Next-Gen ATP Finals 2019: Changes in Rules

Published 11/04/2019, 2:54 AM EST

The ATP has announced a series of rules changes and innovations set to be trialed at the Next-Gen ATP Finals 2019 in November. However, it has disregarded some of the rules made in 2017 – the ‘No-let’ rule and a ‘3rd and 4th place’ match.

A let occurs when a legally served ball lands in the cross-court service box having touched the net cord. Play stops immediately after the chair umpire calls ‘let’ or ‘net’ and the server is allowed another attempt.

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While the ‘no-let’ rule suggests that if a players’ serve touches the net cord and lands in the cross-court service box, the point won’t be repeated.

In the 2017 Next Generation ATP Finals, the No-Let rule was applied to serves, bringing in an additional element of unpredictability at the start of points.

However, this year’s tournament will see the return of the traditional ‘let’ rule, following the decision to bring to a close the ‘no let’ trial that was in place across the first two editions of the event.

Also, in the first two editions of the event, a match was played between the two semifinals losers for the 3rd and 4th place. However, the ATP has disregarded that rule for this year’s event.

The Next-Gen ATP Finals, which was recognized as the most innovative tournament at the 2018 Yahoo Sports Technology Awards, will see the continuation of a number of innovations in the third edition of the under-21 aged event in Milan.

The event has already put forth many innovations this year including shortening the best-of-five-set format to four sets with a tie-break at 3-All and No-Advantage scoring. Also, Electronic Line Calling through Hawk-Eye Live, a 25-second Shot Clock, In-Match player coaching via head-sets and Video Review has been added to this year’s event.

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Moreover, the top 8 next-gen players on the ATP Tour will be allowed to wear Wearable tracking technology at the 5-day event for the first on the ATP Tour. Shorter Warm-Up, Medical Time-Outs, Towel Rack, Free Movement’ Policy are some of the innovations made at the Next-Gen ATP Finals 2019, which is scheduled to start from November 5 and will conclude on November 9.

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Starting off as a tennis author in 2018, Varun Khanna has gone on to contribute to EssentiallySports in various capacities. After setting up interviews with the likes of Serena Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou, Alizé Cornet, and Noah Rubin, Varun is now part of all major ATP and WTA press conferences and has gone on to pen more than 1300 articles for EssentiallySports. He now heads the tennis and NBA division of the organization.