Professional tennis exhibition competition
Tennis tournament
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]
Ranking points, prize money and other features
The 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
Following 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]
In 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]
Played 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
A number of rule changes from the normal ATP format are used for the competition:[5]
- Best of five sets
- First to four games in each set
- Tiebreak at 3-All
- No-Ad scoring (server’s choice in 2019, receiver's choice in 2018)
- Lets on serve (in 2018 lets on serve were counted "in")
- Live Electronic line calling/Hawkeye-Live (graphic shown on screens after a "close call")
- Start match 4 minutes from entry of second player on court (5 minutes in 2018)
|
- Shot clock to ensure 25-second rule, the shot clock is reduced to 15 seconds after a rally lasting less than 3 shots[6]
- Maximum of one medical timeout per player per match
- Coaches can talk to players through headsets
- Public will be allowed to move around during a match (except at baselines)
- Towel boxes at each baseline
- Players can use wearable technology
|
Qualification
The 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
Singles
| 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
|
| 2024
|
 João Fonseca
|
Learner Tien
|
2–4, 4–3(10–8), 4–0, 4–2
|
Next Gen ATP Finals appearances
Key
| 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 cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Player
|
#
|
Best
result
|
Years
Year of best result underlined (Wins in bold)
|
Qualified
but not played
|
W–L
|
| Brandon Nakashima
|
2
|
W
|
2021, 2022
|
–
|
7–2
|
| Andrey Rublev
|
2
|
F
|
2017, 2018
|
–
|
6–4
|
| Alex de Minaur
|
2
|
F
|
2018, 2019
|
–
|
8–2
|
| Arthur Fils
|
2
|
F
|
2023, 2024
|
–
|
5–3
|
| Frances Tiafoe
|
2
|
SF
|
2018, 2019
|
–
|
3–4
|
 Dominic Stricker
|
2
|
SF
|
2022(A'), 2023
|
–
|
4–4
|
| Luca Van Assche
|
2
|
SF
|
2023, 2024
|
–
|
4–4
|
| Alex Michelsen
|
2
|
SF
|
2023, 2024
|
–
|
3–4
|
| Lorenzo Musetti
|
2
|
RR
|
2021, 2022
|
2023
|
2–4
|
| Chung Hyeon
|
1
|
W
|
2017
|
–
|
5–0
|
| Stefanos Tsitsipas
|
1
|
W
|
2018
|
2019
|
5–0
|
| Jannik Sinner
|
1
|
W
|
2019 (WC)[8]
|
2021, 2022
|
4–1
|
| Carlos Alcaraz
|
1
|
W
|
2021
|
2022, 2023
|
5–0
|
| Hamad Medjedovic
|
1
|
W
|
2023
|
–
|
5–0
|
| João Fonseca
|
1
|
W
|
2024
|
–
|
5–0
|
| Sebastian Korda
|
1
|
F
|
2021
|
–
|
4–1
|
| Jiří Lehečka
|
1
|
F
|
2022
|
–
|
3–2
|
| Learner Tien
|
1
|
F
|
2024
|
–
|
3–2
|
| Daniil Medvedev
|
1
|
3rd
|
2017(A')
|
–
|
2–2
|
 Borna Ćorić
|
1
|
4th
|
2017
|
–
|
3–1
|
| Jaume Munar
|
1
|
4th
|
2018(A')
|
–
|
1–4
|
| Miomir Kecmanović
|
1
|
SF
|
2019(A')
|
–
|
2–2
|
 Sebastián Báez
|
1
|
SF
|
2021(A')
|
–
|
2–2
|
 Jack Draper
|
1
|
SF
|
2022
|
–
|
2–2
|
| Karen Khachanov
|
1
|
RR
|
2017
|
–
|
1–2
|
 Denis Shapovalov
|
1
|
RR
|
2017
|
2018, 2019
|
1–2
|
| Jared Donaldson
|
1
|
RR
|
2017
|
–
|
0–3
|
| Gianluigi Quinzi
|
1
|
RR
|
2017(WC)
|
–
|
0–3
|
| Taylor Fritz
|
1
|
RR
|
2018
|
–
|
1–2
|
 Hubert Hurkacz
|
1
|
RR
|
2018(A')
|
–
|
1–2
|
| Liam Caruana
|
1
|
RR
|
2018(WC)
|
–
|
0–3
|
| Ugo Humbert
|
1
|
RR
|
2019
|
–
|
1–2
|
 Casper Ruud
|
1
|
RR
|
2019
|
–
|
1–2
|
 Mikael Ymer
|
1
|
RR
|
2019(A')
|
–
|
1–2
|
| Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
|
1
|
RR
|
2019(A')
|
–
|
1–2
|
 Holger Rune
|
1
|
RR
|
2021(A')
|
2022, 2023
|
1–2
|
| Juan Manuel Cerúndolo
|
1
|
RR
|
2021
|
–
|
0–3
|
| Hugo Gaston
|
1
|
RR
|
2021(A')
|
–
|
0–3
|
| Francesco Passaro
|
1
|
RR
|
2022(A')
|
–
|
1–2
|
 Tseng Chun-hsin
|
1
|
RR
|
2022
|
–
|
0–3
|
| Matteo Arnaldi
|
1
|
RR
|
2022(A')
|
–
|
0–3
|
| Flavio Cobolli
|
1
|
RR
|
2023
|
–
|
1–2
|
| Luca Nardi
|
1
|
RR
|
2023
|
–
|
1–2
|
 Abdullah Shelbayh
|
1
|
RR
|
2023(WC)
|
–
|
1–2
|
| Nishesh Basavareddy
|
1
|
RR
|
2024
|
–
|
1–2
|
| Jakub Menšík
|
1
|
RR
|
2024
|
–
|
0–3
|
 Shang Juncheng
|
1
|
RR
|
2024
|
–
|
0–3
|
 Alexander Zverev
|
0
|
–
|
–
|
2017, 2018
|
0–0
|
| Félix Auger-Aliassime
|
0
|
–
|
–
|
2019, 2021
|
0–0
|
| Jenson Brooksby
|
0
|
–
|
–
|
2021
|
0–0
|
| Ben Shelton
|
0
|
–
|
–
|
2023
|
0–0
|
Subsequent achievements of Next Gen ATP Finals players
Bold: Player won the tournament
Italics: Player qualified that particular year but did not participate.
Rankings
World No. 1s
Top Ten
Grand Slams
Grand Slam winners
Grand Slam finalists
- Number of titles won are within parentheses
Olympic medalists
See also
References
