A new era of tennis will start on Tuesday and Milan is set to host the inaugural edition of the ATP Next Gen Finals in the new indoor venue of Milano Fiera.
The eight qualified players Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, Denis Shapovalov, Borna Coric, Jared Donaldson, Hyeon Chung, Danil Medvedev and Italian wild card Gianluigi Quinzi were officially presented to to the media representatives from all over the world at the Hotel Il Duca in Milan.
New and innovative rules will be introduced for the first time in history this week to enhance drama and excitement. By testing new innovations and a new format the ATP is making a step in the future.
All matches will be best-of sets, the tie-break will be played at 3-3. The first player to get to four games wins the set. Matches will be fast paced with no lets and sudden-death points at deuce. Canadian rising star Denis Shapovalov commented on the new format of the tournament aimed at promoting tennis to a a younger generation of fans.
“It will be difficult to get used to the new format but it’s always cool to experiment with new things. We don’t get to do that often, so it’s definitely an exciting tournament and it’s going to be fun to compete with all these guys this week”, said Shapovalov
Shapovalov won the Wimbledon Junior title in 2016 beating Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex De Mianur along the way. A few weeks later he upset Nick Kyrgios in front of his home fans at the Rogers Cup in Toronto before losing to Grigor Dimitrov in the next round.
He made a major breakthrough this summer when he beat Rafael Nadal at the Rogers Cup in Montreal en route to reaching his first Masters 1000 semifinal and went on to become the youngest player to reach the fourth round at the US Open since Michael Chang in 1989. He has climbed from world number 11 to number 4 in the ATP Race to Milan after playing the semifinal in Montreal.
He catched the attention of tennis fans for his attractive attacking style of tennis, his huge talent and his single-handed backhand.
Shapovalov was born in Tel Aviv. His partents are of Russian and Israeli origin. His family moved from Israel to Canada before Denis’ first birthday.
Denis started playing tennis at the age of five at the club where his mother was coaching. At the US Open he said that his goal is to attract young people to play tennis in his home country and hopes that more kids will pick up a raquet instead of a hockey stick.
Shapovalov has been drawn in the Group A of the Next Gen Finals in Milan with the other talented star of this week’s tournament Andrey Rublev, South Korea’s Hyeon Chung and Italian wild card Gianluigi Quinzi, who booked the final spot by winning the Italian qualifyng tournament with the best eight Italian Next Gen players.
Shapovalov, the youngest player in the field, will make his debut in the ATP Next Gen Finals against Hyeon Chung. In the second Tuesday match of this group Quinzi will clash against Rublev in a match between two players, who won Junior Grand Slam titles.
Twenty-year-old player Andrey Rublev comes into the Milan tournament after a very successful season, in which he won his first ATP title in Umag last July and reached the quarter final at the US Open last September. The Russian player enters the Next Gen Finals as the top seed. He is the youngest player in the top-50 and is currently ranked world number 37 in the ATP Ranking.
Rublev started playing tennis at the age of three. His father Andrey is a businessman and a former boxer. His mother Marina Marenko is a tennis coach, who worked with Anna Kournikova. Rublev won the 2014 French Open Junior tournament and won the bronze medal in singles and a silver in the doubles at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing.
During the press conference Rublev talked about the current Big Four of tennis formed by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray and their impact on his career.
“It’s incredible that they continue winning the big tournaments. I grew up watching them on television and I have now the chance to play against them. They are the legends of our sport”.
The A Group will feature the match between Gianluigi Quinzi and Hyeon Chung, who will renew their rivalry four years after the 2013 Wimbledon Junior final. The Italian player beat Chung to lift the biggest title of his young career. Since then Quinzi has struggled to reproduce this form but he has showed a good return to form this year winning his first match on the ATP Tour in Marrakesh last April.
“Junior tennis is completely different from the ATP Tour. I have to be more focused now. I was at the same level as the rivals who will play in Milan this week, but now they are stronger than me. I have some regrets but I am focused on my own career”, said Quinzi.
Chung started playing tennis at the age of six with his parents and continued to play after his doctor recommended that looking at the colour green would help his weak eyesight.
Chung reached his first quarter final at ATP 500 level in Barcelona on clay last April. He beat Phillip Kohlschreiber and Alexander Zverev before losing to Rafael Nadal. One week later he reached his first career semifinal in Munich after beating former world number 6 Gael Monfils. The South Korean was just two points away from reaching his first final. In his second appearance at Roland Garros he was just two games away from reaching the second week. Kei Nishikori had to survive a five-set marathon match against Chung that lasted almost four hours. During the summer Chung beat top-10 player David Goffin to reach the third round at the Rogers Cup in Montreal and broke into the top 50 for the first time in his career.
“It’s an honour to be in Milan. I have been working really hard during the whole season, so being able to play here is a recognition for this effort. I feel very proud of being part of this generation. There are fantastic young players with a great future and I need to work to be one of them. I can’t wait to play this week in Milan”, said Chung.
US tennis will be represented by Jared Donaldson, who has been drawn in the B Group against Croatia’s Borna Coric and Russian players Karen Khachanov and Danil Medvedev. Donaldson trained for two years in Argentina instead of following the conventional route of joining a tennis academy in the USA. He made his breakthrough in 2016 when he reached the third round at the Masters 1000 in Toronto and at the US Open. This year he reached the fourth round at the Miami Open , the third round in Washington and at the Rogers Cup in Montreal and the quarter finals in Cincinnati and Chengdu. During the press conference in Milan Donaldson talked about the future of US tennis.
“In the USA there is no shortage of talented players. Jack Sock qualified for the ATP Finals in London. I will play this week in Milan. There was a drought but this can be explained by the fact that tennis is a global sport. It is widespread all over the world with players coming from all corners of the world but future is looking great for American tennis. It’s definitely an accomplishment to qualify for the Next Gen finals. It’s something that all the under 21 players wanted to qualify for, just because it’s a reflection of how well you played throughout the year. To be one of the guys to do it, it’s definitely really special, definitely an accolade. I am just trying to finish up the year on a positive note”, said Donaldson.
In the Group B Karen Khachanov will play against Danil Medvedev in the first match of the tournament. Khachanov leads the field with 25 match wins in 2017 and won the Chengdu title. Medvedev reached his maiden final in Chennai, the semifinals in Eastbourne and six quarter finals.
The other Group B match will feature Coric and Donaldson. Coric, who will turn 21 on 14th November, won his first title last April in Marrakesh beating Phillip Kohlshreiber after saving five match points. He also scored the biggest win of his career at the Madrid Mutua Open, where he beat Andy Murray for the second time in his career. He also beat Rafael Nadal twice.
Milan is ready to launch the career of new tennis stars, who could follow in the footsteps of Stefan Edberg and Roger Federer, who won their first title in the famous Milan ATP Tournament in the past.
“We have the future stars of tennis in Milan, who will write the history of our sport and we are very proud of this innovative event”, said ATP President Chris Kermode.
“For Italian tennis Federation and Milan it’s a big honour to host the ATP Next Gen Finals. Milan needed a big tournament after many years”, said ATP Next Gen Finals Tournament Director Sergio Palmieri.
