Next Generation ATP Finals

Next Generation or Next Gen ATP Finals is an annual year-end men's youth exhibition tennis tournament for the best 21-and-under players of the season. Since its founding, the event has taken place in Milan, Italy.

Ranking points, prize money and other features

The tournament does not distribute points for the ATP rankings for the participants. The ATP does not count it as an official ATP Tour tournament victory, but matches count towards official win–loss season record. Prize money worth US $2,275,000 is distributed and counts to the players' totals.

From the beginning, the tournament regularly has incorporated new and experimental features that may or may not be introduced into other tennis events later on. It pioneered the implementation of electronic line-calling (so called 'Hawk-Eye Live' completely replacing human line-judges) back in 2017. Other experimental features include scoring systems different from recognized tennis matches, players communicating with their coaches via headphones, and so on.

History

Following a competitive bid process, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) announced that the Italian Tennis Federation, in association with the Italian Olympic Committee, would organise a new ATP tournament featuring the world’s top 21-and-under singles players of the ATP Tour season. The first four editions of the Tournament were hosted in Milan, Italy from 2017 to 2021. Already in the first year, a special circumstance occurred. The 20-year-old Alexander Zverev played such a successful season that he was qualified at the same time for the Next Generation ATP Finals and for the ATP Finals of the best eight players from 2017. As the events were dated close and scheduled directly one after the other, the Hamburg native opted for the latter option.

Format

Played over five days, the format for the competition consists of two round robin groups, followed by the semi-finals and final. Played on a singles-only court, the competition features the best seven qualified 21-and-under players of the season, plus one wild card.

Rules

A number of rule changes from the normal ATP format are used for the competition:

* Best of five sets
* First to four games in each set
* Tiebreak at 3-All
* No-Ad scoring (server’s choice in 2019, receiver's choice in 2018)
* Lets on serve (in 2018 lets on serve were counted "in")
* Live Electronic line calling/Hawkeye-Live (graphic shown on screens after a "close call")
* Start match 4 minutes from entry of second player on court (5 minutes in 2018)

* Shot clock to ensure 25-second rule
* Maximum of one medical timeout per player per match
* Coaches can talk to players through headsets
* Public will be allowed to move around during a match (except at baselines)
* Towel boxes at each baseline
* Players can use wearable technology

Qualification

The Top 7 players in the ''Emirates ATP Race to Milan'' will qualify. The eighth spot will be reserved for a wild card, the winner of a qualifying tournament. Eligible players must be 21-and-under (born 2001 or later for 2022 edition).

Results

Singles

Next Gen ATP Finals appearances

;Key
Current format
* W = winner;
* F = runner-up;
* SF = lost in semi-finals;
* RR = lost in Round Robin group stage;
* A = Alternate (did not play from the beginning);
* A' = Alternate (played from the beginning = original player withdrew before the tournament);
* R = withdrew during the tournament;
* WC = entered as a Wildcard;
* NP = did not play.
Older format
* 3rd = won third place match (2017–2018);
* 4th = lost third place match (2017–2018).

;Note
When there are more than eight players listed for any year, it is usually due to withdrawal by one or more players because of injury. When a player withdraws early in the tournament, his place is filled by the next-highest qualifier. Participants are listed in order of number of appearances and best result with players being active indicated in bold. The 2020 edition was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Subsequent achievements of Next Gen ATP Finals players

Rankings

World No. 1s

Grand Slams

Grand Slam winners

Grand Slam finalists

*''Bold: Player won the tournament''
*''Number of titles won are within parentheses''

See also

*ATP rankings
*ATP Finals

References

{{Tennis exhibition tournaments

ATP Tour
Under-21 sport
Recurring sporting events established in 2017
2017 establishments in Italy
Junior tennis