The Next Generation ATP Finals (branded as the Next Gen ATP Finals) is an annual men's professional exhibition tennis tournament organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the best players of the season aged 20 years old or younger. The event debuted in 2017 at the PalaLido in Milan, where it was also staged for the next four editions, before it was moved to King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, beginning in 2023. From 2017 to 2023 the age threshold was 21 years and under.[1]
| Next Generation ATP Finals | |
|---|---|
| ATP Tour | |
| Founded | 2017 |
| Editions | 5 |
| Location | Milan, Italy (2017–2022) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (2023–2027) |
| Venue | PalaLido (2017–2022) King Abdullah Sports City (2023–2027) |
| Category | Exhibition |
| Surface | Hard (indoor) |
| Draw | 8S |
| Prize money | US$2,050,000 (2024) |
| Website | nextgenatpfinals.com |
| Current champions (2023) | |
| Singles |  Hamad Medjedovic |
Ranking points, prize money and other features
editThe tournament does not distribute points for the ATP rankings for the participants. The ATP does not count it as an official ATP Tour tournament victory, but matches count towards official win–loss season record. Prize money worth US $2,275,000 is distributed and counts to the players' totals. From the beginning, the tournament regularly has incorporated new and experimental features that may or may not be introduced into other tennis events later on. It pioneered the implementation of electronic line-calling (so called 'Hawk-Eye Live' completely replacing human line-judges) back in 2017.[2] Other experimental features include scoring systems different from recognized tennis matches, players communicating with their coaches via headphones, and so on.
History
editFollowing a competitive bid process, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) announced that the Italian Tennis Federation, in association with the Italian Olympic Committee, would organise a new ATP tournament featuring the world’s top 21-and-under singles players of the ATP Tour season. The first five editions of the Tournament were hosted in Milan, Italy from 2017 to 2022.[3] Already in the first year, a special circumstance occurred. The 20-year-old Alexander Zverev played such a successful season that he was qualified at the same time for the Next Generation ATP Finals and for the ATP Finals of the best eight players from 2017. As the events were dated close and scheduled directly one after the other, the Hamburg native opted for the latter option.[4]
For the 2024 season, the ATP announced an expansion of the Next Gen brand. In addition to lowering the age threshold from 21-and-under to 20-and-under, a Next Gen Accelerator Programme was introduced. This allows Next Gen labelled players who reach the top 350 of the ATP rankings up to 8 opportunities to enter the main draws of ATP Challenger Tour 125 and 100 events. Furthermore, those who reach the top 250 are provided a main draw entry for an ATP 250 event, along with two qualifying opportunities for them.[1]
Format
editPlayed over five days, the format for the competition consists of two round robin groups, followed by the semi-finals and final. Played on a singles-only court, the competition features the best seven qualified 20-and-under players of the season, plus one wild card.[5]
Rules
editA number of rule changes from the normal ATP format are used for the competition:[5]
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Qualification
editThe Top 7 players in the Emirates ATP Race to Jeddah (formerly the Race to Milan) will qualify. The eighth spot will be reserved for a wild card, the winner of a qualifying tournament. Eligible players must be 20-and-under as of the end of that calendar year.[7]
Results
editSingles
edit| Venue | Year | Champion | Runner-up | Score in final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan | 2017 | Chung Hyeon | Andrey Rublev | 3–4(5–7), 4–3(7–2), 4–2, 4–2 |
| 2018 | Stefanos Tsitsipas | Alex de Minaur | 2–4, 4–1, 4–3(7–3), 4–3(7–3) | |
| 2019 | Jannik Sinner | Alex de Minaur | 4–2, 4–1, 4–2 | |
| 2020 | No competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||
| 2021 | Carlos Alcaraz | Sebastian Korda | 4–3(7–5), 4–2, 4–2 | |
| 2022 | Brandon Nakashima | Jiří Lehečka | 4–3(7–5), 4–3(8–6), 4–2 | |
| Jeddah | 2023 | Hamad Medjedovic | Arthur Fils | 3–4(6–8), 4–1, 4–2, 3–4(9–11), 4–1 |
Next Gen ATP Finals appearances
edit| W | Winner |
| F | Runner-up |
| SF | Lost in semi-finals |
| RR | Lost in Round Robin group stage |
| (A) | Alternate (did not play from the beginning) |
| (A') | Alternate (played from the beginning, original player withdrew before the tournament) |
| (R) | Withdrew during the tournament |
| (WC) | Entered as a Wildcard |
| (NP) | Did not play |
| ↓Older format (2017–2018 only)↓ | |
| 3rd | Won third place match |
| 4th | Lost third place match |
- Note
When there are more than eight players listed for any year, it is usually due to withdrawal by one or more players because of injury. When a player withdraws early in the tournament, his place is filled by the next-highest qualifier. Participants are listed in order of number of appearances and best result. The 2020 edition was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subsequent achievements of Next Gen ATP Finals players
editBold: Player won the tournament
Italics: Player qualified that particular year but did not participate.
Rankings
editWorld No. 1s
edit| Player | Next Gen appearance | Achieved World No. 1 | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daniil Medvedev | 2017 | 28 February 2022 | [9] |
| Carlos Alcaraz | 2021 | 12 September 2022 | [10] |
| Jannik Sinner | 2019, 2021, 2022 | 10 June 2024 |
Top Ten
edit| Player | Next Gen appearance | Highest Ranking | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casper Ruud | 2019 | 2 | [11] |
| Alexander Zverev | 2017, 2018 | [12] | |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas | 2018, 2019 | 3 | [13] |
| Holger Rune | 2021, 2022 | 4 | |
| Taylor Fritz | 2018 | 5 | |
| Andrey Rublev | 2017, 2018 | ||
| Félix Auger-Aliassime | 2019, 2021 | 6 | |
| Alex de Minaur | 2018, 2019 | ||
| Hubert Hurkacz | 2018 | ||
| Karen Khachanov | 2017 | 8 | |
| Denis Shapovalov | 2017, 2018, 2019 | 10 | |
| Frances Tiafoe | 2018, 2019 |
Grand Slams
editGrand Slam winners
edit| Player | Next Gen appearance | Grand Slam titles won | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AU | FR | WB | US | Total | |||
| Daniil Medvedev | 2017 | — | — | — | 2021 | 1 | [14] |
| Carlos Alcaraz | 2021 | — | 2024 | 2023, 2024 | 2022 | 4 | [15] |
| Jannik Sinner | 2019 | 2024 | — | — | 2024 | 2 | [16] |
Grand Slam finalists
edit- Number of titles won are within parentheses
| Player | Next Gen appearances | Grand Slam finals | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AU | FR | WB | US | Total | |||
| Daniil Medvedev | 2017 | 2021, 2022, 2024 | — | — | 2019, 2021, 2023 | 6 (1) | [14] |
| Alexander Zverev | 2017, 2018 | — | 2024 | — | 2020 | 2 (0) | [17] |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas | 2018, 2019 | 2023 | 2021 | — | — | 2 (0) | [18] |
| Casper Ruud | 2019 | — | 2022, 2023 | — | 2022 | 3 (0) | [19] |
| Carlos Alcaraz | 2021 | — | 2024 | 2023, 2024 | 2022 | 4 (4) | [15] |
| Jannik Sinner | 2019 | 2024 | — | — | 2024 | 2 (2) | [16] |
Olympic medalists
edit| Player | Next Gen appearances | Olympic medals | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |||
| Alexander Zverev | 2017, 2018 | 2020 | — | — | 1 | [17] |
| Lorenzo Musetti | 2021, 2022 | — | — | 2024 | 1 | [20] |
| Carlos Alcaraz | 2021 | — | 2024 | — | 1 | [15] |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Next Gen ATP Brand Unveils Exciting Changes to Transform Tennis Landscape From 2024". ATP Tour. 20 December 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ Herman, Martyn (2017-09-18). "Tennis: Electronic calls to replace line judges at Next Gen Finals". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
- ^ "Milan To Host Inaugural Season-Ending Next Gen ATP Finals From 2017 – ATP World Tour – Tennis".
- ^ "Two Chances". 2017.
- ^ a b "ATP Announces Trial Of Rule Changes & Innovation For Next Gen ATP Finals In Milan". ATP. 16 May 2017.
- ^ "The ATP Next Gen Finals: A Glimpse into the Future of Tennis". tennisclubhouse.ca. 7 November 2024.
- ^ "Introducing Next Gen ATP Finals". ATP Tour. 19 November 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
- ^ As of the October 28 deadline, Sinner reached the ranking of 8th player born in 1998 or later, available for the tournament.
- ^ Tennis.com. "Ranking Reaction: Daniil Medvedev is officially No. 1 on the ATP rankings". Tennis.com. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ "Carlos Alcaraz Wins US Open Title & Rises To World No. 1 | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
- ^ "Alcaraz, 19, wins US Open; youngest-ever No. 1". 11 September 2022. Archived from the original on 12 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- ^ ATP Staff (8 June 2022). "Zverev Faces Extended Break After Ankle Surgery". ATP Tour. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- ^ "Stefanos Tsitsipas | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
- ^ a b "Daniil Medvedev | Titles and Finals | ATP Tour | Tennis". atptour.com. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
- ^ a b c "Carlos Alcaraz | Titles and Finals | ATP Tour | Tennis". atptour.com. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- ^ a b "Jannik Sinner | Titles and Finals | ATP Tour | Tennis". atptour.com. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ a b "Alexander Zverev | Titles and Finals | ATP Tour | Tennis". atptour.com. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- ^ "Stefanos Tsitsipas | Titles and Finals | ATP Tour | Tennis". atptour.com. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- ^ "Casper Ruud | Titles and Finals | ATP Tour | Tennis". atptour.com. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- ^ "Tennis: Lorenzo Musetti wins men's singles bronze". olympics.com. Retrieved 13 August 2024.