ATP NextGen: Zverev, Tsitsipas and Rublev were once ... what's next?
Now that the players of the "old" #NextGen have finally established themselves among the world leaders, the question arises who follows in the footsteps of the pioneers and forms the new next generation.
by Robin Huiber
last edit: Mar 04, 2020, 01:25 pm
It was 2017 when ATP launched the #NextGen Final. To give the best U21 players a window at the end of the season, but also to test new forms of play. About short sentences up to four, the refraining from line judges and other gimmicks. The best eight of the under-21s will meet at a final tournament at the end of the year (this will take place in Milan by 2021), and choose the best representative of the next generation there. This tournament does not earn points for the world rankings, but only prestige. Just like for the Nitto ATP Finals (where points are given, of course - and quite a few), where the top eight in the world rankings play regardless of age, there is also a “race” for the Next Gen Finals. This so-called “Race to Milan” shows who has scored the most points among the young players this year. Here is a small picture of the top 10:
Known faces: Felix Auger-Aliassime is currently leading this ranking. This is not a big surprise, after he was already in the final of two ATP tournaments this year (Rotterdam and Marseille). Miomir Kecmanovic and Denis Shapovalov are currently in third and fourth place. Shapovalov is now almost an old acquaintance, the Canadian currently occupies 16th place in the regular world rankings. Jannik Sinner , last year's winner of the #NextGen Masters, is the youngest player in the top ten at 18 and is seventh in the race. Another friend is Alex de Minaur, last year's finalist in Milan. He is currently in ninth place. The Australian had already suffered an injury this year and could only play two tournaments. The local hero failed for the Australian Open.
Rodionov on the way to Milan?
New faces: The second surprise comes in second place: Thiago Seyboth Wild. The 19-year-old Brazilian shone in Santiago last week, where he won his first ATP tournament. Corentin Moutet is currently in fifth place. The Frenchman moved to a final in Doha for the first time this year. There, however, he lost to Andrey Rublev. Sixth place is gratifying from a German-speaking perspective. Jurij Rodionov not only improved 131 places in the world ranking this year with his two tournament victories among challengers, but also literally shot up to sixth place in the Race to Milan. Emil Ruusuvuori and Alexei Popyrin two players complete the top ten of the U21 annual standings, which have at least one thing in common: Both Ruusuvuori and Popyrin have already defeated Dominic Thiem. The Finn last fall in the Davis Cup, Popyrin in early 2019 at the Australian Open.
It is not quite as rosy for young German hopes: the best representative in the charts is Milan Welte at number 84.