The 2018 ATP Next Gen Finals have been officially presented to the Italian media during the official press conference at the Palazzina degli Orafi at City Life, the modern commercial and business district in Milan. The press conference was attended by AT Executive Chairman and President Chris Kermode, FIT President Angelo Binaghi. Giovanni Gorno Tempini, President of Fiera Milano, Martina Cambiaghi, Councilor for Sport of Regione Lombardia, and Roberta Guaineri, Councilor for Sport of Milan City Council.
The second edition of the ATP Next Gen Finals will be held from 6-10 November 2018 at the Fiera Milan.
Denis Shapovalov from Canada, Frances Tiafoe from the USA and Alex De Minaur from Australia have secured their spot for the prestigious tournament with the top eight Under 21 players in the world joining the already qualified Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece.
“The Italian Tennis Federation is ready to set up a new edition of the ATP Next Gen Finals with ATP and Coni Servizi and the support of Fondazione Fiera Milano, Ente Fiera, Regione Lombardia and Milan municipality. Milan confirms its leading tradition in Italy and around the world in organizing top events for young players. The ATP Next Gen Finals will be a showcase for future tennis stars. Major junior tournaments like the Trofeo Bonfiglio, the Trofeo Porro Lambertenghi and the Trofeo Avvenire take place every year. Players, who have reached the top in the world of tennis, started their career in Milan. The 2018 season has been very successful for Italian tennis. For the first time since 1979 two Italian players have reached the top 20 in the ATP Ranking. Fabio Fognini won three tournaments in Sao Paulo, Bastad and Los Cabos. Marco Cecchinato lifted two trophies in Budapest and Umag, Camila Giorgi won her second title in Linz. We have a good group of young players. We are confident that we will be able to do better than last year. We expect this event to be not only very exciting, but also capable of responding fully to the needs of producing a great stage for tomorrow’s world tennis dominators. We also trust that our ATP Next Gen Finals will confirm Milan as a strategic for our national and international tennis movement. Last year Hyeon Chung won the first edition of the ATP Next Finals and went on to reach the semifinals at the Australian Open. This year the level is even higher than in 2017”, said FIT President Angelo Binaghi.
The innovative tournament will continue the innovations, which were trialed at the inaugural tournament last year. The new rules include the best-of-five set format, shorter sets to 4 (tiebreak at 3-All), No-Lets and In-Match player coaching via head-sets. The player warm-up will be reduced by a further minute from 5 minutes to 4, and players will be instructed to use a towel rack at the back of the court to remove the onus on ball-kids to handle towels.
“Many people have asked me why we chose Milan as host city. It’s a simple question to answer and is summed up by two simple words: innovation and passion. People, who are behind the organization of this event have the passion for tennis. Italian people are passionate fans. Last year this tournament was very successful and that was was incredible for a first edition. Milan has the opportunity to see players, who are on the threshold of world excellence. The ATP Next Gen Finals is a launchpad for future players. The depth of this year’s tournament is really exceptional. Tsitsipas has reached the top 15, Shapovalov qualified for the Masters 1000 semifinals in Madrid. Our sport is very conservative, but it has to adapt to changes. We need to find a new generation of tennis fans and be brave and innovative. We will not rush innovations but do strategically”, said ATP Executive Chairman and President Chris Kermode.
The most eagerly awaited stars of this year’s edition are Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov has qualified for the second consecutive year. He came close to reaching the semifinal in 2017 after a very successful season in which he became the youngest ATP Masters 1000 semifinalist since 1990 at the Canadian Open. This year the left-hander reached another Masters 1000 semifinal at the Madrid Mutua Open. He also qualified for two more semifinals in Delray Beach and Tokyo. He was born in Tel Aviv. He is the son of Tessa and Viktor Shapovalov. His mother was a former player and moved from Russia to Israel, where she became a tennis coach. The family moved from Canada before Denis’ first birthday.
Greek sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas became the youngest player in ATP World Tour history to beat four top 10 players in Toronto’s Rogers Cup (Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev after saving two match points, and Kevin Anderson after fending off another match point). He became the youngest Masters 1000 finalist since 19-year-old Novak Djokovic at 2007 Miami. He is coached by his father Apostolos. His Russian mother Julia Salnikova was a top Soviet player in the 1980s. His father helped Stefanos develop his aggressive game and his one-handed backhand.
Two US players Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz have already secured their spot in the line-up. Fritz reached his first ATP World Tour final in only his third tour-level event in Memphis where he finished runner-up to Kei in the 2008 Delray Beach Open. The 20-year-old player married Raquel Pedraza, who played at all four Grand Slam tournaments. Their first child Jordan was born in January 2017. Taylor’s father Guy was a former professional player and his first coach. His mother Kathy May Fritz won sevent WTA titles.
Tiafoe won his maiden ATP title last February in Delray Beach after beating Juan Martin Del Potro, Hyeon Chung, Denis Shapovalov and Peter Gojowczyk. He became the first wild-card recipient to win the Delray Beach title in the 26-year history and the youngest US champion on tour since Andy Roddick at 2002 Houston. His first idol was Juan Martin Del Potro. Tiafoe became the youngest player to reach an ATP Tour final on European clay in 30 years. His parents Frances and mother Alphina moved from Sierra Leone to the USA in 1996. When Frances was a kid, his father worked at the Junior tennis Champions Center in College Park in Maryland.
Australia’s Alex De Minaur reached a career-high of world number 31 after starting the year at world number 210 in the ATP Ranking. Last August Alex saved four match points against last year’s ATP Next Gen Finals runner-up Andrey Rublev in the semifnal of the Citi Open ATP 500 level tournament in Washington to reach the final.He also reached the semifinal in Brisbane and the final in Sydney. De Minaur works with Australian legend Lleyton Hewitt, who is Alex’s mentor during Grand Slam tournaments and Davis Cup ties. De Minaur’s father Anibal comes from Uruguay. His mother Esther is Spanish. They moved to Australia, when Alex was 13 years old.
There are still remaining spots. The favourites to clinch the remining two automatic spots are last year’s ATP Next Finals runner-up Andrey Rublev and Spain’s Jaume Munar. The eighth spot will be reserved for the winner of an Italian qualifying tournament to be held in Milan in the week before the ATP Next Gen Finals.
TAG Heuer will partner with the Italian Tennis Federation to become the Official Watch and Timekeeper of the ATP Next Gen Finals and will provide the on-court clock and the Shot Clock.
