Tennis thread: towards the end of the season, lots of tennis still to be played!

[PrivateParkin]

Hi all, I wasn't sure if Raahh was around so I thought I would start a new thread (thanks ferrier) in case of any urgent tennis news that we might need to start posting about immediately! I'm looking forward to Shanghai this week

kazza
I ended up at a fireworks display with no signal so couldn't post anything, but am really gutted for Rafa. It's been a miserable end of the year for him, so I hope he recovers well.

And to Isner.

Definitely to isner.
The first two days draw is up this morning,
Zverev v Cilic should be a good match the first day.
Hope everyone enjoyed the fireworks.

Zverev v Cilic will be a good way to see how Sascha does again on the bigger stage. It's where he usually comes unstuck. And Cilic might be feeling a bit more confident. Would love Marin to do well in London ( in the absence of Rafa and Delpo, he's probably my 3rd choice!).

Yes Private Rafa does have very expressive eyebrows

Should be interesting to see if Zverev lives up to the (his own?) hype? I forgive his arrogance now because of his youth and beauty but he needs to start winning when it matters.

Poor Rafa. The abdominal muscle doesn't sound good. I tore one of mine and it's never been right since.

Jane I'm glad he didn't attempt to play. It reminds me of when he tried to play with appendix problems - and then ended up having surgery. He didn't give himself to properly recover after that , either.

There's going to be Next Gen from Milan on Sky Sports Mix at 1 o'clock.

The dog keeps barking at nothing today and it's making me anxious.

Thanks, jane I can actually watch some of that!

At least if I can't watch Rafa, I can watch Tsitsipas this week, maybe.

My dog is a bit badly. But he always is. Doesn't care about fireworks though. Not fussed by them at all.

Of course, I've also got to get used to the different rules in the next gen thing. Which I'm not that keen on, and I hope don't become the norm . I like long matches I can get into ( not Isner/Anderson long, tbough).

And the towel thing- will see how that works.

I mean, in theory, an indoor court with air con, is not comparable with playing outdoors in the Melbourne heat, where the sweat will drip off the players. I do think towels are a habit for some, but they can't use the same methods everywhere.

But as we saw at the US open, common sense over the weather doesn't always prevail.

The commentator who was asked to explain about the towel system didn't go into much detail did he? It's like a small cupboard was basically all he said

I've just seen a little boy in the crowd who looks just like my cousin's son but I doubt he's at the tennis in Milan!

What's all this talking to the coach carry-on?

I don't like all the faffy little rule changes to make it more interesting. It doesn't to me. AC is all for it, apparently. Another reason not to like it

A small cupboard?! Will all their towels be mixed in together? What about our suggestion of name tapes from a few threads back? It's an accident waiting to happen! I can't watch as I'm at work!!

Rafa has tweeted he's postponing the Mallorca flood benefit match. Wonder where this leaves the Saudi exhibition??

Do they play short sets? I liked towel rule but I don't think they should mess with other rules, it's pointless IMHO.

It's a shame about the Mallorca exhibition match. I'm not sorry about the Saudi match, I hope that doesn't go ahead. If it does, it will cause all sorts of bother- not least people wondering how he was able to play there, and nowhere else.

I don't like the idea of the mixed towels. Name tags could be tricky. Imagine the time they would waste- trying to find their own?

(Reminds me of being at nursery, we didn't have paper towels, we had proper hand towels we had to take home, and mine had a green steam train sewn on it. That was my coat peg sign too ).

The no advantage thing is odd.

"The perfect place for a mid-life crisis"

It took me ages to realise the doubles lines were missing.

I would be crap at identifying a criminal in a line up.

The special rules Private from here www.nextgenatpfinals.com/en/innovation/new-rules

Shorter Format: First to Four games sets (Tie-Break at 3-All), Best-of-Five sets, with No-Ad scoring
• Shorter set format designed to increase number of pivotal moments in a match, while the best-of-five set format does not alter the number of games required to win a match (12) from the traditional scoring format. No-Ad scoring will be played.
- Shorter Warm-Up

• Matches begin precisely four minutes from the second player walk-on.
- Shot Clock
• A shot clock will be used in between points to ensure strict regulation of the 25-second rule, as well as during set breaks, Medical Time-Outs, and the four-minute countdown from the player walk-on to the first point of the match.
- No-Let Rule
• The No-Let rule will be applied to serves, bringing in an additional element of unpredictability at the start of points.
• This rule removes any ambiguity over let calling from umpires, ensuring the rule is consistent with normal ‘let’ occurrences during regular point exchanges.
- Medical Time-Outs
• A limit of one medical time out per player per match.
- Player Coaching
• Players and coaches will again be able to communicate at certain points in the match, providing additional content and entertainment value for broadcast. Coaches will not be allowed on-court.
- Towel Rack
• Players will be instructed to use a towel rack at the back of the court to remove the onus on ball kids to handle towels.
In addition, a ‘free movement’ policy will be applied to the crowd (except behind the baselines) throughout the tournament. The policy enables fans to move freely in and out of the stadium during matches, providing a relaxed fan-friendly atmosphere and ensuring fans are not restricted entry into the stadium at any time.
The first edition of the Next Gen ATP Finals, held in partnership with the Italian Tennis Federation and the Italian National Olympic Committee, saw the ATP’s season-ending 21-and-Under event put forward one of the boldest integrated presentations of innovation in the sport to date. The tournament’s leading role in innovation comes at a key time when innovation is being widely considered across the highest levels of the sport.

They could get towels with a topless photo of themselves on to avoid mix-ups.

Jane

I must be confusing for the players, especially if they have just come from a 'proper' tournament, to remember the different rules, and not slip up. It would mess with my head.

The fact that they're young probably helps them to be more adaptable.

Jane probably. I'm getting old and grumpy- and I don't like change.

Stefanos ignoring his Dad made me laugh. DH was complaining yesterday that DS1 never replies to his texts.

I think I might have to tune in just to see the rule changes - I’m not liking the sound of most of them. Apart from the towel thing of course. Roger talked in great depth about the towel thing in his interview in the Sunday times - I think he’d fit in well on this thread .

I do hope that they bring the towel thing in to all the tournaments - I must have mentioned it to my DH once and every time I’m watching tennis he asks about the towels as if he doesn’t believe me (normally he doesn’t listen or forgets most things that I say to him!). I thought that I’d imagined it myself but this thread has reassured me that I didn’t.

The free movement policy allowing the crowd to wander in and out has been in place for years at the US Open hasn’t it?

At the Paris tournament some of the crowd were sat on settees

Wimbledon would never go along with these changes.