With exciting tournament innovations and passionate fans, qualifying for the Next Gen ATP Finals is a major goal for all 21-and-under players.

But the appeal of competing in Milan is not only defined by experiences at the five-day event itself, with the number of success stories from previous tournament qualifiers continuing to grow. Two months after winning the event, both 2017 champion Hyeon Chung and 2018 titlist Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to the semi-finals at the Australian Open.

This year, the class of 2019 has already found success at ATP Tour events. Ugo Humbert and Casper Ruud, who competed in separate groups in Milan last year, are the only men to have lifted maiden ATP Tour singles trophies in 2020. For the third straight year, finishing a season in Milan has proven to be an accurate indicator of future success.

“[Playing in Milan gave me] big confidence. It was a goal for me to be in Milan last year,” said Humbert in Auckland. “The year before, I missed it by only one spot. I played against Frances Tiafoe, Mikael Ymer and Jannik Sinner. It was a great experience to play against them.”

Quickly building on his experience in Milan, Humbert captured his first title in his next tour-level event. The 21-year-old defeated three consecutive Top 25 players — #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov, John Isner and Benoit Paire — to lift the ASB Classic trophy in his first tour-level championship match.

“I worked hard for [this title] every day and I really wanted it,” said Humbert. “I did five good matches here against really good players, so that was great.”

Last week, Ruud joined Humbert in the 2020 first-time winners’ club with his title run at the Argentina Open. The Norwegian, who earned two Top 20 victories to open the year at the ATP Cup, dropped just one set en route to his maiden ATP Tour crown in Buenos Aires.

“It is what all players look for and dream [about]. I am very happy with my career, although I know that I am still young,” said Ruud in Buenos Aires. “Buenos Aires will always be a special place for me. This is my first title.”

With the trophy, World No. 34 Ruud also became the highest-ranked Norwegian in FedEx ATP Rankings history by five positions. The previous record holder? Casper’s father and coach, Christian Ruud, who reached the No. 39 spot in 1995.

“I’ve beaten his [FedEx ATP] Ranking and won an ATP Tour title, something he wasn’t able to do… I beat him in two different ways now,” said Ruud. “I think now I don’t need to hear the question anymore, will I beat my father? Now I’ve done it, so I have to try to think even better and that I can reach even further.”

Cristian Garin is on track to finish this month as the king of the Latin Swing. The third-seeded Chilean maintained his winning streak on Wednesday by defeating Federico Delbonis 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals at the Rio Open presented by Claro.

Garin fired 22 winners en route to advancing in one hour and 37 minutes. The 23-year-old took the title two weeks ago in Cordoba (d. Schwartzman) and has prevailed in his past six matches.

Next up for the third seed is Argentine qualifier Federico Coria, who defeated wild card Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to end the 16-year-old Spaniard’s inspired ATP Tour debut. Alcaraz produced plenty of flashy winners throughout the match, but ultimately succumbed to 35 unforced errors throughout the night, compared to just nine for Coria.

The 27-year-old Coria, No. 116 in in the FedEx ATP Rankings, has advanced to his maiden ATP Tour quarter-final. His dream run this week included saving two match points in his first-round victory over Frenchman Corentin Moutet. Coria has primarily competed on the ATP Challenger Tour, winning his first Challenger title last year in Savannah. He is also the younger brother of former World No. 3 Guillermo Coria.

Hungarian lucky loser Attila Balazs continued to make the most of his good fortune by rallying to defeat Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 1-6, 6-1, 6-4. The 31-year-old is through to his first quarter-final at an ATP 500 event and will make his debut inside the Top 100 on Monday.

Balazs will look to continue his run when he meets qualifier Pedro Martinez, who reached his first tour-level quarter-final with a 6-1, 6-4 win over fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar. Martinez had never won an ATP Tour match when the year began, but is now 5-3 this season. The 22-year-old is projected to crack the Top 100 if he prevails against Balazs on Friday.

Stefanos Tsitsipas extended his Open 13 Provence winning streak on Wednesday, beating Mikael Ymer 6-1, 6-3 in Marseille.

The reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion claimed his fifth straight win at the ATP 250 event after 71 minutes, winning 88 per cent of first-serve points (21/24) en route to victory. Tsitsipas is aiming to win back-to-back titles at a tour-level event for the first time. Last year, the World No. 6 won each of the eight sets he contested in Marseille to capture his second ATP Tour crown.

Tsitsipas is through to his first quarter-final of the year. After representing Team Greece at the inaugural ATP Cup, the 21-year-old reached the Australian Open third round and advanced to the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament second round.

Tsitsipas will face in-form Canadian Vasek Pospisil for a semi-final spot in Marseille. The Open Sud de France runner-up defeated eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 6-4 in 88 minutes.

Alexander Bublik rallied from a set down to defeat home favourite Benoit Paire 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. The Kazakh dropped just three points behind his first serve across the final two sets (34/37) to eliminate the 2016 semi-finalist after one hour and 37 minutes.

Bublik will face the winner of Thursday’s second-round meeting between fourth seed Denis Shapovalov and former World No. 3 Marin Cilic. Shapovalov and Cilic are tied at 1-1 in their ATP Head2Head series.

Felix Auger-Aliassime saved two match points and did things the hard way on Wednesday at the Open 13 Provence. The seventh-seeded Canadian squandered a 5-2 lead in the first set and recovered from 4/6 down in the second-set tie-break en route to beating Stefano Travaglia 6-7(3), 7-6(6), 6-3 for a place in the second round.

Auger-Aliassime, who reached last week’s ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament final (l. to Monfils), saved match points after Italian Travaglia hit a backhand into the net and a forehand wide on successive points. He broke in the fourth game and completed victory in two hours and 31 minutes with his 13th ace.

He will next play Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who struck 19 aces and lost five first-service points (43/48) in a 7-6(4), 6-4 victory over 2019 Marseille finalist Mikhail Kukushkin in one hour and 49 minutes.

Another Canadian, Vasek Pospisil, who returned to the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings (at No. 98) this week, booked his place in the quarter-finals earlier in the afternoon. Pospisil recorded his seventh victory in his past nine matches with a 6-3, 6-4 win over eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz in 88 minutes. The former World No. 25, who has experienced back problems over the past five years, saved four break points and lost eight of his first-service points (33/41).

The recent Open Sud de France runner-up will next face second seed and defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas or Mikael Ymer, who square off for the first time during the night session. 

Elsewhere, Egor Gerasimov hit 11 aces to beat fellow qualifier Dennis Novak 7-6(3), 6-3 in 83 minutes for a second-round meeting against third seed David Goffin.

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have left an indelible mark on the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com, winning the doubles title five times and playing to packed crowds every year. They were thanked for the impact they’ve had on the tournament by receiving a key to the city in a special ceremony on Tuesday night.

”Thanks for this prestigious key. If there’s something missing from your house tonight, it’s probably [because of] this,” joked Bob. “This is a very special place to us. It’s our hometown tournament, a lot of special memories.”

The Bryans are making their 13th appearance in Delray Beach. They played in the first year that the city hosted this event in 1999 and completed their most recent run to the title last year, marking their first ATP Tour team trophy since Bob underwent hip surgery in August 2018.

The top-seeded Americans will start their campaign on Wednesday night.

Top seed Dominic Thiem held off an inspired effort from Brazilian wild card Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves at the Rio Open presented by Claro, finishing strongly in his 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 win to reach the second round on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old Rodrigues Alves, No. 341 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, had never faced a Top 80 player before. He was unintimidated at facing one of the world’s best in his ATP Tour debut, hanging with Thiem in their baseline rallies and using the crowd to his home advantage.

But once the Austrian found his footing, he coasted through the opening set. With Rodrigues Alves serving at 2-3, Thiem prevailed in a grueling 27-ball rally before breaking the Brazilian to love. The top seed took 16 of the last 22 points and grabbed the early advantage with a crafty lob on set point.

The Dominic Thiem Backhand™️

Don’t miss the @RioOpenOficial live on @TennisTV ✨ pic.twitter.com/QOmfJDSp35

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 18, 2020

With Thiem in full control, he suddenly began to experience left knee pain in the opening game of the second set. He received medical treatment at the changeover and continued to play, but his forehand and serve became far less reliable.

Sensing his opportunity, Rodrigues Alves forced the Austrian to play more shots and ultimately leak unforced errors. A wild forehand miss from Thiem at 3-3 in the second set gave Rodrigues Alves the lone break of the set and he brought the crowd to its feet by eventually sending the match to a decider. Thiem hit 18 unforced errors throughout the second set, compared to eight in the first set.

?? Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves isn’t going down without a fight ?

Watch live on @TennisTV #RioOpenpic.twitter.com/jVyvUjMn8n

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 18, 2020

With an incredible upset suddenly becoming a possibility, Thiem quickly regrouped and didn’t allow the Quadra Guga Kuerten crowd to get behind the home favourite. The top seed charged to a 5-0 lead in the final set after just 20 minutes and knocked off a backhand volley winner on his third match point to wrap up play.

Awaiting Thiem in the next round is Spaniard Jaume Munar, who moved past Italian Salvatore Caruso 7-5, 6-4. Thiem leads their ATP Head2Head series 2-0, with both wins coming in straight sets on the clay of Barcelona.

Staying alive ?

The top seed & former champ is moving on in Rio! ?

?: @TennisTV | @RioOpenOficial pic.twitter.com/vlvMjq7S0M

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 19, 2020

Second seed Dusan Lajovic overcame a tricky test against Italian Marco Cecchinato to prevail 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1. The Serbian improved to 8-4 this season and tied his ATP Head2Head series with Cecchinato at 1-1. Lajovic will face Lorenzo Sonego for a place in the quarter-finals after the Italian outlasted Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 after two hours and 52 minutes.

Fifth-seeded Croatian Borna Coric held off a late surge from Argentine Juan Ignacio Londero to advance 7-6(5), 7-5. Coric let slip a 5-1 lead in the second set, including two match points at 5-3, before regrouping to advance in one hour and 58 minutes. Awaiting him in the second round is #NextGenATP Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild, who won his opening match on Monday.

Italian qualifier Gianluca Mager produced a 7-6(4), 7-5 upset over eighth seed and last week’s Buenos Aires champion Casper Ruud of Norway. The World No. 128 converted his fifth match point to prevail in one hour and 52 minutes.

Mager will next face Portuguese qualifier Joao Domingues, who saved two set points in the first-set tie-break en route to defeating Italian lucky loser Federico Gaio 7-6(8), 6-4.