The 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals will feature eight up-and-coming players whose potential rise to the top of the ATP World Tour is still just beginning. But, over the past 11 months, perhaps no one’s climb has been more meteoric than Alex de Minaur’s.

In December, the #NextGenATP Aussie was No. 210 in the ATP Rankings. He reached a career-high No. 31 this week, and De Minaur could be even higher when he is scheduled to make his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 6-10 November in Milan.

The Aussie qualified on Wednesday, joining German Alexander Zverev, Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, Canadian Denis Shapovalov and Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. as players to have qualified for the 21-and-under event. (Zverev will not be playing in Milan because of his Nitto ATP Finals qualification.)

Here are five things to know about the #NextGenATP Aussie:

1. He Made History In The U.S. Capital
In the Citi Open semi-finals in August, De Minaur was staring down four consecutive match points, down 2/6 in the second-set tie-break against 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up Andrey Rublev. Yet the Aussie saved them all and reached the ATP World Tour 500-level final, beating the Russian 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-4.

Watch De Minaur’s Comeback In D.C.

The 19-year-old De Minaur became the youngest Washington finalist since Andy Murray in 2006. De Minaur fell to two-time champion Zverev in the final, which was the youngest ATP World Tour title match since Rafael Nadal, 20, and Novak Djokovic, 19, at the 2007 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

2. Aussie Legend Is In His Corner
If you were a young player looking for a mentor who’s been there and won those titles, you could do hardly do better than to have two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt, one of the toughest competitors in recent history, in your corner. The Aussie legend works with De Minaur on and off throughout the year, but especially during the Aussie swing, Grand Slams and Davis Cup ties.

Watch Uncovered: Hewitt & De Minaur, A Perfect Combo

“He’s obviously been through everything that tennis has to offer, so he knows how to deal with so many different scenarios… how to deal with expectations and pressures and, just playing big guys. It’s all there. He gives me a lot of advice, and the only thing I do is take it all in,” De Minaur said.

3. He Moves Fast On The Court, And While Celebrating
De Minaur, whose nickname is “Demon”, might be one of the fastest players on the ATP World Tour. He dances pretty quickly as well.

Third round feels ??? #thesehipsdontlie #deMon pic.twitter.com/uCmOyz6VKE

— alex de minaur (@alexdeminaur) August 31, 2018

4. He Comes From A Humble And Diverse Background
De Minaur’s father, Anibal, is from Uruguay, and his mother, Esther, is Spanish. They own car washes and moved to Spain when De Minaur was five years old. The family, though, returned to Australia when he was 13, only to go back to Spain three years later. De Minaur represents his diverse background in tongue: He speaks English, Spanish and French.

5. Not Since Rafa Has Someone…
To start the year, De Minaur, then 18, made the Brisbane International semi-finals (l. to Harrison) and the Sydney International final (l. to Medvedev). He was the youngest player to reach semi-finals in consecutive weeks since Rafael Nadal at the 2005 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

“It’s all about me believing… I think that’s finally happening and I’m very proud of even all the work I’m doing off court as well. That’s, I think, really helping me on court and you can see the results now.”

A trio of #NextGenATP leaders qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals on Wednesday. Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, Aussie Alex de Minaur and Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. joined Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas and German Alexander Zverev as players to have qualified for the prestigious 21-and-under event, to be held 6-10 November in Milan. (Zverev will not be playing in Milan because of his Nitto ATP Finals qualification.)

The 19-year-old Shapovalov qualified for the second consecutive year. He fell just short of reaching the semi-finals at the Fiera Milano last year after a breakout season that saw him become the youngest ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-finalist in history (since 1990).

The left-hander has backed up his 2017. He made another Masters 1000 semi-final in Madrid, becoming the youngest semi-finalist in tournament history. Shapovalov also reached the semi-finals at the Delray Beach Open and the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018 in Tokyo.

De Minaur’s 2018 rise, however, might be the most drastic of anyone on the ATP World Tour. In December, the #NextGenATP Aussie was No. 210 in the ATP Rankings. This week, the 19-year-old reached a career-high No. 31 and could be even higher when he heads to Milan, as he’s defending only 30 points the remainder of the regular season.

De Minaur, then 18, started the year by making the semi-finals at the Brisbane International (l. to Harrison) and the final at the Sydney International (l. to Medvedev). He was the youngest player to reach semi-finals in consecutive weeks since Rafael Nadal at the 2005 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

In August, the 19-year-old De Minaur became the youngest Citi Open finalist since Andy Murray in 2006. De Minaur fell to Zverev in the Washington final, which was the youngest ATP World Tour title match since Rafael Nadal, 20, and Novak Djokovic, 19, at the 2007 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Watch: Hewitt & De Minaur: A Perfect Combination

Tiafoe reached two ATP World Tour finals and jumped more than 60 spots in the ATP Rankings this year, from No. 108 in January to No. 45 this week.

In February, the 20-year-old won his maiden ATP World Tour title in Delray Beach, beating Juan Martin del Potro, 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals titlist Hyeon Chung, Shapovalov and German Peter Gojowczyk.

Tiafoe became the first wild-card recipient to win the title in the tournament’s 26-year history, and he became the youngest American champion on tour since Andy Roddick, 19, at 2002 Houston.

In May, on the Estoril clay, Tiafoe reached his second ATP World Tour final, falling to home favourite Joao Sousa.

Eight of the world’s best 21-and-under players will compete at the Next Gen ATP Finals. The top seven spots will be determined by the ATP Race To Milan, which ends 29 October, while the eighth spot will be reserved for the winner of an all-Italian qualifier tournament to be held just prior to the Next Gen ATP Finals.

Nick Kyrgios got back to winning ways on Tuesday, defeating home favourite Andrey Rublev 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 at the VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

The fifth-seeded wild card, who suffered early exits in Tokyo and Shanghai, fired 25 aces and regularly impressed the Russian crowd with his shotmaking abilities en route to an 87-minute victory. The 23-year-old improves to 25-13 this season after denying Rublev a first victory in four appearances at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament.

Kyrgios will face Mirza Basic for a place in the quarter-finals. Earlier in the day, Basic overcame Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 7-6(4), 6-2. World No. 37 Kyrgios and Basic have never met at tour level.

Belarusian qualifier Egor Gerasimov struck 12 aces and lost just nine of his first-service points (36/45) in a 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-2 victory over defending champion Damir Dzumhur, the sixth seed from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He will next challenge Frenchman Benoit Paire, who overcame Mischa Zverev of Germany 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-1.

Andreas Seppi notched his third victory over Martin Klizan in four FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, upsetting the eighth seed 6-1, 7-6(6). The Italian will meet Pierre-Hugues Herbert or Kazakh qualifier Alexander Bublik in the second round.

Russian Evgeny Donskoy saved four set points at 5/6, 6/7, 8/9 and 9/10 in the second set tie-break en route to beating 2013 runner-up Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-4, 7-6(10) in one hour and 52 minutes. Donskoy, the 2015 Moscow semi-finalist, will next play fourth-seeded Serbian Filip Krajinovic.