Tennis fans have heard of their potential for years. #NextGenATP players such as Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz and Andrey Rublev have been touted by coaches and analysts frequently during recent times. But thus far in 2018, fans have also had many opportunities to see the Next Generation in action as the 21-and-under contenders continue to steal headlines on the ATP World Tour. Tiafoe, Fritz and Rublev lead the ATP Race To Milan after the first quarter of the season. The Race will determine seven of the eight 21-and-under players (born 1997 or later) who compete at the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 6-10 November in Milan. The eighth player will be determined by wild card. View The...
Just two days after turning 18 years old, Nicola Kuhn gave himself the best birthday gift possible — the #NextGenATP Spaniard defeated qualifier Darian King 7-6 (4), 6-4, in one hour and 42 minutes at the Miami Open presented by Itau to become the youngest Spaniard to win an ATP World Tour match since 17-year-old Rafael Nadal defeated a 17-year-old Richard Gasquet in the second round at 2004 Estoril. And not only was this the Spaniard’s first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 main-draw match, but it was Kuhn's second tour-level match overall. "This is a special day for me," Kuhn said following his win on Court 7 in Miami. "It was a very tough match. I'm happy with today's victory, but...
The first of many? Fans who had the opportunity to see #NextGenATP players Andrey Rublev and Taylor Fritz battle at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday will certainly hope so. The 20-year-olds entertained the crowd with more than 90 minutes of heavyweight hitting and plenty of plot turns. The second-round match on Stadium Court 2 featured 50 winners (28, Fritz; 22, Rublev) and seven breaks of serve. Watch Full Match Replays In the end, the home favourite Fritz reached the third round in Indian Wells for the second consecutive year 6-4, 7-6(4). The #NextGenATP California native was broken in the ninth game in the second set. But Fritz broke right back and, in the tie-break, clinched his second match point...
If he doesn't already, #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur will soon have a reputation on the ATP World Tour as that of a relentless fighter. The 19-year-old battled for two hours and 34 minutes on Friday to pick up his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 victory, coming back from a set down against German Jan-Lennard Struff to advance 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(5) at the BNP Paribas Open. De Minaur broke the 6'5” German only one time but he was clutch in the tie-breaks to celebrate victory during his Masters 1000 debut. “After pretty much every point you've got to regroup. Whether it goes well, whether it goes badly, you can't dwell on the past. You've got to move on. The...
“The little things”: They can be hard to describe, but no one doubts that those tiny details can decide a match, a tournament and a season. #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe and his coach Robby Ginepri both admit that Tiafoe, who won his maiden ATP World Tour title last month at the Delray Beach Open, is handling “the little things” better than in the past. Ginepri, however, doesn't struggle to conjure up an example of how Tiafoe used to goof the specifics of his professional life, you know, “little things”, such as remembering to bring your racquets to practice. A year before Tiafoe triumphed in South Florida, Ginepri wanted to test his player's growing maturity, kind of like how parents test...
