2024 Next Gen ATP Finals: The eight players who have qualified for Jeddah

Shahida Jacobs 02 Dec 2024 7:46 AM

Pictured: Arthur Fils and Alex Michelsen

From left to right: Arthur Fils and Alex Michelsen

Arthur Fils will for the second year in a row be the top seed in the Next Generation ATP Finals draw in Saudi Arabia.

The top seven players who are aged 20 and under in the ATP Tour’s Race To Jeddah at the end of the calendar year qualify for the season-ending tournament with one player handed a wildcard. Before the 2024 edition, the age limit was 21 and under.

Fils also featured in last year’s event, but he was initially not the highest-ranked player to qualify as Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, Ben Shelton and Lorenzo Musetti also qualified based on their position.

However, Alcaraz and Rune also qualified for the ATP Finals and played in Turin while Shelton and Musetti opted to skip the tournament.

Fils ended up being the top seed and he finished runner-up to Hamad Medjedovic as the Serbian came away with a 3–4(6–8), 4–1, 4–2, 3–4(9–11), 4–1 victory and a winning cheque of $514,000.

The total prize money for this year’s Next Gen ATP Finals is set to increase from $2,000,000 to $2,050,000, but final figures are still to be released.

Medjedovic won’t return to defend his title as he turned 21 in June.

A host of high-profile players have won the Next Gen tournament with current world No 1 Jannik Sinner lifting the trophy in 2019, four-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz won it two years later while Stefanos Tsitsipas was champion in 2017.

2024 Next Gen ATP Finals line-up so far…

1. Arthur Fils

Fils is the highest-ranked player in the field as he currently sits at No 20 in the ATP Rankings with 2,355 points.

The 20-year-old is one of the rising stars of the game and he qualified on the back of winning ATP 500 tournaments in Hamburg and Japan.

2. Alex Michelsen

American youngster Alex Michelsen started the year at No 97 in the rankings and currently sits at a career-high No 41 with 1,245 points.

Michelsen finished runner-up at the Hall of Fame Open and Winston-Salem Open while he also reached the third round of the Australian Open.

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3. Jakub Mensik

World No 49 Jakub Mensik finished runner-up at the Qatar Open and also claimed four top-10 wins during the 2024 season – two against Andrey Rublev and two against Grigor Dimitrov.

The Czech, who earned 1,136 points from 21 tournaments, also reached the third round of the US Open while he also beat the likes of Andy Murray and Gael Monfils during the campaign.

4. Shang Juncheng

When Shang Juncheng won the Chengdu Open in September 2024, he became only the second Chinese man after Wu Yibing to win an ATP Tour title.

He is currently at No 51 in the ATP Rankings with 1,115 points having also reached the third round at the Australian Open and US Open.

5. Learner Tien

The 18-year-old Learner Tien won his maiden ATP Tour match in 2024. In fact, he won three matches in a row at the Winston-Salem Open as he reached the quarter-final.

The American has also won two ATP Challenger Tour events and currently sits at No 123 in the rankings.

6. Luca Van Assche

Frenchman Luca Van Assche turned pro in 2021, but his Grand Slam highlight came in 2024 as he reached the third round of the Australian Open and currently sits at No 128.

Last year he peaked at No 63 and reached the semi-final of the Next Gen Finals before losing to compatriot Fils.

7. Nishesh Basavareddy

American Nishesh Basavareddy is yet to play at a Grand Slam, but he won his maiden ATP Challenger Tour trophy in September 2024 and followed it up with a second title in November.

The 19-year-old sits at a career-high No 139.

7. Joao Fonseca

The 18-year-old Joao Fonseca was the last player to qualify with his ticket punched at the beginning of December.

The Brazilian claimed his first ATP Tour and ATP Masters 1000 wins in 2024 with the latter coming at the Madrid Open. He also claimed wins over the likes of Lorenzo Musetti and Alex Michelsen.

Fonseca won his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in November and sits at No 145 in teh rankings.