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.

Tiafoe’s breakthrough early in 2018 has put him on top of the Race. The 20-year-old American won his maiden ATP World Tour title in February at the Delray Beach Open, beating Juan Martin del Potro, Hyeon Chung and fellow #NextGenATP player Denis Shapovalov along the way.

Tiafoe also matched his best result at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, making the Round of 16 at the Miami Open presented by Itau last week (l. to Anderson).

“Delray taught me a lot. I beat some quality players back-to-back-to-back, which I’ve never done. I’ve played so many matches in my career so far where I played unbelievable, came up just short. Now I’m feeling really comfortable when it gets tight. I actually embrace it, I want it,” Tiafoe said.

Read More: How Tiafoe Learned To Embrace The ‘Little Things’

Fritz also experienced his best run at a Masters 1000 tournament last month. The 20-year-old reached the fourth round at his favourite tournament, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. He saved a match point in his opener against friend and fellow #NextGenATP player Reilly Opelka, then beat Rublev and Spain’s Fernando Verdasco before losing in three sets to eventual semi-finalist Borna Coric.

Before Indian Wells, Fritz won the ATP Challenger Tour event in Newport Beach (d. Klahn) and made the quarter-finals at the Delray Beach Open (l. to Shapovalov).

“This year for me has been very consistent. I have had a lot of strong results… I think I can build on this and make this more of a regular thing. I feel confident that I’m not playing, like, out of my mind or anything,” he said.

It speaks to how well Tiafoe and Fritz have been playing that Rublev, last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up (l. to Chung), is currently in third place in the Race. The 20-year-old Russian has had deep runs this year as well. He made his second ATP World Tour final in Doha (l. to Monfils) and the quarter-finals in Montpellier (l. to Tsonga) and Rotterdam (l. to Dimitrov).

“To be more consistent is the goal,” Rublev said.

Aussie Alex de Minaur, Shapovalov, Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas and Aussie Marc Polmans all would also qualify if the Race ended today.

De Minaur (Brisbane SF, Sydney F, Indian Wells R2) Shapovalov (Delray SF, Miami R4) and Tsitsipas (Doha QF, Dubai QF, Indian Wells R2) have all made their gains in tour-level action, while Polmans has excelled on the ATP Challenger Tour and at Futures tournaments.

A LOOK BACK
Open Harmonie Mutuelle (St. Brieuc, France): For more than a year, former World No. 50 Ricardas Berankis had plotted his return to the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings. After undergoing hip surgery in late 2016, the Lithuanian had fallen as low as No. 243. 

Seventeen months later, Berankis is back, soaring to No. 84 after clinching the title at the ATP Challenger Tour event in St. Brieuc. He overcame home hope Constant Lestienne 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in a tense final. Seeded second, he had not dropped a set entering Sunday’s championship. The 27-year-old claimed his ninth Challenger crown in total, marking the fifth straight year in which he has lifted a trophy.

San Luis Open (San Luis Potosi, Mexico): For more than three decades, the $50,000 event in San Luis Potosi has celebrated ATP Challenger Tour excellence. And on Sunday, the second-longest running tournament crowned its 32nd champion as El Salvador’s Marcelo Arevalo lifted the trophy.

Arevalo capped an impressive week that included a signature victory over fifth seed Victor Estrella Burgos in the first round, comeback win over Daniel Elahi Galan in the semi-finals and 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-4 battle against first-time finalist Roberto Cid Subervi for the title. Arevalo, who became the first from his country to capture a Challenger crown at Bogota 2017, climbs 47 spots to a career-high No. 175 in the ATP Rankings. Having dropped nine of 10 matches entering the week, the victory couldn’t have come at a better time for the Salvadorian.

It was twice as nice for @CheloArevaloATP, capturing both the singles and doubles ?? in San Luis Potosi. pic.twitter.com/HAoMt4Pq1F

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) April 2, 2018

Casino Admiral Trophy (Marbella, Spain): With local teens and 2017 junior Grand Slam champions Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Alexei Popyrin receiving main draw wild cards, the inaugural tournament in Marbella had a distinct #NextGenATP flavour. Both advanced to the second round, but in the end it was Italy’s Stefano Travaglia who lifted the trophy. The 26-year-old defeated Guido Andreozzi 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday for his second Challenger title.

✅ 2nd #ATPChallenger ?
✅ 4th different ?? winner this year
✅ Closing in on Top 100 debut

Stefano Travaglia lifts the trophy at the @casinoadmiralt in Marbella. pic.twitter.com/8UGBbRgxMd

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) March 31, 2018

Travaglia is closing in on a Top 100 debut, rising 14 spots to a career-high No. 109 in the ATP Rankings. He is one of our 10 players to watch on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2018, after surging onto the scene at last year’s US Open. Learn more about the Italian’s incredible tragedy-to-triumph story.

Open Region Guadeloupe (Le Gosier, Guadeloupe): After a one-year hiatus, the crown jewel of Guadeloupe tennis returned to the ATP Challenger Tour. Third seed Dusan Lajovic was the last man standing, dropping just one set en route to his sixth Challenger title. He downed Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-0 in Sunday’s final.

One year after Lajovic’s native Serbia notched a tour-leading 12 titles, the nation staked claim to its first in 2018. The 27-year-old is hoping that the title will provide a change of fortune after posting a 3-12 record since mid-October.

Victory for @Dutzee in Le Gosier! Dusan Lajovic claims his sixth #ATPChallenger ? with a 64 60 win over Denis Kudla.

One year after winning a tour-leading 12 titles, ?? has its first of 2018. pic.twitter.com/JNPyPlXtvW

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) April 1, 2018

A LOOK AHEAD
The Spanish swing continues this week, with Juan Carlos Ferrero’s Equelite Sport Academy in Alicante hosting a €43,000 event. Travaglia faces Andreozzi in a first-round rematch of the Marbella final. The tournament also features in-form #NextGenATP stars Alex de Minaur and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

At the fifth edition of the Visit Panama Cup, in Panama City, Americans Reilly Opelka and Sebastian Korda lead the #NextGenATP charge and are joined by two-time champion Rogerio Dutra Silva.

The season is only three months old, but there’s already a plethora of storylines to track. Here are the top five stories of 2018 so far…

Federer Off To Another Strong Start
If Roger Federer’s start to 2017 was one of the stories of the year, he certainly hasn’t let up in the first quarter of the new season. The Swiss superstar continues to evolve as a player, under the guidance of his long-time coach Severin Luthi and former World No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic.

Competing in his 21st year on the ATP World Tour, Federer is off to a 17-2 start, including his 20th Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open and his 97th tour-level title at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament. His victory in Rotterdam returned the Swiss back to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings from 19 February for six weeks. With a record 308 weeks in the top spot, he holds records for the longest period between stints at No. 1, as the oldest player to attain top spot and for the longest duration between first and last days at the summit of men’s professional tennis. His great rival, Rafael Nadal returned to No. 1 on 2 April.

Federer’s Best Starts To A Season

Delpo’s Resurgence
Juan Martin del Potro’s career has been blighted by four wrist surgeries, but in 2018 the ‘Tower of Tandil’ has returned into the Top 10, to top form on hard courts and, importantly, has become one of the most feared competitors on the ATP World Tour. In building up a 15-match winning streak (21-3 overall), the old swagger and assurance, coupled with astute scheduling and better fitness, saw the powerful Argentine pick up two titles and reach the semi-finals of a third tournament.

Del Potro, who also started the year with a runner-up finish at the ASB Classic (l. to Bautista Agut), clinched the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC title (d. Anderson) and he then saved three championship points over Federer to lift his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown at the BNP Paribas Open. His streak ended to in the Indian Wells semi-finals (l. to Isner) on 30 March.

#NextGenATP Champion Chung On The Rise…
The enormity of winning the Next Gen ATP Finals at Milan in November 2017 was profound for Hyeon Chung, the softly spoken South Korean, with a compact game. Thoughts of qualifying for his first Nitto ATP Finals may be premature, but the 21-year-old, who found himself at No. 62 in the ATP Rankings on 8 January, has risen 43 spots to a career-high No. 19 on the back of six straight quarter-finals (or better).

In January, Chung became the youngest Grand Slam championship semi-finalist since Cilic, 21, at the 2010 Australian Open and reached back-to-back ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-finals at Indian Wells (l. to Federer) and Miami (l. to Isner). Under the guidance of new coach, Neville Godwin, he has adjusted his service technique and become mentally adept to compile an 18-7 match record in 2018.

Anderson, Back To His Best
Having spent one week in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings (at No. 10) on 12 October 2015, hip, leg and elbow injuries saw Kevin Anderson spend time off the ATP World Tour and drop to as low as No. 80 on 16 January 2017. But the South African, one of the hardest workers on the circuit, returned to the Top 10 on 19 February 2018 and is competing with confidence once more.

Alongside successive quarter-final runs in Indian Wells (l. to Coric) and Miami (l. to Carreno Busta) was his fourth ATP World Tour title at the inaugural New York Open (d. Querrey). He also finished as the runner-up at the Tata Open Maharashtra (l. to Simon) and in Acapulco (l. to Del Potro). If 6’8” Anderson were to secure his first elite eight spot in London, it would erase memories of one near miss in 2015.

Interesting Mix In Early ATP Race To London
While Federer and Del Potro may lead the early stages of the ATP Race To London, for a spot at the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals from 11-18 November, there are seven different nations represented in the Top 8 (as of 2 April).

In the mix is 6’10” John Isner, who will be hoping build upon his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown at Miami (d. Zverev) that saw him surge up 288 places to No. 6 and 5’7” Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who captured his second ATP World Tour trophy in February at the Rio Open presented by Claro (d. Verdasco) and also reached the Argentina Open quarter-finals (l. to Bedene).

Federer leads the Race with 3,110 points and is on course to qualify for the season finale, where he is a six-time former champion (2003-04, ’05-06, ’11-12), for a 16th time (2002-15, ’17). Del Potro, having competed at the Nitto ATP Finals on four previous occasions in 2008-09 and 2012-13, highlighted by a run to the 2009 final (l. to Davydenko), is currently No. 2, 980 points behind Federer.

Buy Your London Tickets

No. 9 John Isner, +8
The American has returned to a career-high No. 9 in the ATP Rankings, almost six years since he first attained the position (16 April 2012). The 32-year-old captured the biggest title of his career at the Miami Open presented by Itau by beating then No. 5-ranked Alexander Zverev 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 in the final for his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown (now 13-12 in finals). Isner also knocked out No. 3 Marin Cilic in the third round and No. 6-ranked Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals. Read & Watch Final Highlights

View Latest ATP Rankings

No. 12 Pablo Carreno Busta, +7
The Spaniard jumped seven places to No. 12, two spots off his career-high (11 September 2017), following a run to the Miami semi-finals. Carreno Busta saved one match point against No. 8-ranked Kevin Anderson 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(6) in the quarter-finals, before falling to Zverev 7-6(4), 6-2 in the semi-finals – his second Masters 1000 semi-final (also 2017 Indian Wells). He is the second-highest ranked Spaniard in the Top 100, after Rafael Nadal who today returns to No. 1 for his 168th week.

No. 19 (Career High) Hyeon Chung, +4
The 21-year-old South Korean continues his rise up the ATP Rankings, breaking into the Top 20 for the first time (at No. 19) with a run to his second straight Masters 1000 quarter-final (also Indian Wells). The 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals champion has risen 43 positions from No. No. 62 on 8 January 2018.

No. 28 (Career High) Borna Coric, +8
The 21-year-old Croatian rises eight spots to a career-high No. 28 after completing a productive March (8-2 match record) that included a semi-final run at the BNP Paribas Open (l. to Federer) and a Miami quarter-final exit (l. Zverev). He was No. 50 in the ATP Rankings on 26 February.

Other Notable Top 100 Movers This Week
No. 58 (Career High) Frances Tiafoe, +5
No. 70 Joao Sousa, +10
No. 80 Jeremy Chardy, +10
No. 84 Ricardas Berankis, +18
No. 90 Dusan Lajovic, +18
No. 95 Mirza Basic, +20

Rafael Nadal has today returned to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, beginning his fifth stint at the pinnacle of men’s professional tennis, nine-and-a-half years after he first attained the top spot on 18 August 2008. The icon of the game, who begins his 168th week at No. 1, replaces Switzerland’s Roger Federer, who had held the top ranking since 19 February to extend his record to 309 weeks overall.

The 31-year-old Nadal, who has been omnipresent in the Top 10 since 25 April 2005, is now two weeks shy of sixth-placed John McEnroe’s mark in top spot (170).

Nadal first ascended to the top spot at the age of 22 and has spent four previous stints at No. 1 — 46 weeks between 18 August 2008 and 5 July 2009, 56 weeks from 7 June 2010 to 3 July 2011, 39 weeks between 7 October 2013 and 6 July 2014 and 26 weeks from 21 August 2017 to 18 February 2018. Only Federer (309), Pete Sampras (286), Ivan Lendl (270), Jimmy Connors (268), Novak Djokovic (223) and McEnroe (170) have spent more weeks at No. 1 since August 1973.

In each of the seasons he started his stints at No. 1, Nadal has finished atop the year-end ATP Rankings (2008, 2010, 2013 and 2017).

THE NUMBER ONES
A list in chronological order of the 26 players who have ranked No. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973):

NADAL AT NO. 1
A look at the Spanish superstar’s match, Top 10 wins and finals record in his four previous stints at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings.

Our understanding of forehands and backhands has just added another layer – ironically from one of the greatest servers our sport has ever seen. 

John Isner defeated Alexander Zverev 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 to win the Miami Open presented by Itau on Sunday, with an analysis of his forehands and backhands shedding new light on what other factors heavily contribute to their overall performance.

The following five areas break down Isner’s forehand and backhand proficiency with a new lens. The analysis does not include returns, volleys or overheads, but does include baseline groundstrokes and approaching the net. 

1. The Serve Protects The Backhand
On the surface, there is nothing special about uncovering that Isner hit 24 backhands in the opening set. What will stop you in your tracks is that 20 of them occurred when he was receiving serve, and only four occurred when serving.

Quite simply, Isner can hide his backhand behind his potent serve. When returning, the server can find it at will. In the second set, Isner hit 18 backhands, which were evenly split at nine apiece when serving and returning. 

In the deciding third set, Isner hit another 18 backhands, with an overwhelming 16 of them hit when he was returning. Overall, Isner hit 60 backhands, with 75 per cent (45 in total) of them being struck after a return of serve. 

It certainly begs the conversation that simply recording forehand metrics such as winners, errors and totals in isolation does not even begin to tell the story.

2. Run Around Forehands = No. 1
You can divide Isner’s baseline and approach performance into three distinct categories.

1. Normal Forehands (struck from the deuce-court)
2. Run-Around Forehands (struck from the ad-court)
3. Backhands

The number one thing that Isner did in this match was hit run-around forehands – standing in the ad-court. Zverev directed 123 shots to the ad-court, but Isner upgraded 63 (51 per cent) of them to forehands.

The following breakdown shows how the American short-circuited Zverev’s baseline tactics.

Isner – Shots Hit / Location
• 28 per cent – Normal forehands (Isner standing in the Deuce court)
• 37 per cent – Run-around forehands (Isner standing in the Ad court)
• 35 per cent – Backhands

Is the backhand considered a weakness if you don’t actually have to hit it?

3. Forehands Struck Around 2 to 1.
Zverev constantly tried to attack Isner’s backhand, but he had a great deal of trouble finding it. Overall, Isner hit 65 per cent total forehands for the match. 

• 112 forehands (11 winners / 24 errors)  
• 60 backhands (4 winners / 9 errors)

The role of the forehand is to attack, so it will typically have more winners and errors, just like this match. Isner averaged committing a forehand error one out of every 4.7 forehands, which was worse than the 6.7 error average hitting backhands. 

The role of the forehand is to make the opponent miss. The role of the backhand is not to miss. Mission accomplished for the American.

4. Set Three: Run-Around Forehands Skyrocketed When Returning
It’s always tougher to hit the preferred run-around forehand when returning, but Isner did a solid job in the opening two sets, hitting 19 run-around forehands when serving, and 21 when returning. In the deciding third set, he was impressively able to hit 18 when returning, which was almost as much as the 21 from the first two sets combined.

In Set 3, he hit an amazing 75 per cent (18/24) of his run-around forehands when returning, while hitting 6 behind his serve. This created a tremendous amount of pressure in Zverev’s service games, with Isner finally breaking him at 4-all.

5. Set Three: Backhand Solid As A Rock
Isner committed eight backhand errors through the first two sets, but only made one in the third set, starving Zverev of a location on the court to attack. Importantly, of the 16 backhands Isner hit when returning serve in the third set, he didn’t miss a single one. 

Thanks to a server, forehand and backhand analysis just took a step forward.