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By Chris Oddo | Tuesday November 7, 2017

There were no service lets. There was a shot clock. Sets were decided in four games and a shot clock presided over it all.

Welcome to the future—otherwise known as the #NextGenATP Finals.

But dive a layer or two beneath the hype and the much talked about format changes that had purists cringing and others casting curious glances, and what you saw were eight potential start battling for bragging rights on an electric stage in Milan.

With each win worth $30k, these matches are meaningful from more than a pride standpoint, and that was made apparent early as Russia’s Daniil Medvedev rallied after dropping the opener to knock off his compatriot Karen Khachanov in four sets.

Medvedev too tiebreakers in the second and third sets (tiebreakers are played to seven as they are in normal sets) and finished off his victory, 2-4, 4-3(6), 4-3(2), 4-2. Khachanov earned 25 wins on the year, but he was bested by the smooth striking Medvedev and has only won six matches on hardcourts this season.

In the second match of the day in Milan, Hyeon Chung created another mild surprise by dusting Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, 1-4, 4-3(5), 4-3(4), 4-1.

In the evening session Borna Coric defeated Jared Donaldson in straight sets, 4-3(2), 4-1, 4-3(5), while Andrey Rublev had to battle extremely hard to best Italian qualifier Gianliugi Quinzi, 1-4, 4-0, 4-3(3), 0-4, 4-3(3). The Italian, a wild card that is ranked 306 in the world, displayed some brilliant shotmaking but was eventually done in by Rublev’s superior ground game and fitness in a fifth-set tiebreaker.


The shorter sets seemed to increase the likelihood of tiebreakers—eight of the 16 sets featured breakers, and also seemed to create tension earlier in the sets. First player to four games means that early breaks have greater importance.

There were several instances where lets came into play on serve, and even one instance where umpire Carlos Bernardes called a let by force of habit.

The on-court coaching element was also interesting as players wore headsets to talk to their coaches, who sat in the stands. There were some revealing moments, particularly with Quinzi, who admitted that he was exhausted after one set, and also asked his coach which racquet he should use (tension) before he headed to a fifth set with Rublev.


Group Play continues on Wednesday in Milan.

 

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