The NextGen scoring system could help bring tennis into the 21st century

TENNIS is, in many ways, an old-fashioned sport. Most of the rules, from the layout of the playing surface to the scoring system, would be instantly recognizable to a player from a century ago. To the leaders of the game’s governing bodies, that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Matches are getting longer, the pace of play has slowed and fans are still expected to remain quiet during play, all of which threaten to slow the sport’s growth.

This November the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the governing body of men’s tennis, will debut the NextGen ATP Finals, an exhibition showdown in Milan featuring the season’s eight best players aged 21 or younger. Last week the ATP announced that the event would serve as a proving ground for several innovations meant to modernise the...Continue reading