The ATP has announced a new "season-ending tournament for the top 21-and-under players" will be held in Milan in November that will include a "whole new set of tennis rules," according to Andrew Dampf of the AP. Sets at the Next Gen ATP Finals "will be first to four with tiebreaks at 3-3, and matches will be best-of-five sets with no-Ad scoring." ATP Exec Chair & President Chris Kermode: "This is one of the most exciting things we've done here at the ATP in a long time. ... We're trying to make more points relevant, more points of interest straight away -- less down moments in the sport." Other rule changes include a clock that will be "visible in between points to ensure strict enforcement" of timed elements. Kermode said, "We are not going to dramatically revolutionize the game in the next five years. Maybe some elements will come in but we're not looking to make change for change's sake. We are really test-casing things that fans have asked us to have a look at." Dampf noted the top seven players 21 years old or under "will qualify for the round-robin tournament," as well as a wild card from host country Italy. Alexander Zverev, currently ranked No. 17 in the world, would be the "highest-ranked qualifier for now" (AP, 5/16).
