2017 Next Gen ATP Finals...ATP 000...Milan, Italy

[don_budge]

Here's a real humdinger. The 2017 Next Generation ATP Finals. Here's the lineup...if you want to call it that.

GROUP A:
Hyeon Chung
Andrey Rublev
Gianluigi Quinnzi
Denis Shapovalov

GROUP B:
Borna Coric
Danil Medvedev
Karen Khachianov
Jared Donaldson

First of three out of the eight are Russian. And it is all Donald Trump's fault. The Russians just seem to be everywhere these days and there is no avoiding them. Just kidding. Delusional thinking...but not on my part.

But seriously...all of this hype? For what? Can't the crop of newcomers stand on their own merit and do they need some "special event" to showcase them? This has been going on for some time now once the dum-dums in the non-trust at the ATP got their thick heads around the fact that Roger Federer is not going to last forever and he has been carrying the whole tour for the last how many years. Seriously...does anybody ever really watch Nadal, Djokovic, Murray et al play anybody other than themselves? Even when they play each other it's only interesting if Nadal gets his ass handed to him.

Next Generation. What a pathetic joke. To go along with the futuristic scoring system. I will avoid calling anything referring to "Orwellian" or some asshole will jump on it with a vengeance that nobody can possibly understand. Know what I mean?

Golden Boy Alexander Zverev couldn't make it. Couldn't be bothered. He's too busy applying himself toward London for the Tour Finals. All year long they have been hyping this wannabe and when it comes time for the show he bails. They learn young these days. Francis Tiafoe was the next player on the list...number nine. But he was bypassed for a hometown kid named Gianluigi Quinnzi. Apparently they looked at the ticket sales and realized that the Italians had way more sense than they bartered on.

[bottle]

Delusional thinking...but not on my part.

The delusional thinking is absolutely on your part. For not thinking that the Russians were everywhere in the last election. The other word I won't add with a comma to the end of that phrase begins with an "a." The reason I won't add it is that I know anyone who uses it immediately loses any argument no matter the subject. And in case you haven't noticed, I like to win arguments.

[don_budge]

The format is novel. But is unwatchable. Particularly the players. Lacking in any sort of interesting aspect whatsoever. This is your Next Generation...I call it the Never Generation. I won't be around to watch it. The game is at the end of the line. No amount of monkeying around or tinkering is going to spark any kind of meaningful interest.

I speak for myself though. I wonder if anyone finds these matches entertaining at all. The real question regarding this tournament surrounds the young Golden Boy...Alexander Zverev. He chose to duck and limit his appearance to "give his blessing" to the tournament. If he is preparing for London it is probably a good decision. Playing this format might upset his Russian sensibility. Such nonsense is not tolerated...his absence seems to reinforce this.

[stroke]

This tournament is just a bad idea, but the ticket sales I suppose will decide its future. It would be interesting to know the real number of tickets sold to this vs something like the women's year end finals, and that one just keeps going on. Who knows.

[gzhpcu]

Artificial and insipid. Rather watch old matches on YouTube of Connors, Borg, McEnroe (yes McEnroe... ), Edberg, Rafter, Agassi et al, where they are really fighting for something with grit and passion. Even if I already know the outcome...

[don_budge]

Artificial and insipid. Rather watch old matches on YouTube of Connors, Borg, McEnroe (yes McEnroe... ), Edberg, Rafter, Agassi et al, where they are really fighting for something with grit and passion. Even if I already know the outcome...

John McEnroe is certainly not for everybody...neither is Jimmy Connors. The two sort of badass Americans. Here in Sweden I always refer to McEnroe as the American Volcano and Bjorn as the Swedish Ice Bear. It flies pretty well. In some ways they love McEnroe here. These people are pretty bored with their lives and sometimes they pick up on a different energy for amusement. He's was just being Swedish. He kept quiet and kept his dysfunction more under the radar. Perhaps a good example for some. Bjorn Borg was a stark contrast on the surface but trust me...he is no choir boy. There was certainly more drama to classic tennis matches. Only the Swiss Roger Federer seems to be able to garner any sort of watchability. At least for me...and apparently somewhat for you.

I watched a total of maybe 10 minutes of this nonsense. I managed to catch a glimpse of every player except Karen Khachanov. Of all the players Andrey Rublev is perhaps the most watchable. Hyeon Chung and the rest are so much vanilla...without the vanilla. Each one a perfect example of what boring tennis is all about. So this is the Next Generation? I'm out of here.

But the formatting is noteworthy. It's a sign that all is not well in the professional tennis industry. They are tinkering and the braintrust is pooling their resources. This is what they came up with? It's amazingly stupid. The court need to be speeded up a bit to force the player to attack the net and to get them to stop parking their asses on the baseline.

Rublev vs. Chung in the finals.

[don_budge]

The whole thing strikes me as being right out of the "Orwellian" playbook. Cue the demon.

[bottle]

No, I have nothing to say. Too bored. Think I'll take a nap.