@Sportshorn
Milan, Italy
It wasn’t the start he was hoping for at the inaugural Next Generation ATP Finals in Milan but the result has been par for the course for Denis Shapovalov of late. The 18-year old Canadian has come back down to earth after an impressive run at both the US Open and his home tournament in Montreal in which he reached the semi-finals.
Shapovalov got off to a good start on Tuesday but fell in four “Next Generation” sets to Hyeon Chung of Korea 1-4, 4-3, 4-3, 4-1 in an hour and 35 minutes.
Unforced errors proved costly for Shapovalov on Tuesday. 42 mistakes in all, 29 of those coming on his forehand side. Keeping the ball in the court has been a problem of late. He also combined for 53 errors over two recent losses in Paris and Basel as well. Chung on the other hand, had just five winners during Tuesday’s match but just 12 errors overall. Shapovalov has now lost five of his last six ATP matches since reaching the 4th round in New York. The World No 51 was two points away from going up two sets to none but a wild double fault featuring two terrible serves followed by a backhand error allowed Chung to even up the match.
The crowd in Milan was on Shapovalov’s side during the match as both players tried to adapt to the new rules changes. No lines people, no ad scoring, no doubles lines on the court along with headsets to speak to their coaches were just some of the changes the tour is experimenting with at the Next Generation Finals this week. So far most players seem to be enjoying it although the crowd being able to move around during points is one rule that is getting mixed reaction.
“I think its cool to try new things out”, said Shapovalov. “I think sports need to advance and change and its definitely cool to have a tournament where we can try these new rules out….I don’t think there’s going to be changes anytime soon.”
He went on to say “I think it (tennis) needs more action for viewers. You get one or two good points but you have to watch five hours of tennis sometimes…to make it shorter and more intense that might raise viewers.”
World No 3 Alexander Zverev, who played an exhibition match tonight in Milan, gave his thoughts on the rule experiments. “I think the shot clock is a good thing, maybe hawk-eye calling all the lines I would like that, but a lot of the other things I am not sure are going to happen”
Chung will play his second round robin match tomorrow afternoon while Shapovalov gets the first match of the night session.