JEDDAH/WASHINGTON, November 30, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)
France’s Arthur Fils, who this season became the youngest home star to garner a main-draw win in at the Rolex Paris Masters in 18 years, headlines this year’s group of eight players who have qualified for the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals.
The year-end event for the top 20-and-under players will take place at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from Dec. 18-22.
The 20th-ranked Fils, who won ATP 500 titles in Hamburg and Tokyo en route to compiling a 37-26 win-loss record this season, was a finalist in the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals. He lost the title match to Hamad Medjedovic of Serbia, 3-4 (6), 4-1, 4-2, 3-4 (9), 4-1.
Next Gen Finals update!
Arthur Fils, Alex Michelsen, Jakub Mensik, and Shang Juncheng are officially heading to Jeddah!
Who’s your pick to shine? #NextGenATPFinals
— Next Gen ATP Finals (@nextgenfinals) November 25, 2024
Fils arrives in Jeddah with a career-high ranking. He was asked in Paris if his ranking or having won some prestigious titles changes anything about him. “No, it doesn’t change anything,” he said. “I could be in the top 20, top 50, top 15, it doesn’t change anything. I have the same mindset.”
Joining Fils in Jeddah for the seventh edition of the Next Gen ATP Finals are: Alex Michelsen of the United States, Jakob Mensik of the Czech Republic, Shang Juncheng of China, Learner Tien of the United States, Luca Van Assche of France, Nishesh Basavareddy of the United States, and Joao Fonseca of Brazil.
Breaking through! Learner Tien and Luca Van Assche are in the #NextGenATPFinals
— Next Gen ATP Finals (@nextgenfinals) November 26, 2024
Past champions (2017-2023) of the Next Gen ATP Finals include: Hyeon Chung of South Korea, Stefanos Tsitspias of Greece, Jannik Sinner of Italy, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, Brandon Nakashima of the United States and Medjedovic. The event was not held in 2020 due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
This is where champions begin to write their own story.
From dreams to determination, witness the journey unfold. #JourneyToJeddah | #PIF pic.twitter.com/9R4aHrDrGl
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 18, 2024
About this year’s Next Gen ATP Finals field
• Arthur Fils – The 20-year-old Frenchman from Bondoufle, turned pro three years ago and has compiled a 60-45 win-loss record. Currently ranked a career-high 20th, he went 37-26 add won titles at Hamburg and Tokyo. He was also a semifinalist at Basel and Auckland, a quarterfinalist at Halle, Barcelona, Santiago and Hong Kong. He won a Challenger Tour 175 title at Bordeaux, France.
• Alex Michelsen – The 20-year-old from Laguna Hills, Calif. (U.S.) went 31-29 in his first full year on the ATP Tour. The 42nd-ranked Michelsen was a quarterfinalist at Los Cabos, Geneva, Mallorca, Washington, D.C. and Tokyo; a semifinalist at Metz, and a finalist at Newport and Winston-Salem. He is back for for his second Next Gen ATP Finals after going 0-3 last year.
• Jakob Mensik – The 48th-ranked Czech from Prostejov went 25-17 on the ATP Tour and was 6-2 on the Challenger Tour. After reaching the Doha final last February, the 19-year-old Mensik was a quarterfinalist at Mallorca and Shanghai and Vienna, and a semifinalist at Umag.
• Shang Juncheng – The 50th-ranked Chinese player from Beijing, reached a career-high ranking of No. 47 and went 25-18 on the ATP Tour this season. The 19-year-old Shang, nicknamed Jerry, won his first ATP Tour title at Chengdu, China in September. He was also a semifinalist at Atlanta and Hong Kong and a quarterfinalist at Eastbourne.
• Learner Tien – The 123rd-ranked American from Irvine, Calif., went 3-2 on the ATP Tour, 35-9 on the Challenger Tour and 20-1 in ITF Futures play. Just 19, Tien won four ITF titles as well as three Challenger titles in the United States, at Bloomfield Hills, Mich.; Las Vegas, Nev., and Fairfield, Calif. he reached the quarterfinals at Winston-Salem, N.C. (U.S.) on the ATP Tour.
• Luca Van Assche – The 128th-ranked French player, who was born in Belgium, is competing in his second Next Gen ATP Finals. Now 20, Van Assche reached the semifinals last year before losing to fellow Frenchman Arthur Fils, 2-4, 4-1, 4-3 (1), 4-3 (6). He went 8-17 on the ATP Tour this season and was a semifinalist three times on the Challenger Tour, at Phoenix, Ariz. (U.S.); Heilbronn, Germany; and Roanne, France.
• Nishesh Basavareddy – The 19-year-old American from Newport Beach, Calif., won a pair of Challenger titles this fall, at Tiburon, Calif., and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and was a finalist in two others, at Charleston, S.C., and Charlottesville, Va. He finished the season strong by going 25-5 and has reached a career-high ranking of No. 139.
• Joao Fonseca – The 18-year-old from Rio de Janeiro began the year ranked No. 727 and reached a career-high No. 145 by the end of the season. Fonseca won a Challenger 75 event in Lexington, Ky. (U.S.) in August, en route to going 23-14. He finished 7-7 on the ATP Tour, which included reaching the quarterfinals at Rio in February.
