, taking place at the Fiera Milano and featuring a couple of new rules in order to add drama, eliminate downtime and increase the pace of play in each match.
Shorter set (Best-of-5 et to 4 with tie-break at 3-3), No-Ad-Scoring, Shorter Warm up (matches begin precisely five minutes from the second player walk-on), Hawk-Eye-Live (no line judges at all), Player Coaching (coaches may communicate with the player via headsets in between each set), No-Let-Rule, Medical Time Outs (a limit of only one), Shot Clock (25 seconds between each point), Singles-Only Court (no doubles lines on court) and a Free Movement Policy (fans are allowed to move freely in and out of the stadium during matches with exception of areas directly behind baseline) are intruduced to the game during this week in Northern Italy.
Rublev, who made it to the the final four by winning two of his three matches in the group stage, is not a fan of every new rule.
“When they put some rules that doesn’t change the game of tennis, it’s okay,” the 20-year-old Russian said after his win over Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov on Thursday evening.
“But I don’t like when they try to change the game, which happens when you only play four games with no-ad-scoring. With these rules, everyone can beat everyone, and in my opinion it is a little bit unfair, as I think that the winner has to be the guy, who is working harder.”
Popular Shot Clock
On the other hand, Rublev agrees with the overall hawk-eye-system and the shot clock, which also seems to be the most popular of the new rules with other players.
“I think the shot clock is pretty good, because I got some time violations in my career,” Rublev’s fellow Russian Daniil Medvedev told.
“Sometimes you walk around, start to bounce the ball and you get a violation. I don’t have a timer in my head to see it was already 25 seconds. So here it’s pretty fair. If you get a time violation, you can consider this, as your own fault. That’s what I want to see on the ATP World Tour.”
