Jannik Sinner’s performance on Saturday in the Next Gen ATP Finals title match made it clear that the future is now. The 18-year-old Italian completed a dream run from wild card to champion, delighting the Milan crowd with a 4-2, 4-1, 4-2 victory over top-seeded Aussie Alex de Minaur.

Sinner’s win over De Minaur is his second Top 20 victory of the season, having also defeated Gael Monfils last month in Antwerp. He won 74 per cent of his first-serve points and broke the Aussie three times to take the title in 65 minutes.

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Alexander Zverev believes that the next few years will be exciting as the #NextGenATP generation establish themselves on the ATP Tour and continue to battle the likes of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer for the sport’s biggest prizes.

Speaking ahead of the Nitto ATP Finals, where the German will bid to retain his title, Zverev said: “Rafa, Novak and Roger have been great rivals for a number of years, but hopefully we’re some of the guys – along with [Denis] Shapovalov, who is now playing great tennis – at the [Nitto ATP] Finals for many years.

“Some of the young guys aren’t here yet, but there is a very strong group of younger players. Two years ago, when I had my breakthrough season and I played here for the first time, I didn’t expect to make it here as quickly. Daniil [Medvedev], with the year he has had, has been amazing, but it’s maybe been a little bit of a surprise for people. I think we’ll see more surprises to come.

“There will be unexpected results and some guys winning the bigger tournaments, which we haven’t seen for 10-15 years. The next two or three years will be very exciting as you’ll still have the Big 3, who are still consistently better than us — a true fact, and the young guys, who are improving quite quickly.”

Twelve months ago, Zverev captured the biggest title of his career at the season finale, becoming the first player to beat both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the 10 years that both men were in the field (2007-15, 2018). He was the first German titlist since Boris Becker in 1995 and the youngest year-end champion since Djokovic, aged 21, in 2008.

The 22-year-old is proud that after a difficult 2019, he is among the best eight singles players for a third successive year.

“As everyone probably knows I didn’t have the best season I wanted to have, but I’m still top eight in the world and made London,” said Zverev. “A lot of people would dream of that, so being with these guys is an unbelievable honour and I wanted to come back here and give myself a chance to retain my title. I want to play some good matches as well.”

The Monte-Carlo resident clinched his 11th ATP Tour trophy in May, winning three consecutive three-set matches at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open that culminated in saving two match points against Nicolas Jarry in the final. He also finished runner-up at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC (l. to Kyrgios) in March and at the Rolex Shanghai Masters (l. to Medvedev) in October.

Zverev will begin his 2019 Nitto ATP Finals campaign against World No. 1 Rafael Nadal in Group Andre Agassi on Monday evening. Buy Your Tickets

Stefanos Tsitsipas is like a kid in a candy store at The O2 in London, walking around behind-the-scenes at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he will make his season finale debut next week. The Greek has made a successful transition from lifting the Next Gen ATP Finals trophy 12 months ago, to featuring among the best eight players in the world at the prestigious event to be held from 10-17 November.

“I am very proud of myself to have put in a lot of effort and work to get here,” said Tsitsipas on Friday. “It’s a great transition from the Next Gen ATP Finals to here, both great events. It’s great being part of such a prestigious event with a long history in our sport. It’s a very important tournament, which everyone is dreaming of playing and being a part of one day. It’s also a good tournament to end the year with.”

This year, Tsitsipas is one of four players aged 23 and under — also Alexander Zverev (22), Daniil Medvedev (23) and Matteo Berrettini (23) — competing at the Nitto ATP Finals. They will join Roger Federer (38), Rafael Nadal (33), Novak Djokovic (32) and Dominic Thiem (26) in the first all European singles line-up in the tournament’s history.

When asked about his fellow young rivals, the Greek said: “I believe the competition between us is something really important for the sport. We’re young and just getting started, so it’s obviously very fiery and we want to beat each other. But we appreciate each game, everyone plays differently and it’s quite interesting to see so many varieties.

“We are the future, we will be the ones that will fill the stadiums and get people to watch tennis. We’re going to create the future of the sport, along with other younger players.”

Tsitsipas has enjoyed a standout 2019, compiling 50 match wins for the first time in his career. He became the first Greek player to break into the Top 5 of the ATP Rankings (at No. 5) on 5 August 2019, during a season which has included titles at the Open 13 Provence (d. Kukushkin) and at the Millennium Estoril Open (d. Cuevas).

Working under the guidance of Patrick Mouratoglou, and his father, Apostolos, in London this week, Tsitsipas will make his Nitto ATP Finals debut against fellow first-time participant Medvedev in Group Andre Agassi during Monday’s afternoon session. Buy Your Tickets

It’s safe to say that Jannik Sinner has gained a few new fans this season.

In January, the Italian teenager was competing at an ITF Futures event in Tunisia. On Friday, he walked on court at the Next Gen ATP Finals to find thousands of fans at the Allianz Cloud cheering for him and holding signs with his name. Sinner credited the support in Milan with helping him defeat Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic and complete a dream run into the championship match against top seed Alex de Minaur.

”I think the crowd gives you a kind of energy, which is very important for a player,” Sinner said. “Today, I was a little bit more nervous because it’s a semi-final. Tomorrow, I will, of course, be a little bit nervous, which is normal. You have to try to put it away and focus on your game, which I think I have done a good job of today.”

His run as a wild card this week is the latest highlight in a remarkable season of growth. Sinner hadn’t won an ATP Challenger Tour match prior to arriving in Bergamo this February, but delighted the home crowd by taking the title and becoming the youngest Italian winner in Challenger history. His first ATP Tour main draw win came two months later in Budapest, followed by his first ATP Masters 1000 win in Rome. Last month, he defeated Gael Monfils to reach his maiden tour-level semi-final in Antwerp. 

Supporters of Italian tennis have had plenty to cheer for this year, including Matteo Berrettini qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals and Fabio Fognini winning his first Masters 1000 crown in Monte-Carlo, but Sinner’s run in Milan has stirred the crowds this week into near-hysteria. Fans have packed the stands to watch him practise and the list of media outlets hoping to speak with him grows each day. Although the 18-year-old can appear shy, he has embraced being recognised for his success.

“I enjoy the spotlight. I think it’s something new. [The fans are] just trying to cheer for me,” Sinner said. “Sometimes guys the same age as me are coming up to me and asking for photos or autographs. It’s strange, but it feels good.”

Sinner will have the spotlight on him once again when he takes on De Minaur in Saturday’s final. But regardless of the final score, he is determined to create another memorable moment for his growing legion of fans.

”It’s unbelievable here, the atmosphere, and I enjoy every moment I play,” Sinner said. “I will try to play my best tennis because against Alex, if you want to win, you have to. It’s not an easy match tomorrow, but I will try my best.”

Ten years ago, Russian Nikolay Davydenko had teenagers like Daniil Medvedev in awe as they watched him beat Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro to win the Nitto ATP Finals title the first year the season finale was held at The O2 in London.

Davydenko became the first Russian to win the season-ending event and, to date, remains the only Russian to have won the prestigious title. But Medvedev, now 23 years old and ranked No. 4 in the ATP Rankings, will try to change that next week when he makes his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals, which is in its second-to-last year in London.

The Moscow native has been drawn in Group Andre Agassi along with No. 1 Rafael Nadal, No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and No. 7 Alexander Zverev of Germany.

“I think all of us young Russian players saw this title. It was amazing, he’s the only Russian to win it,” Medvedev said. “It feels really good, I think for the country, to be back here, to represent my country, and hopefully I can just show some good tennis and win some matches.”

Medvedev has been doing a lot of winning in 2019, his best season on Tour. The 6’6” right-hander leads the ATP Tour in wins (59), finals reached (nine) and is one title away from tying Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic (five) atop the ATP Tour 2019 titles leaderboard.

By making six consecutive finals – Washington, Montreal, Cincinnati (title), US Open, St. Petersburg (title), Shanghai (title) – the Russian joined the Big Four of Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Andy Murray as the only active players who have reached six or more consecutive finals.

The Russian last played at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he fell in his opening match to home favourite Jeremy Chardy in three sets.

“I’m still confident about my game,” Medvedev said. “Paris was not the result I wanted, but it happens, it’s tennis. Jeremy played a great match, so good. I had my opportunities, didn’t use them. Every match you play, you can lose or win, there’s no draw or anything like in other sports. This time I lost, but I know that if I manage to be in great shape on Monday – that’s what we’re trying to do now with my team – I have chances to win if I play good, and that’s what I’m going to try to do.”

Medvedev will face Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas during Monday’s afternoon session. Medvedev leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 5-0, which includes a straight-sets win in the Rolex Shanghai Masters semi-finals last month.

“Hopefully, we’re going to have a lot of matches to come throughout our careers, in the later stages of the tournament,” Medvedev said of himself, Tsitsipas and Zverev. “Hopefully we can have a lot of great matches to come.”