ATP Launches 'Next Generation' 2016 Campaign

The ATP has unveiled its ‘Next Generation’ campaign on the eve of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. With Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer continuing to take the sport to new levels, the campaign introduces an exciting crop of young and talented players, who are rising to prominence on the ATP World Tour.

There are 17 players in the Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, including six players in the Top 100, born in 1995 or later. Aged 21 or under each of them is striving to pose a future threat to the well-established hierarchy.

ATPWorldTour.com profiles 14 of the ‘Next Generation’ players:

Hyeon Chung (South Korea, No. 64)
Last year, the 19 year old rose from No. 173 to a career-high No. 51 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 26 October 2015, which included four ATP Challenger Tour titles from six finals. The right-hander recorded the biggest win of his career over No. 34-ranked Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in this year’s Rotterdam first round and reached the Dubai doubles semi-finals (w/Vesely).

Borna Coric (Croatia, No. 47)
The 19 year old is the youngest player in the Top 50, having reached his first ATP World Tour final at Chennai (l. to Wawrinka) in January. He was the first teenager to play in a tour-level final since countryman Marin Cilic at 2008 New Haven (d. Fish). The right-hander also has two Top 10 wins to his name, beating Rafael Nadal at 2014 Basel and Andy Murray at the 2015 Dubai.

Jared Donaldson (United States, No. 157)
The 19 year old captured his first ATP Challenger Tour title at Maui in January 2015 to break into the Top 200. He won his first ATP World Tour match against Stefan Kozlov at 2015 Memphis.

Kyle Edmund (Great Britain, No. 82)
The 21 year old, who was part of Great Britain’s Davis Cup winning team last year, qualified for Doha in January and reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final by beating Martin Klizan and David Munoz de la Nava. He has already contested two ATP Challenger Tour finals this year, winning in Dallas (d. Evans).

Taylor Fritz (United States, No. 80)
The US Open boys’ champion has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past 14 months, soaring from No. 1,151 to crack the Top 100 at 18 years, four months. Last year, he became just the second player aged 17 and under to win consecutive ATP Challenger Tour crowns and in Memphis, last month, he became the youngest American to reach an ATP World Tour final (l. to Nishikori) since Michael Chang in 1989.

Quentin Halys (France, No. 175)
The 19 year old earned his first tour-level match win over Ivan Dodig at this year’s Australian Open. He has a 3-2 record in ITF Futures finals.

Karen Khachanov (Russia, No. 146)
The 19-year-old captured his first ATP Challenger Tour title at Istanbul (d. Stakhovsky) in September last year. In 2013, he beat former World No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic en route to the Moscow quarter-finals, in only his second ATP World Tour event.

Thanasi Kokkinakis (Australia, No. 119)
Currently sidelined following right shoulder surgery in December 2015, the 19 year old rose 70 places to year-end high No. 80 last year, finishing as one of four teenagers in Top 100 (also Coric, Chung, A. Zverev). He also reached the Roland Garros third round (l. to No. 1 Djokovic) and the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells fourth round (l. to Tomic).

Nick Kyrgios (Australia, No. 27)
The talented 20 year old did not lose his serve in beating Richard Gasquet, Tomas Berdych and Marin Cilic en route to his first ATP World Tour title at Marseille last month. He was also runner-up in Estoril (l. to Gasquet) last year, and later reached a career-high No. 25 (8 June 2015). In 2014, as a wild card entry, he beat then World No. 1 Nadal to become the first debutant to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals since Florian Mayer in 2004.

Yoshihito Nishioka (Japan, No. 124)
The 20 year old, who has won two ATP Challenger Tour titles (2014 Shanghai, 2015 Toyota), reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final at Delray Beach (l. to Tomic) last year. Last month he reached the Memphis last eight (l. to Querrey). He rose to a career-high No. 110 on 15 February 2016.

Andrey Rublev (Russia, No. 150)
The big-serving 19 year old recovered from a set and a break down to beat Paul Henri-Mathieu last week, winning 10 of the last 15 games, in a 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-4 victory for his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Quimper. He rose to a career-high No. 161, becoming the 11th teenager in the Top 200. He is the third teen to win an ATP Challenger Tour title this year, joining Fritz and Blake Mott. He won his first ATP World Tour doubles title at 2015 Moscow (w/Tursunov).

Frances Tiafoe (United States, No. 177)
Moved from 1,145 in December 2014 to break into the Top 200 on 16 November 2015, going 0-2 in ATP Challenger Tour finals. Aged 17, last year, the big-hitter became the youngest American to compete at Roland Garros since Chang in 1989.

Elias Ymer (Sweden, No. 152)
Qualified for all four Grand Slam championships in 2015 and beat Thiemo de Bakker and Kyrgios en route to the Barcelona third round (l. to Ferrer). The 19 year old won his first ATP Challenger Tour title at Caltanissetta last year.

Alexander Zverev (Germany, No. 58)
The 18 year old has already reached two ATP World Tour semi-finals (at 2014 Hamburg and 2016 Montpellier), which included Top 20 wins over Mikhail Youzhny and Marin Cilic. He also advanced to the Rotterdam quarter-finals (l. to Monfils) last month. By winning the Braunschweig title aged 17 years, three months, in 2014, he became the youngest player to win an ATP Challenger Tour trophy since Bernard Tomic in Melbourne 2009.