The seventh edition of the Next Gen ATP Finals held at the King Abdullah Sports City indoor hard courts will get underway next Wednesday in the host city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, featuring the world’s best 20 and under singles players of the season over five days of intense competition.
Following the draw ceremony staged Sunday evening, the eight-man field, split into two groups of four, sees the top seeds representing the Blue and Red Group, respectively.
Frenchman Arthur Fils heads the Blue Group, also featuring Czeck Jakub Mensik, American Learner Tien, and Brazilian Joao Fonseca, the last player to qualify for the year-end venue.
Meanwhile, American Alex Michelsen leads the Red Group. He will be joined by fourth seed Shang Juncheng from China, world No. 128 Luca van Assche, and 19-year-old American player Nishesh Basavareddy.
On Wednesday, Juncheng will take on Van Assche, opening proceedings on Center Court.
The Beijing native, currently ranked at world No. 50, became the second Chinese ATP Tour titlist in the Open Era by lifting his maiden trophy in Chengdu last September.
On his tournament debut, he will meet the French player, who is returning to contest the Next Gen Finals, having advanced to the semifinals last season.
Overall, the 20-year-old earned eight tour-level victories in 2024.
Then, Michelsen will make his second appearance at the event, currently at a career-high No. 41 against seventh seed Basavareddy, who is finishing the year on a high note.
Furthermore, third-seed Mensik and Tien, 18, will set off the night session, both on debut in Jeddah.
The Czech player, recently named Newcomer of the Year in the 2024 ATP Awards, is one of the favorites to reach the championship match.
A breakthrough season ignited when he cracked into the top 100 to never look back after an unrelenting campaign in Doha last February.
His electrifying run saw him making it through the final in his first tour-level event - lost to world No. 19 Karen Khachanov.
Moreover, late in August, the world No. 48 progressed to the third round at the US Open, falling to Portuguese Nuno Borges after a grueling five-setter.
The last match of an action-packed opening day will feature Fils, 20, against Fonseca.
The world No. 20 made a stellar first appearance at the tournament last season, finishing runner-up to Serbian player Hamad Medjedovic, backing up his run of form with an unrelenting campaign in 2024.
The young French star captured two of his three ATP titles this season, both on the ATP 500 level, Hamburg and Tokyo.
However, the top favorite will face off against an opponent that defeated him in their lone meeting early this year at the Rio Open.
Fonseca would go the distance on home soil to become the second youngest ATP 500 quarterfinalist at that level.
The 18-year-old is the first player from Brazil to contest the year-end venue. He stormed in the Rankings from No. 727 to a career-high No. 145 and has no intention of slowing down anytime soon.
FORMAT & RULES
The players, separated into two groups of four, will play three round-robin matches each. All singles matches are best-of-five sets.
Each set the first to four games with a margin of 2 games and a tiebreak played at 3-3, according to the ATP rules.
Each game will be played using the No-Ad scoring format, and the server will choose the service box.
The top two players from each group will advance into a knockout semifinal and final rounds.
The No Let Rule is one of the innovations ahead of the tournament’s seventh edition.
It establishes that play will continue even if the ball touches the net during a serve as long as it lands in the correct service box.
The Next Gen Finals run from December 18 to 22 in Saudi Arabia.