Former Barclays ATP World Tour Finals champion and six-time Grand Slam winner Stefan Edberg has hailed the introduction of the Next Gen ATP Finals from 2017 as a “great opportunity” for the rising stars of the game.
The new ATP World Tour tournament, hosted in Milan, Italy, will feature the world’s top 21-and-under singles players each season.
Edberg, who featured in a similar event back in 1985 called the Tennis World Young Masters, won his first ATP World Tour title in Milan (1984) and would relish the opportunity to feature in this new competition if he was a junior once again.
“I think this is a great idea. It's good for tennis. It's great to promote these young players,” said Edberg. “They're probably going to need more time to break into the top of the tennis game.
“Obviously when you're young, you see just opportunities. This is going to be a great opportunity. It's a great format,” declared Edberg, who believes the competition for qualification will be fierce.
“I think a lot of these guys are really, really going to battle it out to get into this tournament because there's going to be attractive prize money and it's going to be a good way for them to promote themselves. It's a win-win situation here. It's definitely the right move to do it. If I was young, I would love to have this setup.”
Replicating the format of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, with a round-robin group stage followed by knock-out semi-finals and a final, players aged 21-and-under will vie for seven automatic qualification spots or the sole wildcard through their ranking in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan.
[ALSO LIKE]
The event will take place over five days at the Fiera Milano stadium in the picturesque Italian City and will remain in Milan until 2021 over a five-year period. In 2017, the inaugural competition will take place from 7-11 November, between the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.
17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, like Edberg, won his first ATP title in 2001 in Milan and the fledging talent on the ATP World Tour such as Alexander Zverev, Borna Coric and Taylor Fritz will vie with fresh faces hoping to follow in the Swiss Maestro’s footsteps towards the upper echelons of the game. Next Gen star Frances Tiafoe, currently ranked World No. 108, is targeting qualification as a key element in his 2017 campaign.
“We're incredibly excited about the event. It's definitely going to be a great event,” said the American teenager. “I want to thank the ATP for everything they've done launching the Next Gen. It was a huge deal for us, a bunch of different personalities. I think it's going to be a really good turnout and I’m really excited for it.”
ATP Executive Chairman and President Chris Kermode is delighted to provide the platform for the stars of the future to showcase their talents on a global stage. “The next generation of players coming through on the ATP World Tour is gathering huge momentum. The big focus for us is we're at this incredible time in tennis where we're at almost the changing of the guard,” said Kermode. “We have superstars in the game that have transcended the sport over the last 10 years, reached beyond tennis and become global sporting icons, Roger (Federer), Rafa (Nadal), Novak (Djokovic) and Andy (Murray) in particular. But the changing of the guard is coming.
“We have a duty to start highlighting and really bringing to life characters in the game that are coming through with immense, immense talent. This is the future of the game.”