#rome atp 2024

[livelaughlovepedri]

gonna rant a bit about tennis cuz i really wanted tabilo to go through the finals 🥲 maybe im biased cuz that’s my chilean man but his first set was outstanding. he had zverev completely lost and showed a beast mentality. but in the end his lack of experience did him dirty, he did many mistakes and got nervous :( so it was a fair win for zverev. anyways I’m proud of tabilo, he made history and has the talent for a bright future 🌟

[gerrydefault]

to be honest did I comment about daniil being out rome? no , and what about andrey being out? no problem I don’t mind it take some rest andrey oh and what about fritz losing against the abuser did I said something about it? no

well my people this is because I choose to be happy

rome has never happened

rome doesn’t even exist

[naomiosakas]

rome 2024 wta quarterfinals

[stateofsport211]

Rome M1000 MS R3: Nicolas Jarry [21] def. Stefano Napolitano [WC] 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 Match Stats

📸 Eurosport FR

A nervy start from S. Napolitano was properly capitalized on by N. Jarry through his aggressive play, but the former tried to overpower the latter as he fired more shot spins, while N. Jarry successfully balanced it out by firing 16% of his slices despite some failures in the second set. This might have added to the risk as the 21st seed committed 20 unforced errors than S. Napolitano's 8, but the Italian wild card won slightly more baseline points at 47% compared to N. Jarry's 43%, but every time both players were made to move forward, it was the Chilean who dominated the net game. This way, N. Jarry generated one more break point (8) than S. Napolitano's 7, converting 50% of them throughout the three sets thanks to his powerful shots in between as he took things slightly deeper under pressure in most parts of the first and third sets.

Interestingly, N. Jarry still remained solid on his serve despite the ending of the second set. Even though he only made 72% first serves while landing 61% of them, he managed to optimize it by winning 6% more points than S. Napolitano, winning 5 more serve points cumulatively as well. However, the Italian wild card turned out to stand out through his second serves, winning 14% more points from there as he tried to bring the Chilean into trouble starting the second set, except N. Jarry came in a clutch to close the match.

In tomorrow's fourth-round match, N. Jarry will face qualifier Alexandre Muller, who defeated fourth seed Andrey Rublev 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a solid display, which match also signified the latter's necessity to rest up after the illness ordeal during Madrid M1000 even though he won the title. Back to the upcoming fourth-round match, this could be interesting to see how A. Muller could deal with the pace, as well as N. Jarry's aggression when the points could be slightly lengthened. Should be a crucial but exciting one, since some possible moments might have awaited them!

[decemberblue]

I'm really starting to like tennis!!

[lowkeyrobin]

AUAUUGJGHJ have i told u how cool u are. like ur writing several requests at a time while managing writers block. like u handle it and still be able to write so well??? thats so cool?? i js adore ur work idk atp..

so ermm maybe some poly preferences w sparrow!ben and klaus dating reader,, would wanna see how they worked it out esp w ben being there yk :3

- 🦇

awe tysm I appreciate this shit sm it's not even funny A; but yeah I could totally try!! hopefully this came out well idk LOLLL; thanks for requesting, hope you enjoy!

SPARROW! BEN & KLAUS ; sharing isn't caring

summary; dating sparrow! ben and klaus is fucking hell on earth

warnings; language

disclaimers; no harcest.... gtfo, also the other sparrows aren't dead, pretend the grandfather paradox didn't happen

word count ; 471

masterlist

they're both go out and party guys, whether you like it or not

you're constantly going out to clubs and parties (and probably acting as the one watching over them. if not then Ben is watching over you and Klaus)

if you'd prefer to stay in over going out then there's a little spinner thing in the kitchen that decides what they're doing that free night / weekend

^ some nights it's just sitting around watching movies, others it's you and Klaus having a mini fashion show as you await ben coming home from the club w the other sparrows, and sometimes it's you and ben cooking awaiting klaus' return from the bar with five and luther

you do go out as a trio though

and you try to not make it obvious you're dating both of them, at least to strangers

even 2024 isn't that safe for poly ppl

sometimes you all just mutually agree to do one thing, but you mostly have different desires so you try and mix them all together

like if you wanna go on a jog, Klaus wants to go shopping and Ben wants to run some errands, you walk to wherever Ben needs to go and head to the grocery store afterwards / in between (whatevers more convenient)

that doesn't mean your plans don't get switched up tho

you're the most unorganized ppl ever.

reginald would be dissapointed in them (well.. Ben, mostly)

you usually have aux in the car / in the house

but you do rock paper scissors for it most the time and you always win

klaus usually plays stuff like april skies, streetwalker, queer, etc (like 90s grunge (?)) or classic rap / hip hop. the occasional song like come clean or sailor song, probably mix in some she wants revenge and the cure tho

he'd unironically make yall listen to foxszn and 3drinkz all the time

ben is a kind of an early 2000s rock fan but won't actually admit it. like paramore, linkin park, 3 days grace, he was an emo kid

but he usually plays like classic rock or songs you can like dance too iykwim

klaus is a physical affection guy while ben is more into acts of service

"can I get a hug??? 😔😔"

"you need anything? I'll grab you some more-"

they're so sweet I can't

they lowkey don't fight over you at all

I mean they're bros from other hoes

they argue about those doing dishes and shit not over you 💀💀💀

music vibes cause I'm running out of ideas..

the promise ; when in rome

somewhere in my heart ; aztec camera

the bad touch ; bloodhound gang

last night ; fox szn & 3drinkz

big love ; she wants revenge

taste ; sabrina carpenter

nasty dog ; sir-mix-a-lot

the baddest ; joey valance & brae

[cocopufffss]

taylor fritz 2024 masters 1000/atp finals outfits

indian wells / miami

madrid / rome

montreal / cincinnati

shanghai

paris

atp finals

[fritzes]

the curse of ATP Madrid 2024

remember toronto's chaos? yeah this one's crazier

(shoutout @rodlaveraryna for helping me find the toronto post when I totally lost it)

first of all, the World #1 Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the tournament, making the fairly new #2 Jannik Sinner the top seed at a Masters 1000 for the first time.

In the first round, Félix Auger-Aliassime (who, keep in mind, took Nadal to five sets at Roland Garros) loses the first set to Nishioka. However, he comes back in the second and third sets to win the match 4-6 6-1 6-4. We'll be seeing a lot of him. In a Next Gen battle, young phenomenon João Fonseca loses the first set to the clay incompetent Alex Michelsen but proceeds to bagel him in the second set and then win the third with 4-6 6-0 6-2. Fabian Marozsan (of beating Alcaraz in Rome fame) saves eleven set points against Karatsev to win the first set and goes on to win the match 7-6 7-6. Moutet and Shang play an almost four hour match in which Moutet caused a massive delay by demanding the umpire give him coffee. And, most insane of all, teenager Darwin Blanch is drawn against Rafael Nadal for his second tour match ever. The scoreline is 6-1 6-0 (at least he got a game!)

Second round - here come the seeds. Jakub Menšík, yet another Next Gen wonder, upsets Dimitrov in three intense sets 6-2 6-7 6-3. Félix bagels known clay flop Mannarino. Fonseca loses quite brutally to Norrie. The ultimate clay hater himself, Daniil Medvedev, loses the first set to Matteo Arnaldi and looks absolutely done but comes back to win 2-6 6-4 6-4. Another known clay hater, Alexander Bublik, jokes his way through a win against Carballés Baena, who was so frustrated that he hit a serve directly at Bublik. Ben Shelton bagels Machac. Rafa manages to beat de Minaur, who he just lost to in Barcelona. Stefanos Tsitsipas, fresh off of two clay finals, is beaten by qualifier Monteiro 6-4 6-4.

In the third round, our top seed Jannik Sinner starts to show sign of discomfort, and his opponent Kotov is serving for the second set after Jannik won the first. Kotov has set point... and hits a questionable underarm serve that Jannik crushes down the line. Jannik goes on to break back and win the match 6-2 7-5. In the beginning of a long line of strange occurrences, Félix's opponent Menšik retires in the second set. Daniil loses the first set to Korda, yells at everyone, accuses the umpire of working for the Illuminati, but comes back to win the match 5-7 7-6 6-3. Bublik, the other resident clay hater, beats Ben Shelton 3-6 7-6 6-4, stetting up a match against who but Daniil. Holger Rune, who made two clay masters finals, loses to Griekspoor 6-4 4-6 6-3.

We start off the fourth round with another shaky Jannik match where he barely gets past Khachanov 5-7 6-3 6-3. At the exact same time - I kid you not, the exact same time - is a rematch of last year’s final. Carlos Alcaraz has match points over Struff at the very same minute as Jannik, but loses all three of them and extends the match another half hour or so, eventually winning it 6-3 6-7 7-6. Daniil comfortably wins the clay hater battle 7-6 6-4, and Bublik seems perfectly fine with it. In a strange occurrence of two varying levels of servebots on clay, Taylor Fritz beats Hurkacz 7-6 6-4 (including a very predictable tiebreak). Perhaps the strangest of all, Félix takes out Casper Ruud, the man who would marry clay if he could, 6-4 7-5.

And now to the quarterfinals. Think these matches have predictable outcomes? Wrong! Only Taylor manages to emerge as the favorite who wins, beating Cerundolo 6-1 3-6 6-3, an American servebot into clay masters semis. Meanwhile, Jannik withdraws entirely, giving Félix yet another walkover. In what may be the calmest match of his career, Andrey Rublev beats Carlos 4-6 6-3 6-2, ending his Madrid title streak. And, Daniil retires against Jiri Lehecka.

So, the semifinals no one expected. Andrey dispatches Fritz 6-4 6-3 after they traded breaks in the opening two games. And Félix receives yet another walkover when Lehecka retires a few games into the match. Yes, he received not one, not two, but three walkovers en route to the final.

In the end, though, Andrey wins it and claims a second masters title. So, that’s the end of the story, right? No, because in his interviews afterwards, Andrey reveals that he has been extremely sick for the entirety of the tournament and that he could barely sleep or eat. A bizarre yet fitting end to this strange tournament.

[saragarnier]

Number One

Pairing: jannik sinner x leclerc! Reader

Summary: y/n is Charles Leclerc’s little sister and also Jannik Sinner’s girlfriend. She went to Jannik Final in Rome, when he has the opportunity to become Number One in the ATP rankings

Warnings: none I guess. Maybe just bad English since it’s not my first language

Fluff

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Being Charles Leclerc little sister wasn’t easy at all and you hated everything that was related to your brother’s fame or job. You loved him with all your heart but sometimes it was difficult being his sister, especially if everyone around you tries to be your friend just to have a chance to meet your brother.

At the same time, however, you were able to meet your current boyfriend thanks to your brother and you were grateful for that. When Charles invited you and your brothers to the Montecarlo Master 1000 final in 2024 you were excited, especially when Jannik Sinner won the semifinal.

You watched tennis since you were only six or seven years old, especially because your father and your brothers loved it. Even after your father’s death you kept watching tennis, maybe also because you wanted to feel him again, maybe because watching tennis helped you remembering him.

And that’s how you knew Jannik Sinner: you watched one of his game when he was still young but you knew that something was different about him, you knew that he would have become someone important one day.

When you met him after the final you were almost shaking and your brother Arthur didn’t help you neither: he embarrassed you even more, telling Jannik that you were his biggest fan.

You didn’t knew when you met him, nor did he. It just happened. It wasn’t planned at all.

You two met again some days after, and again and again till you started dating in secret. You both wanted to keep it a secret, to keep it private from all the fans, the journalists and the world: only your families and Jannik’s team knew about your relationship. You just wanted to live yourselves, you just wanted to know each other better before telling everyone that you were a couple. You still didn’t even admit that you loved each other when you decided to leave Imola and not to watch your brother’s race on 19th of May. It was race day for Charles but it was also Jannik’s match day and you perfectly knew that, if he would have won, he would’ve become first in the ATP rankings. And you couldn’t miss it.

You drove for hours and you were able to arrived just few minutes before the start of the match, when Jannik was still doing some warmup. He didn’t know you were there, he thought that you would have been at your brother’s race and he understood that, he wasn’t even mad at you when you told him that your brother invited you to his race. And then, that morning, Charles told you that you should have gone and that he wouldn’t have been angry with you.

You thanked him and you immediately left to reach Jannik in Rome.

You were able to enter thanks to his coach Cahill, that let you pass the security and found you a place near them, even if you didn’t want to be seen by Jannik.

“What do you mean, y/n? Why you didn’t want to be seen?” Asked his physiotherapist, Giacomo, looking at you with a confused look.

“I don’t want to distract him. He doesn’t know i’m here and there’s no time to tell him; he needs to stay focused on the game, especially today, especially when there’s being the number one in the rankings on the plate.”

They knew that you only wanted Jannik’s best and they agreed with you, that’s why Jannik didn’t know about you being there till the end of the match, when he reached his team on the stands after his victory.

At the beginning he didn’t see you, he just hugged his team, smiling, incredulous.

“Let’s go Jan!”

“Bravo!”

“Olé, Olé, Olé! Sinner! Sinner!”

The fans were crazy, they were screaming, singing and they were crying. Some kids were literally in tears, some fans were hugging each other screaming: “Sinner numero uno al mondo!” (“Sinner number one in the world!”)

It was the first time that an Italian reached the first place in the ATP rankings and Italians were going crazy, especially because he became number one in Rome, at home.

“Sei fantastico Jan! Ottimo lavoro!” Said Simone Vagnozzi, smiling at him. (“You’re amazing Jan! Good job!”)

He was too much shocked to notice you were just few feet away from him. You couldn’t stop smiling, especially watching him being so happy. He deserved all of this and even more.

Before he could see you, you stepped forward, smiling.

“So, do i have to call you champion from now on?” You whispered to his ear, gaining his full attention. He immediately wrapped his hands around your waist and he hugged you, smiling.

“Y/n! W-what… what are you doing here?!” He asked, smiling even more. “I thought you were at your brother’s race! When did you arrived here?”

You smiled, passing an hand through his hair and caressing him gently. You smiled, looking at him and feeling goosebumps under his touch.

“I couldn’t miss it, right? I wanted to be here with you and my brother understood. I arrived only few minutes before the start that’s why I didn’t tell you: I didn’t want to disturb you. I know how important it’s for you and i didn’t want to distract you.”

He was speechless: he wanted to thank you, to say something but he couldn’t. He wanted to say how he felt, he wanted to say that you were amazing and that he felt so fucking lucky to have you, but he couldn’t. He didn’t find the right words, that’s why he just kissed you.

You didn’t expect him to do that in front of everyone, in front of the fans, journalists and the tv. You knew that all the world was watching you two kissing, you knew that your secret was not a secret anymore after that kiss, but you didn’t mind. You just let him do it and you immediately kissed him back.

You loved him.

God, you loved him so much.

But you weren’t prepared for that, you weren’t prepared for what he told next. You couldn’t believe it, you just couldn’t.

“I love you, y/n.” He told you, whispering it while watching you in the eyes. He would have passed all the time there, kissing you and hugging you. There was no-one else in there except you. It was only you and him.

You didn’t know what to say or what to do, you loved him so much and you waited to hear that for weeks, but you couldn’t still believe it.

Was it true?

Was it real?

You immediately hugged him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and hiding your face on his chest.

“I love you too, my little champion” you whispered, smiling. “And I would kiss you all the time right now, but i think you should go now. I’ll wait here for you, okay?”

Jannik smiled and nodded, caressing your cheek gently.

“Okay babe, i will come back to you as soon as i can, okay?” He said, giving you one last kiss before going back on the court to be interviewed. You smiled at him and nodded, still looking at him from distance.

“I love you and i will always do.” You whispered to yourself, since he was way too far to hear you.

And when he raised the cup to the sky you just smiled seeing how happy he was, seeing the smile he had on his face, how emotional he looked in that moment.

Number one in the world.

Number one in your heart.

[livelaughlovepedri]

i’ve been watching tennis since a long time (almost as long as football) but every time I watch a match I suddenly forget all the rules 🙃

[stateofsport211]

📸 🎥 Eurosport FR

Interestingly, the third set brought the best out of both players, but it took being clinical to stand out by the end of the match. It all started from the first game, where S. Napolitano scored one of his earliest winners of the set through his working volley to hold his serves to 1-0. This was followed by another cross-court forehand winner from N. Jarry, which turned out to be in (as umpire Mohamed Lahyani overruled the line umpire since the ball was good) to hold to 1-1. The third game turned out to be an entirely different rollercoaster as the Chilean forced the second deuce through a working volley, where he turned out to have 2 break points before he finally broke to 2-1. N. Jarry then quickly consolidated with a service game hold to 3-1, and seemed not to look back since.

The Italian wild card almost broke back again due to N. Jarry misfiring his forehand before the former's backhand pass secured the earliest break point of that game, but the Chilean secured a massive hold after saving the said break points, smashed his way to generate his game point, and held his serves to 4-2. It took several more games before the Chilean 21st seed earned his opportunity to serve for the match, where S. Napolitano once again looked for some opportunities as he fired his forehand pass to N. Jarry's backhand error. Thankfully, the latter closed it in clutch with his serves, firing an unreturned serve to secure his match point before he converted it to 6-4, thus securing his fourth round spot for tomorrow.

[livelaughlovepedri]

NICO JARRY INTO THE FINAAAAAAAL ‼️‼️‼️‼️MI PAISSS

[stateofsport211]

📸 Eurosport FR

The second set almost became a one-way traffic as S. Napolitano was spotted having a trouble in handling longer rallies as N. Jarry placed most of his forehands perfectly to start the second set, smashing his way to secure his 2-point lead before breaking early to 1-0 due to S. Napolitano's backhand error. However, the Italian wild card broke back to 1-1 moments after the Chilean misfired his +1 backhand before he had to face 2 break points, one of which was made due to a +1 forehand error. Even if he smashed it again to foil one of those break points, a failed slice secured S. Napolitano's break-back to 1-1, hence he tried to absorb N. Jarry's pace steadily from his forehand side then.

It took several fair chances to both players before S. Napolitano earned his moment, lifted by the crowd as the show went on. This time, he tried to struck deeply while aiming after N. Jarry's third shots, one of whose backhands generated the former's one-point lead at the third point of the match before generating his set point through the latter's +1 forehand error. Even if N. Jarry saved some of those set points, his backhand error while trying to respond to S. Napolitano's preceding forehand erupted the home crowd as the Italian wild card forced the deciding set by taking it 6-4 thanks to his patience and staying competitive throughout the set compared to his impatient finishes in the first set.

[stateofsport211]

📸 Eurosport FR

One of the third-round Men's Singles matches in today's Rome Masters 1000 featured wild card Stefano Napolitano, the champion of this year's Bengaluru and Madrid Challengers and having a career-high ranking of 125 achieved in April 15 this year who came back from a set and a break down to defeat lucky loser Juncheng Shang 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-0 in the second round, and 21st seed Nicolas Jarry, who stunned Matteo Arnaldi 6-2, 7-6(6) in the previous round as well. With a possible breakout sometime this season on the line for the former, this could be an intriguing test to see what it takes for him to break out as N. Jarry often had a solid game when he controlled the flow better.

Possibly having a nervy start, S. Napolitano conceded one point right at the first set as N. Jarry had a solid start through his backhand pass. However, the Italian wild card managed to hold his serves to 1-0, which was followed by N. Jarry's service game hold to 1-1 after surviving from the backhand error back in the third point of the said game. Somehow, N. Jarry generated his break point due to S. Napolitano's shank to the former's forehand before ultimately breaking to 2-1, and his clinical showing continued as he survived a pass and smashing his way to generate his game point, followed by a consolidation to 3-1.

However, S. Napolitano's erroneous first set showing continued thanks to N. Jarry's deep first strikes. This way, the former missed his third-shot forehand and backhand that generated the 21st seed's break point before it was converted due to another +1 backhand error from S. Napolitano (4-1). Without any further ado, N. Jarry consolidated with a service game hold before earning his chance to serve for the first set, which he sealed with an ace to complete the 0-hold to take it 6-2, setting himself in the driver's seat during the match.

[stateofsport211]

Know Your Talents: 2024 ATP NextGen Finals Introductory Post

The 2024 ATP NextGen Finals Class of 2024 (📸 NextGen Finals' official Twitter)

It is that time of the year again when the 8 best under-20 players of the 2024 season battle it out at the 2024 NextGen Finals, which will be held in Jeddah starting today (December 18). However, in contrast to being the season-ending campaign for them, it could be treated as one of their preparations to start the next season, as it is organized in transition between the end of the 2024 season and the beginning of the 2025 season (December 18-22, 2024), the timing when other exhibition tournaments take place.

Interestingly, the qualification window for this year's NextGen Finals ended at the end of the 2024 ATP Challenger Tour season (December 1) according to the rulebook, allowing the lower end of the Race to slightly heighten up, while no wild card is awarded due to no U-20 player standing out from the region, which meant all 8 players qualified through the Race. As a result, the last few names were attained at the end of November after several other names nearby got eliminated early in their pursuit to qualify for this event. As a reminder, they will play in best-of-five mini-sets (first to 4 games), with a tie-break to be played at 3-3, deciding points (servers' choice) every deuce without let on serve.

Featuring 4 players in the Top 50 for the first time since 2018 despite being U-20 only, hereby introducing this year's NextGen Finalists and their #JourneytoJeddah according to their seedings and respective groups:

Blue Group

1. Arthur Fils

Arthur Fils with his Hamburg 500 title (📸 Univers Tennis)

Arthur Fils' points to 6-5* 40-ad (latest set point) in Estoril (250) R1 (top left), to save a match point to 6-6(6-6), 2nd set in Tokyo (500) finals (top right), and his breakthrough highlights of 2024 (bottom) (📸📝BeIN Sports ID, ATP official website, and Tennis TV via Tennis Channel)

One of the front-runners of this year’s NextGen Finals, A. Fils enjoyed his further breakthrough after becoming the runner-up to Hamad Medjedovic in last year’s iteration 1-4, 2-4, 4-3(9), 1-4. Despite the slow start to the season, especially as he tried his hands in the Golden Swing (including a straight-set loss to Joao Fonseca in the first-round match of the Rio de Janeiro (500)) instead of his favorite European indoor-Middle Eastern swing, it steadily paid off as he won the Bordeaux (175) title rather than defending his Lyon (250) title, defeating Pedro Martinez 6-2, 6-3 thanks to a dominant play. Before that, he retired Joao Sousa 7-5, 6-4 in the Estoril (250) first round before bowing out to Cristian Garin 6-2, 4-6, 4-6 in the second round.

Performing even better in the second half of the season, A. Fils defeated Dominic Stricker, Hubert Hurkacz, and Roman Safiullin in the first three rounds of the Wimbledon Championships before being defeated by Alex de Minaur 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6 in the fourth round. He went on to reach his maiden 500-level final in Hamburg (500), defeating Alexander Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(1) for his first 500-level title. Not long after, he won his second 500-level title in Tokyo (500), snapping Ugo Humbert's perfect finals record after saving a match point, turning the match around with a final scoreline of 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3 in 3 hours and 4 minutes. Followed by a semifinal appearance in Vienna (500) (l. Ben Shelton 3-6, 6-7(9)) and being eliminated in the third round of Paris M1000 (l. A. Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 3-6), A. Fils enjoyed a career-high ranking of 20 to close his stellar 2024 season, qualifying him for this tournament right away.

4. Jakub Mensik

Jakub Mensik (right) as the Doha (250) runner-up to Karen Khachanov (left) (📸 El Mundo Deportivo via EFE)

Jakub Mensik's points to hold 3-3 in the 1st set of his Doha (250) final (top left), to 2-1* 15-15 in the 2nd set of his Rome M1000 1st round match (top right), and to break 3-0 in the 2nd set of his Vienna (500) second round match (bottom) (📸 ATP Tour's official Twitter via TennisTV)

After notably ending his season with his maiden Challenger-level quarterfinal appearance in Danderyd (d. Hamad Medjedovic 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(8) in the second round only to be defeated by his fellow #NextGenATP Alexander Blockx 0-6, 3-6 in the quarterfinals), J. Mensik began his season by becoming the runner-up of the Canberra Challenger (l. Dominik Koepfer 3-6, 2-6) before advancing to the second round of the Australian Open as a qualifier (l. Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(9), 1-6, 7-5, 1-6, 3-6). He then continued by reaching the semifinals of the Manama Challenger (l. Mikhail Kukushkin 3-6, 2-6), boldening his breakthrough by becoming the runner-up of Doha (250) the week after to Karen Khachanov 6-7(12), 4-6. However, he was sidelined due to an elbow injury, trying to come back in Madrid Masters 1000 only to retire at the start of the second set against Felix Auger-Aliassime 1-6, 0-1, forcing him to be sidelined for the rest of the clay season. He cited that the biomechanics of his serve caused the injury, making necessary adjustments for the rest of the season (apart from taking his final exams at school, where he got 4 As).

The Czech youngster then came back stronger during the grass season, reaching the quarterfinals of Mallorca (250) (l. Alejandro Tabilo 4-6, 4-6) before exiting early in the first round of Wimbledon to Alexander Bublik 6-4, 7-6(3), 4-6, 4-6, 2-6. Adding to his breakthrough year, he became the semifinalist of Umag (250) (l. Lorenzo Musetti 4-6, 1-6), partaking in his first Summer Olympics as he got eliminated against Tommy Paul 3-6, 1-6 in the second round. His progress became more evident in the other hard-court season, where he reached the third round of the US Open (l. Nuno Borges 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-3, 6-7(6), 0-6), as well as reaching the quarterfinals of the Shanghai M1000 (l. Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 1-6, 4-6). He then concluded his season with a stellar showing in Vienna (500), being a quarterfinalist to Alex de Minaur 7-6(2), 3-6, 4-6 before retiring against Corentin Moutet upon the conclusion of the first set in the second qualifying round of Paris M1000 (6-7(3), ret.) due to fatigue,  considering his Vienna run. He ended his season with a career-high ranking of 48, actually setting his goal to “stay injury-free,” considering the physical issues that often appeared from some thrilling matches. To top it off, he is deservingly being voted by his fellow players as the "Newcomer of the Year," announced right before the NextGen Finals.

6. Joao Fonseca

Joao Fonseca celebrating his victory in the Rio de Janeiro (500), where he reached his maiden ATP-level quarterfinals (📸 Tennis.com)

Joao Fonseca's points to 4-2, 2nd set, in his Asuncion Challenger final match (top left), to break back 5-5 in the 2nd set in his Lexington Challenger second-round match (top right), and setting up his latest set point before taking the 2nd set 7-6(8) in his Brest Challenger quarterfinal match (bottom) (📸 ATP official website, BeIN Sports ID)

J. Fonseca’s big raw potential was spotted in the South American Challenger circuit as early as 2022, reaching his first Challenger-level quarterfinal in Sao Leopoldo at that time after stunning Mariano Navone 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(9) in the second round, bowing out to Facundo Bagnis 3-6, 4-6 in the quarterfinals. Since then, he has taken the world by storm, peaking through winning the 2023 US Open Junior Boys' Singles by defeating his fellow #NextGenATP Learner Tien 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 after a rain delay interrupted the match. The Brazilian then started the year by winning the Buenos Aires 2 (Argentino) Challenger title with Pedro Sakamoto (d. Jakob Schnaitter/Mark Wallner 6-2, 6-2 as alternates), preceding his bigger breakthrough in Rio de Janeiro (500) as a wild card as he knocked out Arthur Fils in straight sets in a talent-off and Cristian Garin in the round after, setting up a rematch of his second-round Sao Leopoldo Challenger from 2 years ago despite the loss against Mariano Navone 6-2, 3-6, 3-6 in his maiden ATP-level quarterfinals.

Afterward, J. Fonseca, who already enrolled at the University of Virginia at the end of 2023, forewent his eligibility and turned pro, enjoying notable milestones along the way despite the rollercoasters. He went on to reach his maiden Challenger-level final in Asuncion after saving 2 match points in the quarterfinals against Orlando Luz 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 before Gustavo Heide got the best out of him in the finals 5-7, 7-6(6), 1-6 in a battle for their maiden Challenger title. He reaped his rewards when he received wild cards to Estoril (250), Bucharest (250), and Madrid M1000, racking up experience despite the early exits. His moment then finally came as he won the Lexington Challenger, defeating Li Tu 6-1, 6-4 in the finals, followed by advancing to the US Open third qualifying round as he lost the tight match against University of Texas alumnus Eliot Spizzirri 6-7(8), 7-6(5), 4-6. Continuing his season indoors, he notably saved 10 match points across the second and the third sets before being defeated by eventual runner-up Benjamin Bonzi 4-6, 7-6(8), 4-6 in the Brest Challenger quarterfinals, surviving a talent-off by defeating Martin Landaluce 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(9) in the Lyon (Décines-Charpieu) Challenger quarterfinals before bowing out to one of the indoor goats Calvin Hemery 6-7(5), 4-6 in the semifinals. From here alone, he attained his career-high ranking of 145 by November 18, 2024, securing his qualification to the NextGen Finals thanks to his powerful play, crediting the Challenger Tour for his development.

7. Learner Tien

Learner Tien won his maiden Challenger-level title in the Bloomfield Hills Challenger (📸 Shankar Iyer/Cranbrook Tennis Classic via Tennis TourTalk)

Learner Tien's points to *2-2 15-15 in the 1st set of his Bloomfield Hills Challenger second-round match (top left), to break 5-3 in the second set of his Tiburon Challenger second-round match (top right), and to start the second game of the first set of his famous Fairfield Challenger final match (bottom) (📸 ATP official website)

Former junior World No. 4 (attained in 2023) Learner Tien, who is named after his mother's profession as a teacher, took the world by storm starting his runner-up to Alexander Blockx in the 2023 Australian Open Junior Boys' Singles, winning the U-18 National Championships in the United States two consecutive times (2022-23), which qualified him for the US Open Main Draw wild card. To add, he became the runner-up to Joao Fonseca in the 2023 US Open Junior Boys' Singles (with the final scoreline of 4-6, 6-3, 3-6), whom he will face in this group as well. He attended the University of Southern California in 2022/23, where he earned the All-Pac-12 honorable mention in a shortened season, going 3-0 in singles at the No. 2 position, and 6-3 in doubles at the No. 1 spot.

While his professional journey has had its ups and downs, Learner started to gain more attention in the middle of 2024, kickstarting what would be his 28-match winning streak by winning titles in ITF M15 San Diego (May 27 and Jun 3) before continuing with another title in ITF M15 Rancho Santa Fe (Jun 17). The streak did not stop as he won his maiden Challenger title in the Bloomfield Hills Challenger, defeating Nishesh Basavareddy 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an extremely dynamic affair, surviving all his previous rounds in 3 sets. It did not end from here as he went on to win the ITF M15 Lakewood (Jul 8) by defeating Govind Nanda 6-3, 6-3, but his winning streak was snapped by Yunchaokete Bu 4-6, 5-7 in the semifinals of the Chicago Challenger before reaching his maiden ATP-level quarterfinal as a qualifier in Winston-Salem (250) (l. Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 2-6). Learner then won the Las Vegas Challenger by defeating Tristan Boyer 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 before crushing Bernard Tomic 6-0, 6-1 to win the Fairfield Challenger title in 39 minutes, setting the record for the all-time fastest Challenger final both in game (13 games) and duration (39 minutes), as well as becoming the fourth American to win 3 Challenger titles before turning 19 right behind Taylor Fritz, Andy Roddick, and Sam Querrey. Learner then closed the season with a runner-up in the Knoxville Challenger to Christopher Eubanks 5-7, 6-7(9), reaching a career-high ranking of 114 to open up a possibility for a Top 100 ascension apart from qualifying for the NextGen Finals, inducting himself to the ITF Class of 2024 thanks to his rapid rise.

Red Group

2. Alex Michelsen

Alex Michelsen (right) before contesting his 2024 Newport (250) final against Marcos Giron (left) (📸 Tennis TV)

Alex Michelsen's point to 1-0* 0-15 (2nd set) in his Newport (250) semifinal match (left) and to 6-6(3-0) (1st set tie-break) at his Winston-Salem (250) first-round match (right) (📸 Tennis Channel and Tennis TV)

Also a repeater from the 2023 NextGen Finals (eliminated in the group stage) thanks to his rise that peaked with the Knoxville Challenger title last year, A. Michelsen became a direct entrant to the 2024 Australian Open, qualified for the third round before being eliminated to Alexander Zverev 2-6, 6-7(4), 2-6. He also notably forced the issue when he saved 3 match points before being defeated by Jordan Thompson 6-0, 6-7(1), 5-7 in the quarterfinals after recording one of his biggest victories by knocking out Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-1 the round before in Los Cabos (250). After a decent start to the hard-court season, the American accustomed himself to the red-clay season by partaking in the Oeiras 3 Challenger, defeating home favorite Henrique Rocha 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round before Dennis Novak knocked him out 6-7(3), 4-6 in the second round, but he ended his subpar clay season with an early exit to Alex de Minaur 1-6, 0-6, 2-6 in the first round of Roland Garros.

A. Michelsen then bounced back in the grass and hard-court seasons. Despite kicking off his grass season with a straight-set loss to a resurgent Paul Jubb, he continued by reaching another quarterfinal in Mallorca (250), where Alejandro Tabilo won 6-4, 6-4, but exited early in a 5-set first-round Wimbledon match against Lloyd Harris. The American then closed the grass season by retaining his runner-up position in Newport (250), where Marcos Giron got the best out of him 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-5 in the finals. He then became the runner-up of Winston-Salem (250) to Lorenzo Sonego 0-6, 3-6, but notably defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the first round of Tokyo (500) before losing to Tomas Machac 6-7(2), 3-6 in the second round. Indoors, he confidently knocked out Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of Paris M1000 before being eliminated in the round after, becoming the Metz (250) semifinalist by knocking out the likes of Richard Gasquet and Harold Mayot before a comeback Benjamin Bonzi bettered him with the final scoreline of 6-4, 0-6, 5-7. By November 11, 2024, he reached his career-high ranking of 48, qualifying himself for the NextGen Finals alongside his junior buddies (in his batch) Learner Tien and Nishesh Basavareddy.

3. Juncheng Shang

Juncheng Shang with his maiden ATP title in Chengdu (250) (📸 CFP via CGTN)

Juncheng Shang's point to save the second match point to 6-6(8-8) in his Hong Kong (250) first-round match (left) and to break 6-5 (1st set) in his Chengdu (250) final match (right) (📸 Tennis TV, ATP official website)

Also having immense potential to his name, Jerry became the first Chinese man to win the Australian Open main draw match in 2023 by defeating Oscar Otte 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-5 in the first round. Since then, despite some fitness-questioning moments, Jerry continued to make his mark, which was just the beginning of what could be a career. Fast-forward to the start of the 2024 season, Jerry qualified for the Hong Kong (250) semifinal as a wild card before bowing out to Andrey Rublev 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, also receiving a wild card to the Australian Open, where he knocked out Mackenzie McDonald and Sumit Nagal before retiring against Carlos Alcaraz 1-6, 1-6, 0-1 in the third round. He continued his strides in the Sunshine Double, where he notably reached the second round of the Indian Wells M1000 as a qualifier (d. Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-3 in the first round before being eliminated to Alexander Bublik 4-6, 1-6). On the clay-court season, he notably partook in the Madrid Challenger, defeating Alejandro Moro Canas 7-5, 6-2 in a tight match before being eliminated in the next round against Marc-Andrea Huesler 4-6, 6-3, 5-7 in a classic encounter. Right after, he reached the second round of Barcelona (500) and Madrid M1000 (l. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 5-7, 3-6 in a match famous for its double-bounce incident midway), ending his clay season with a semifinal appearance in Bordeaux Challenger (l. Pedro Martinez 5-7, 2-6) before suffering an early exit in the first qualifying round of the Roland Garros to Roman Andres Burruchaga 4-6, 6-7(5).

Furthermore, Jerry also shone during the grass season, having a competitive showing despite the loss against a rising Jacob Fearnley 5-7, 5-7 at the Nottingham (grass) Challenger quarterfinals, reaching the Eastbourne (250) quarterfinals as well, being eliminated to Taylor Fritz 6-7(5), 6-7(5) as it came down to some crucial points. He ended the grass season by going out of the Wimbledon Championships’ second round against Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-6(4), 4-6, 2-6, 4-6, peaking during the other hard-court swing by reaching the semifinals of Atlanta (250) as a qualifier (l. Jordan Thompson 6-3, 4-6, 3-6) despite the two walk-overs that occurred back in Washington (500) (retiring 2-3 down in the first set to Arthur Rinderknech in the second round due to his lower back injury) and Winston-Salem (250) (withdrew from his third-round match) and the first-round loss to Casper Ruud in another 5-set chaos (final scoreline: 7-6(1), 6-3, 0-6, 3-6, 1-6), before winning his maiden ATP-level title in Chengdu (250) (d. Lorenzo Musetti 7-6(4), 6-1, notably defeating Kei Nishikori (R1), Roman Safiullin (R2), and Alexander Bublik (QF) midway). Jerry ended his season Indoors by qualifying for the Paris M1000, bowing out to Marcos Giron 6-7(6), 6-7(6) in another competitive showing. Reaching his career-high ranking of 47 back on October 21, 2024, Jerry is looking forward to competing in the NextGen Finals, trying to stay happy on the court while maintaining his continuous learning spirit.

5. Luca van Assche

Luca van Assche after winning against Cameron Norrie in his Roanne Challenger quarterfinal match (📸 TennisActu via Roanne Challenger's official Instagram)

Luca van Assche's point to 5-2* 30-30 (2nd set) in his second-round Heilbronn Challenger match (left) and to *1-2 0-15 in his Roanne Challenger quarterfinal match (right) (📸 ATP official website)

Compared to his steady rise that qualified him for the 2023 NextGen Finals, Luca van Assche struggled to maintain his form, trying to balance his tennis journey with his undergraduate studies, currently majoring in Mathematics at Paris-Dauphine University. He kicked off this season with a second-round exit to Cameron Norrie 3-6, 7-6(5), 1-6 before notably recording back-to-back 5-set wins in his first two rounds of the Australian Open, bowing out to Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6, 0-6, 4-6 in the third round. Trying to find his form upon appointing Vicenzo Santopadre (Matteo Berrettini’s coach for 13 years), it was a rocky road for him for some parts of the year: suffering quit exits from the first rounds of Marseille (250) and Rotterdam (250), as well as the first qualifying round of Doha (250) before qualifying for Dubai (500), where Karen Khachanov got the best out of him 2-6, 3-6 in the first round. To continue, he reached the semifinal of the Phoenix Challenger (l. Nuno Borges 4-6, 6-4, 2-6), but another set of early exits occurred, reaching the second round at best in Miami M1000 (l. Casper Ruud 6-7(5), 6-1, 1-6), Barcelona (500) (retiring against Fabian Marozsan 0-6, 2-3), and Madrid M1000 (l. Sebastian Baez 4-6, 7-6(2), 3-6), topping it off with a loss to a comeback Denis Shapovalov 3-6, 4-6, 4-6 in Roland Garros, continuing with 3 consecutive three-set victories in the Heilbronn Challenger the week after before bowing out to eventual champion Sumit Nagal 2-6, 6-7(5) in the semifinals, continuing with a quarterfinal showing in Lyon (clay) Challenger (l. Raphael Collignon 5-7, 3-6) and second-round loss to Tristan Boyer (2-6, 5-7) in the Sassuolo Challenger.

L. van Assche was one of the Wimbledon lucky losers, after being eliminated in the third qualifying round against Lucas Pouille 6-7(4), 5-7, 2-6 in a French generational affair, but he was defeated by Fabio Fognini 1-6, 3-6, 5-7 in the first round despite stepping up late in the third set. Among the other quick eliminations occurring during the other hard-court season, he went out to Paul Jubb 3-6, 1-6 in the second round of the Lincoln Challenger, Gabriel Diallo 4-6, 3-6 in the Cary Challenger second round, Radu Albot 2-6, 6-0, 4-6 in the second qualifying round of the US Open, as well as to the eventual champion Gijs Brouwer 3-6, 2-6 in the first round of the Saint-Tropez Challenger. Seeing his Top 100 ranking is on the line, L. van Assche survived the season thanks to some tumultuous runs, starting from a second-round loss in Villena Challenger to another #NextGenATP in Justin Engel 6-3, 4-6, 0-6, followed by a semifinal showing in the Roanne Challenger (l. Benjamin Bonzi 4-6, 1-6 despite coming back from a set and a break down in the quarterfinals against Cameron Norrie 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, being a quarterfinalist of the Brest Challenger (l. Otto Virtanen 6-7(1), 4-6), had an epic loss after Jozef Kovalik came back and forth from the brink in the first round of the Bratislava 2 Challenger 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(0), then becoming a lucky loser in Metz (250) despite his first-qualifying-round loss to Gregoire Barrere 3-6, 4-6 as Cameron Norrie asserted his revenge in the first round 3-6, 6-3, 1-6. This resulted in the Frenchman being ranked 128 at the end of the season, but he is looking to end 2024 with a bang with a run in the NextGen Finals, taking the court first today against Juncheng Shang to start his campaign in this tournament as he drew from his last year’s experience, where he lost in the semifinals against Arthur Fils.

8. Nishesh Basavareddy

Nishesh Basavareddy with his maiden Challenger-level title in Tiburon (📸 ATP official website via Natalie Kim Photography)

Nishesh Basavareddy's points to 5-1* 30-40 (1st set) in his Tiburon Challenger final match (top left), to 0-0* 40-ad (2nd set) to set up one of his break points in his second-round Knoxville Challenger match (top right), and to *3-3 30-15 (bottom) in an exciting sequence at his Puerto Vallarta Challenger final match (bottom) (📸 ATP official website)

Notably a former junior World No. 3 (attained on January 3, 2023), Nishesh Basavareddy attends Stanford University, majoring in Data Science, where he also was awarded ITA Scholar-Athlete twice for his outstanding academic achievement before foregoing his remaining eligibility thanks to a standout season. Back in college, he was a two-time All-American and the ITA Fall National Champion in 2022, leading the Stanford Cardinals to a Pac-12 Championship earlier in 2024, as well as being an All-Pac two-time honoree, having a 41-11 record in singles (14-1 at the top position) and 29-14 doubles record, reaching a career-high collegiate ranking of No. 6 in singles. In addition, while still actively playing in college, apart from attaining his first ATP points in 2022, he also won his first professional doubles title in ITF M15 Vero Beach (Apr 25) with Ricardo Rodriguez-Pace, defeating Liam Draxl/Millen Hurrion 6-4, 6-3 in the finals and becoming the singles runner-up of the 2023 Fairfield Challenger (l. Zachary Svajda 4-6, 1-6) at his maiden Challenger-level singles final.

However, the Carmel, Indiana native started another rise, beginning with his ITF M25 Calabasas (Mar 18) runner-up when Trevor Svajda got the best out of him 4-6, 1-6. Since then, he had a tear in the North American Challenger circuit in general, starting from becoming the runner-up to Learner Tien 6-4, 3-6, 4-6 in the Bloomfield Hills Challenger (in singles) and partnering Ozan Baris, in doubles (l. Ryan Seggerman/Patrick Trhac 6-4, 3-6, [6-10] in the finals). He then reached the semifinal of the Lincoln Challenger (l. Coleman Wong 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 0-6) before reaching the third qualifying round of the US Open, where Hamad Medjedovic won 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1, with fitness being the main question of this stretch, including in his Columbus Challenger loss to James Kent Trotter 7-6(4), 1-6, 0-6 in the semifinals. However, Nishesh came back stronger with other final stretches, starting with a runner-up to Edas Butvilas 4-6, 3-6 in the Charleston Challenger in a battle for their maiden Challenger title, finally winning his maiden Challenger title in Tiburon as he double-breadsticked (6-1, 6-1) University of Texas alumnus Eliot Spizzirri as they contested for their maiden Challenger title as well. Somehow, within 2 months, Nishesh became a runner-up in 2 different Challenger-level tournaments, starting the Charlottesville Challenger (l. James Kent Trotter 3-6, 4-6), followed by the Champaign Challenger a fortnight later (l. Ethan Quinn 3-6, 1-6) while surviving various classics along the way, including the quarterfinal match against University of Virginia alumnus Chris Rodesch 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(5) in the quarterfinals back in Charlottesville. Despite the injury scare to end the season, Nishesh closed the season in the Puerto Vallarta Challenger with a title, defeating Liam Draxl 6-3, 7-6(4) after not being able to serve it out in the second set, thus achieving a career-high ranking of 138 on December 2, 2024, securing the last spot to the NextGen Finals, as well as becoming the basis of him turning professional by the end of this year thanks to the immense development in his point construction as reflected in some above samples.