It should give players a bit more time to warm into a match, but the Double In, Double Out format continues to throw up a number of surprises and that could be the case over the next few days.
Four matches are scheduled for Day 3 and the remaining Second Round matches will be completed on Thursday as all of the players left will be looking to take advantage of the exit of Luke Littler, even if some like Luke Humphries have been speaking about the extra pressure that can be placed on their shoulders.
Despite that, players have to recognise the opportunity that has come up for them with Littler being dumped out and winning a big Ranking event a couple of months before the World Championships begin can only be a positive.
Danny Noppert to win & over 1.5 180s v Ryan Joyce: All respect has to be given to Ryan Joyce and his level of performances on the Tour over the course of the season, while he is also someone who should be very familiar with the format.
The ability to hit Doubles always makes Ryan Joyce tough to beat and so the Double In, Double Out format should suit him.
It really helps that he comes from a part of England where the format is used much more than in other places and Ryan Joyce upset Michael van Gerwen in the First Round to underline how dangerous he can be.
The format should mean he is not overpowered on the scoring as can sometimes be the case, but Danny Noppert reached the Semi Final at the World Grand Prix last year and has a solid win under his belt.
If he had blown the second Set in the manner he did a month ago, Danny Noppert may no thave been able to rally as he did in the decider. He had looked on course to breeze past Niko Springer when winning the opening five Legs, but dropped that second Set before recovering mentally and Danny Noppert can use that to help him through with a couple more maximums added to his total at the tournament.
Nathan Aspinall to win & over 2.5 180s v Luke Woodhouse: Neither Luke Littler nor Luke Woodhouse were at their best in the First Round, but that means the latter deserves so much more credit for digging in and getting the job done.
He may have expected a lot more from Littler, which dragged his own level down, but Luke Woodhouse still had to find some big darts at key times and did come from a Set down in the race to two in order to beat the World Number 1.
Backing it up is the next challenge for Luke Woodhouse, who has enjoyed a strong year on the Tour, but he will need to be better than he was on Monday if he is going to beat Nathan Aspinall.
It looked for all of the world that Aspinall was going out in the First Round after dropping the opening Set and falling 0-2 behind in Legs in the second. Not only did he rally to force a decider, but Nathan Aspinall needed to break throw to stay in the tournament in the final Leg and this will have given him confidence considering the level that was being produced by Kevin Doets.
Everything is point to a keenly contested Second Round match, but the emotions invested by Luke Woodhouse to beat Luke Littler could have drained some of the energy.
Nathan Aspinall has not hit the heights as consistently as Luke Woodhouse this season, but the big match experience is with the former and he continues to nail plenty of maximums and those will be needed in a winning effort in this Second Round contest.
MY PICKS: Danny Noppert to Win & Over 1.5 180s @ 1.72 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Nathan Aspinall to Win & Over 2.5 180s @ 1.95 Bet365 (1 Unit)
World Grand Prix Update: 4-1, + 3.07 Units (5 Units Staked, + 61.40% Yield)
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