Chances are your “did-you-see-that?” moment came later in the set, when more was at stake and players had sharpened their play because of the scoreline.

The big moments – pick your favourite: break points, set points, tie-breaks – stick with us, for better or worse. So, if you could, why not try to create more of those moments?

That’s the reasoning behind one of the most noticeable innovations to be tested during the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 7-11 November.

Matches in Milan will use a shorter format: best-of-five set matches, but the sets will be first to four (with a tie-break at 3-3), and games will feature no-ad scoring.

“We’re looking to create more meaningful moments throughout the course of a tennis match. Normally you’d say break points, game points, latter stages of sets, tie-breaks would be more meaningful moments,” said Ross Hutchins, Chief Player Officer, ATP. “So can we host more tie-breaks, more end of sets, more exciting moments, more clutch points?”

Under the new format, the minimum numbers of games needed to win – 12 – is the same number a player needs to win during a best-of-three-sets match. But the shorter format could produce completely different matches, Hutchins said.

Momentum could change more often, with new sets possibly happening every five or six games. The scoreline of a close match could easily be 4-1, 1-4, 4-1, 2-4 as it heads into a fifth set.

Hutchins also predicts players will place more emphasis on the beginning of sets, because they know they have limited time to turn it around.

“One all is the equivalent of 3-all. When you start looking at 2-all, 2-all is 4-all, and you’re within two games of winning the set… All of sudden the start of a set is a lot nearer to the end of a set,” Hutchins said. “Players will realise it’s tougher to get back into the sets so they’ll put more work into holding serve or breaking serve.”

The deciding deuce point, a staple on the ATP World Tour doubles circuit, will feature an exciting new twist as well. In doubles, the receiving team gets to decide who returns. But in Milan, the server will choose.

“We know and have seen the deciding point receiver’s choice in doubles. But in keeping with the concept of the event, we thought it would be interesting to see how the server’s choice would be viewed and also the mindset of the players having to choose their service side,” Hutchins said.

Other innovations similarly take aim at creating more exciting moments for players and fans. Warm-up time before a match will be reduced to five minutes.

“Guys should be ready to go nearly as soon as they get out there,” said former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt.

Let calls will disappear. If the serve clips the tape and rolls over, it’s an in serve and a live ball.

“A let is sort of ‘Let’s go again’. Nothing really happens so it’s just a question of trying to create more excitement, and an additional element of unpredictability, within the matches,” Hutchins said.

Fans will get to experience more of these moments as well, as onlookers on the sides of the court will be allowed to move freely rather than waiting for changeovers to come back into the stadium. (Movement will remain restricted behind the baselines.)

“We’re trying to create less down moments and less pauses in play and less restriction from all stakeholders, whether it be the crowd, the media, the broadcaster, how we work,” Hutchins said.

The removal of let serves might have the biggest effect on players’ pre-tournament practices.

“I think all the rules they’ll have to practise, especially the lets. Players will be so used to stopping, they’ll immediately switch off. Actually, I think it will take a couple days to get used to this but that’s why it’s such a good time to host this event. It’s at the end of the year, with not much else going on. Depending on what they do during the Rolex Paris Masters, they’ll have a couple of days to practise,” Hutchins said.

#NextGenATP players also think the new rules will occupy some practice time.

“I think the hardest thing is going to be for the no lets. For the first couple of times I feel like I’m just going to stop the point and expect a re-serve,” said Canadian Denis Shapovalov.

Hutchins is aware of the potential drawbacks that could accompany the innovations, including the no-let rule. Say it’s match point, 3-2, 40/30 in the fifth set, and the serve clips the tape and trickles over the net. A let serve ace on match point could happen, he said, but you also could have a let winner two more shots into the point.

To Hutchins and others, the endless discussion about hypotheticals can wait for another day. In Milan, it will be time to abandon the theories and live in the reality.

Hutchins said, “We could all predict what could happen. We could all predict what could be but we don’t know. And that’s what this event is there to show; it’s to test things.”

Deuce is normally a comfort zone for the server, where they hold around three out of every four visits to this extended-point score. Not so at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan this week. The new event is trialing several exciting innovations, including playing a sudden death point at deuce where the winner takes all.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the eight #NextGenATP players in the 2017 season has identified that this new scoring system will lead to more exciting pressure moments in the match, and the potential for more breaks of serve as a result.

The following table identifies the percentage chances for all eight players holding serve from deuce in 2017, and also from 30/40, where they are staring down break point. The new sudden death point will behave differently to 30/40, as both players will simultaneously hold game point, but it is a good guide as to how this new scoring system will play out.

2017 Season: Holding from deuce & 30/40

The hold percentage for the new sudden death point will probably sit somewhere in between the 73 per cent average holding at deuce, and the 45 per cent average holding at 30/40.

One thing is for certain – starting the sudden death point with a first serve will give the server a considerable advantage. The following table shows how well the eight players are doing in the 2017 season saving break points behind a first or second serve.

2017 Season: Saving Break Points Behind 1st & 2nd Serves

Canadian Denis Shapovalov has been the best performer this season at saving break points behind a first serve, at 83 per cent (45/54). But he falls below the #NextGenATP average of 47 per cent saving break points behind second serves, at 44 per cent (23/52).

The sudden death point is a staple on the ATP World Tour in doubles, and it brings more excitement to the end of a game with both players holding game point simultaneously. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out in Milan this week on the singles court with the best young talents in our sport.

As a dad, you need to pick your battles with your kids. So while I wouldn’t ever want to jam my story down my sons’ throats, I like to give them a few examples here and there of what I accomplished as a tennis player, including how I won this tournament five times.

They’re 12 and 14, and I’m teaching them how I was never just handed a trophy, and how I had to work hard, and make lots of sacrifices, to be the best in the world. I’m telling them how you can achieve anything, just so long as you want it badly enough.

My kids are proud of my career and curious, too, and occasionally they might come across a YouTube video that they’ll want to share with me. That’s about the only time I’ll watch one of my matches back on a screen; otherwise I only replay those highlights and moments in my head. Some of the best memories of my career were made at this tournament, and there is one occasion at the event that tops them all: the time I won an epic five-setter against Boris Becker in the 1996 final, which was played in front of a pro-Boris crowd in Hanover.

I’m honoured the ATP has named one of the singles groups at next week’s tournament after me; that’s a real treat. When I first heard, I thought: “That’s pretty cool, now I feel a stronger connection with some of the other champions.” And with the other group named after Boris, it’s been an opportunity to reminiscence about a match that came when we were both in the prime of our careers.

Being part of a match like that is a thrill. More than 20 years later, I still haven’t forgotten about the noise from that extraordinarily loud, passionate crowd, and I can still hear myself screaming out after hitting a backhand pass beyond Boris to break his serve. There was so much energy in that place, it was electric. I also have a good recall of the exhaustion I felt – and how my lungs were burning – after I won the match on a rally or 25 or 30 strokes. Boris and I embraced at the net. Finally, we could let our guards down.

Even at that moment, and after a final of that magnitude and quality, we still had huge respect for each other. And the thousands of Germans inside the stadium, even though they had been cheering and shouting for Boris for hours, gave both of us an ovation. I took the title four other times but that match is top of my list because, as well as being an epic, playing against Boris in Germany was a big deal, as he always brought so much buzz, exposure and excitement to the event. We were two heavyweights, playing great tennis.

“I’m sure the competition in London next week is going to be fierce – only those who have had a great year, and who are playing at a high level, make the cut. From my own experiences, I know that players need to be ready from the first point. There’s no chance of easing your way into this tournament. Right from your opening match, you’re competing against another elite player, and there’s no let-up all week. You’ve got to bring it in every match, and I sometimes felt as though this was the hardest title to win. Playing this tournament was always a battle and, as well as winning those five titles, I also had some tough losses.

As much as tennis is an individual sport, and every one of the singles players will be giving his all to beat his rivals and finish the year on a positive note, I imagine there will be a camaraderie among the qualifiers. The years that I qualified, I always felt a connection with the other seven. You’ve all achieved something as a group. At the end of a long year, the eight of you are the best of the best, and it’s like you’re part of a special club. Anyone who has qualified for London is going to be feeling good about himself. Every time I made it into the eight, I felt honoured to be with other great players. And when you arrive in the city, you put on a suit and tie, go to some functions and have your photograph taken at landmarks, and you’re made to feel special.

This will be a great tournament, it always is. You’ve got the best players in the world battling for a big prize, and that’s fantastic for people in London, who love their tennis. Everyone at The O2 should appreciate they’re watching the best generation of tennis players in history.

Each generation of athletes gets stronger and faster, and the players are adding to their knowledge of the game, and as a result you see the level of tennis going up and up. Everyone keeps on improving – today’s players are tremendous athletes and hit the ball incredibly hard. Seeing some of the great things the guys do – especially some of the shots they produce when they’re on the run – is incredible.

Every year at the tournament, the elite are better than the season before. I suppose that’s evolution.

The 2017 Nitto ATP Finals will be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November