Next Gen ATP Finals: Eight players who qualified with undefeated winner in line for bumper payday

Shahida Jacobs
Next-Gen-ATP-Finals 2019

Arthur Fils will be the highest-ranked player in the field when the Next Gen ATP Finals makes its debut in Saudi Arabia with a tournament-record $2 million in prize money on offer over next week.

After five editions in Milan, Italy, the 21-and-under event will be staged at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah until 2027. This year’s tournament will run from November 28 with the final taking place on Saturday, December 2.

The top eight players 21 or under in the 2023 ATP Race to Jeddah qualified for the event, although there have been withdrawals as world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz and world No 8 Holger Rune (both 20) won’t feature as they competed at the ATP Finals.

American Ben Shelton (17) and Lorenzo Musetti (27) were next in terms of rankings, but they opted not to play in the season-ending event.

Defending champion Brandon Nakashima won’t defend his title as he is over 21 while previous winners include Alcaraz (2021) and Jannik Sinner (2019).

World No 36 Fils will headline this year’s tournament as the Frenchman will be the top seed. He is followed by compatriot Luca Van Assche, Swiss Dominic Stricker, American Alex Michelsen, Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic, Italian Luca Nardi and Jordanian wildcard Abdullah Shelbayh.

2023 Next Gen ATP Finals participants

1. Arthur Fils – 1,158 ranking points

2023 ATP W-L record: 19-17
Current ranking: 36
Career prize money: $822,669

The 19-year-old Fils is the only player in the field who has won an ATP Tour with the Frenchman lifting his maiden singles trophy at the Lyon Open in May while he also finished runner-up at the European Open in October.

Fils has beaten the likes of Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Stan Wawrinka in 2023.

2. Luca Van Assches – 687 ranking points

2023 ATP W-L record: 10-17
Current ranking: 66
Career-prize money: $794,755

Van Assches is a Grand Slam Junior champion as he won the 2021 French Open, defeating Fils in the all-French final. He also won a couple of ATP Challenger Tour events this year.

3. Dominic Stricker – 673 ranking points

2023 ATP W-L record: 7-8
Current ranking: 92
Career-prize money: $1,169,648

Stricker won Challenger Tour events in May and August while he also reached the fourth round of the US Open this year.

The 2020 French Open Boys’ champion beat Tsitsipas en route to the fourth round at Flushing Meadows in September while he also has wins over Ruud and Hubert Hurkacz in 2023.

4. Alex Michelsen – 653 ranking points

2023 ATP W-L record: 7-5
Current ranking: 94
Career-prize money: $297,830

Michelsen, who won both the Australian Open and Wimbledon Boys’ titles last year, was runner-up to Adrian Mannarino in his maiden ATP Tour singles final at the Halle of Fame Open in July.

The rising American star won three ATP Challenger Tour titles this year while he was also a finalist in three other Challenger tournaments.

5. Flavio Cobolli – 640 ranking points

2023 ATP W-L record: 4-5
Current ranking: 100
Career-prize money: $573,714

The Italian won the 2020 French Open Junior title – a year after he finished runner-up to Stricker at the same event.

The 21-year-old Cobolli won one ATP Challenger Tour event in 2023 while he also reached the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time, but ended up losing in straight sets against Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros.

6. Hamad Medjedovic – 582 ranking points

2023 ATP W-L record: 7-7
Current ranking: 111
Career-prize money: $415,858

Medjedovic won three ATP Challenger Tour events this year while he also made the main draw of the French Open and Wimbledon.

The 20-year-old, who has in the past opened up about receiving financial help from Novak Djokovic, claimed his biggest win of the year at the Swiss Open when he beat former world No 3 Dominic Thiem.

7. Luca Nardi – 549 ranking points

2023 ATP W-L record: 1-5
Current ranking: 118
Career-prize money: $491,297

Italian Nardi reached three ATP Challenger Tour finals, winning two of them.

The 20-year-old, who is yet to play in the main draw of a Grand Slam, won his first ATP Tour-level match at the Monte Carlo Masters in April as he beat Valentin Vacherot, but ended up losing 6-0, 6-0 to Lorenzo Musetti in the second round.

8. Abdullah Shelbayh – 311 ranking points

2023 ATP W-L record: 2-6
Current ranking: 187
Career-prize money: $154,200

Wildcard Shelbayh is part of the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca and he made history in October when he won the ATP Challenger Tour title as he became the first Jordanian to win a Challenger title.

He made his ATP Tour-level debut at the Qatar Open, losing in the first round before becoming the first Jordanian to win a top-level match at the Banja Luka Open

Ranking Points and Prize Money

In case you didn’t know, no ranking points are on offer for those taking part in the tournament while a title win also doesn’t count towards a player’s ATP trophy haul.

However, matches and prize money do not count toward the official win-loss record and career-prize money.

The total prize pool for the tournament is $2,000,000 and an undefeated champion will earn $514,000. Not quite the $4m that Djokovic earned at this year’s ATP Finals, but that is a big payday for a youngster.

Prize-Money Breakdown

Alternate – $15,000
Participation Fee – $150,000
Round-Robin Match Win – $32,500
Semi-Final Win – $113,500
Final Win – $153,000
Undefeated Champion – $514,000

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