ATP-Finals: Federer:”Back to 16 seeded in majors?

Back to the future? In addition to the rules tested in Milan, the majors could be back to 16 seeded players.

By Florian Goosmann from London

Of course, the question was asked in turn: would they, the eight best pros of the year, have followed the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan? And how they felt about the new rules. The majority of statements: Shot Clock makes sense, the abolition of the network surcharge perhaps, sentences up to four rather few.

It’s no wonder that Roger Federer got involved in Milan. However, the Maestro also urges caution with regard to new rules:”You don’t always want to switch back and forth,”says Federer,”I don’t see that there is a lot of work to be done on the tour. Especially for shorter sentences…. that’s exciting, of course. But long sentences allow you to extend a guide; it is sometimes more comfortable, you can also try something out, work on things. If every point counts, there’s no room for it.”

A subject that could not be tried out in Milan, but it seems to be under discussion: returning from 32 players betting to 16 at the Grand Slam tournaments, as the British Times reports. According to the current system with 32 seeded players, Grand Slam matches are more predictable, the top 16 can only play from round three onward against one from region 17 to 32, not already at the start. Good for the seeded, bad for the surprise effect or real hammer games at the beginning of the tournament.

The old hand Federer knows both systems:”It was the same when I came on tour. That’s probably something fascinating with 16 seeded bets, I see the problem with the 32,”said Federer. According to Federer, it’s hard to get into the top league – and it’s hard to get out of it. With 16 wins at Major’s, the draw can get more explosive, there could be better games in week one. The top players come quite comfortably through the first week. And of course, they don’t want to play round one against 17 or 19.”

According to the Times, this will be discussed in the Grand Slam area next week, as well as the shot clock and coaching during the matches. In theory, some of the amendments could therefore enter into force in 2018.