The world’s leading 21-and-under players Saturday night learned their group fate for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM when the official draw was conducted in Jeddah.

Joining French top seed Arthur Fils, 19, in Green Group will be Dominic Stricker, Flavio Cobolli and Luca Nardi.

Fellow Frenchman Luca Van Assche, 19, heads Red Group, which will also feature Alex Michelsen, Hamad Medjedovic and Abdullah Shelbayh.

The Next Gen ATP Finals, the first ATP-sanctioned event ever to be held in Saudi Arabia, will be held 28 November-2 December at King Abdullah Sports City.

Green Group: Arthur Fils (1), Dominic Stricker (3), Flavio Cobolli (5), Luca Nardi (7).

Red Group: Luca Van Assche (2), Alex Michelsen (4), Hamad Medjedovic (6), Abdullah Shelbayh (8).

Dominic Stricker may have prior experience both of visiting Saudi Arabia and competing at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM, but the Swiss star was still impressed by his first visit to the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.

Stricker stepped on court for his first practice session Saturday lunchtime in the Saudi coastal city, where the lefty hit with one of his fellow competitors at the 21-and-under event, Arthur Fils. The 21-year-old reached the semi-finals on his Next Gen ATP Finals debut in Milan in 2022 and is delighted to be back for a second campaign.

“It’s a great arena. It felt really good from the beginning onwards,” said Stricker after his practice. “I was at this event last year, so it’s great to come back. It’s a super event, everything is organised well. I arrived pretty late yesterday but had a great practice with Arthur.”

The lefty World No. 92 said he had settled quickly in Jeddah, where he will hope to cap a strong year during which he made his maiden fourth-round appearance at a major at the US Open and lifted two ATP Challenger Tour trophies.

“I’ve been here once before,” said Stricker of Saudi Arabia. “I was excited to come here again. I really liked it the time I was here before, so I hope I can enjoy my stay here. It’s my first time in this stadium, but it looks great and feels great. The court feels good, everything looks really good so far.”

Earlier on Saturday, Flavio Cobolli also made his bow on Jeddah’s stadium court in a practice with his fellow event debutant Alex Michelsen. The World No. 95 Cobolli won a Challenger title in Lisbon in August, made two other finals at that level, and also reached his first ATP Tour quarter-final in Munich in April.

Flavio Cobolli” />

_{^{Flavio Cobolli during practice on Saturday at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour}}

Total distance is the foundational tracking metric for athletic performance defined by the overall quantity of work an athlete must undertake in order to excel at the highest levels of their sport.

Accumulating distance over the course of a match drains a competitor’s overall level of energy by fatiguing muscles and stressing the cardiovascular system. Within a tournament, total distance covered becomes most significant not on one specific day, but as a cumulative measure. For world-class athletes, handling high-distance loads in one match is not the primary challenge; rather, it’s the ability to sustain repeated exposure to high-distance matches in a condensed, one-week span and still produce peak performance.

Cumulative distance covered leading into semi-finals can be vastly different for two opponents. A disparity in the amount of distance covered in the previous rounds could result in an advantage for the fresher player. In 2021, Carlos Alcaraz came into the final having run close to 18 per cent less distance than Sebastian Korda. The following year the tables were turned for Brandon Nakashima. Nakashima came into the finals having run 19 per cent more distance in his first four matches than his opponent Jiri Lehecka.

In 2021, Lorenzo Musetti covered a distance of 2.48 km against Hugo Gaston, the most distance of any player in any match during the 21-and-under event in 2021. Gaston ran 2.28 km in the same match, the second-most distance of any match that year.

The Science Behind Workload in Tennis

Total distance is the primary metric that measures the overall volume of work by aggregating how much ground an athlete has covered. Mechanical workload is the secondary volume metric that aggregates the total amount of weighted accelerations and decelerations the athlete has performed. Using optical tracking systems, every instant of acceleration and deceleration performed by a player is categorised into one of three zones: low, medium or high.

Accel/Decel Low: Gradual speed change that does not have an acute demand on the legs but can result in accumulated fatigue over time.
Accel/Decel Medium: Moderate speed change that requires effort and has an immediate impact on the legs.
Accel/Decel High: Demanding speed change that requires elite movement capabilities and must be trained for.

Distance reflects your level of speed; workload reflects the levels at which you change speed.

Distance to Workload Ratio in professional sports
· Women’s Tennis: 2.12 meters for 1 unit of workload
· Men’s Tennis: 2.33 meters for 1 unit of workload
· NBA: 3.15 meters for 1 unit of workload
· NFL Running Back: 3.51 meters for 1 unit of workload
· Professional Soccer: 4.40 meters for 1 unit of workload
· NHL: 6.01 meters for 1 unit of workload

Managing the High Speed Stakes – Pushing Athletes to the Limit

One essential measure of the intensity of an athletic performance is the amount of distance covered at high sustained speeds. High-speed distance is recorded when players reach the top 3 per cent of speeds observed in professional tennis. Repeated instances of these movements will lead to elevated heart rates, challenging an athlete to execute under strenuous conditions and recover quickly to play the next point.

Throughout a match, players must battle the cumulative effect of continually pushing towards their highest speeds.

Maximum Speeds in Professional Sports
· Men’s Tennis: 23.58 km/h
· NBA: 23.83 km/h
· Running Back in the NFL: 29.66 km/h
· Professional Soccer: 30.16 km/h
· Usain Bolt in the 100m sprint: 43.98 km/h

Because tennis is played in a confined space, athletes in court-based sports such as tennis and basketball do not have the space to reach the maximum speeds that athletes in field-based sports, such as football and soccer, can achieve. As a result, tennis players are not typically required to hit the maximum speeds that they are physically capable of.

To be equipped to handle these repeated high speeds, athletes must be intentional about how they train for these events. They can start by performing a series of linear sprints at the top end of their speed threshold with limited recovery to overload the anaerobic system.

Unleashing Explosive Power

The most iconic sequence in tennis is a player stopping on a dime and changing direction to execute a winning shot while running at top speed. An explosive movement is recorded every time an athlete performs a highly-demanding acceleration or deceleration. While tennis players rarely reach their maximum capacity for speed due to confined court space, the instantaneous reactions and changes of direction that play such a to tennis requires them to accelerate and decelerate at full force, pushing the boundaries of their physical capabilities. As a result, if not adequately prepared for, these efforts of elite athleticism could result in a high risk of injury.

Explosive movement requires substantial strength and power from the lower body and core. These functionalities are built up in training through the application of dynamic movements such as plyometrics and on-court change-of-direction drills. Being mindful of implementing high-intensity movements into your weekly training programs to replicate the specific demands of an athlete’s sport is essential to their long-term health and well-being.

While training for the correct number of explosive movements is important, it’s also crucial to prepare for the different styles of acceleration and deceleration that an athlete’s sport might require. In tennis, players produce explosive movements when decelerating laterally, diagonally, or forward when defending or counter-attacking off the ground.

Lorenzo Musetti made a 2021 tournament-record 694 explosive movements against Hugo Gaston. The Frenchman made 532 explosive movements in the same match, the second highest at the 2021 event.

Alex de Minaur has led Australia into its second consecutive Davis Cup final after dominating the serve of Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori in Malaga Friday.

De Minaur earned 18 break point opportunities during his 6-4, 6-3 win, converting five times and winning 48 per cent of his first-serve return points. He has now won four consecutive singles matches in the Davis Cup Finals.

The World No. 12’s victory followed teammate Alexei Popyrin’s 7-6(5), 6-2 win over Otto Virtanen. “Probably the biggest win of my career,” Popyrin told DavisCup.com. “To win a match that means so much for us is an honour and something that I will never forget.”

In Sunday’s final Australia will play the winner of Serbia and Italy, a tie that will feature a rematch of the Nitto ATP Finals title match between Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner.

Earlier this week Australia was in a big hole against the Czech Republic after Tomas Machac beat Jordan Thompson 6-4, 7-5 and Jiri Lehecka built a 6-4, 5-3 lead against de Minaur. But from deuce in his 3-5 service game, the 24-year-old won 10 straight points to turn the match on its head. After de Minaur claimed the comeback win, Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell clinched the deciding doubles rubber.

Australia will now look to atone for its defeat to Canada in last year’s final. Australia has a 28-20 record in Davis Cup finals, second only to the United States (32-29).

But it has been 20 years since the traditional powerhouse has won the Cup. In 2003 it defeated Spain at Melbourne Park, where current captain Lleyton Hewitt teamed with Mark Philippoussis and doubles pair Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge to carry the host nation to victory.

Could next week’s Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM prove a stepping stone to greatness for the eight-strong field in Jeddah?

Jiri Lehecka is in no doubt as to the impact of the 21-and-under event on his professional tennis journey so far. The Czech star, who is currently No. 31 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, reached the final at the 2022 edition in Milan. His experience there is one that still shapes him, even one year on.

“I always think about it, because that has still been one of the nicest experiences for me as a player,” the 22-year-old Lehecka told ATPTour.com. “It was just something amazing and I was very happy that it was that kind of tournament where they showed us what it really means to be a top, top tennis player.

“They literally threw us into all the media attention, into the big arena, playing with a new format, trying new rules. It was a great week, I played very good there and I enjoyed it. Of course, it had been a great motivation for me to be in the final eight.”

This year, a new group of young ATP Tour stars will vie for glory at a tournament that counts current Top 10 players Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas among its former champions. Arthur Fils, Luca Van Assche, Dominic Stricker, Alex Michelsen, Flavio Cobolli, Hamad Medjedovic, Luca Nardi and Abdullah Shelbayh will each hope that a strong run at the event’s new home in Saudi Arabia can help propel them to even bigger and better things.

Jiri Lehecka” />

_{^{Jiri Lehecka in action at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour.}}

That was certainly the case this season for Lehecka, who followed his championship-match run in Milan in November 2022 by reaching his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at the 2023 Australian Open. In August, he reached his career-high of No. 28 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after reaching his first ATP Tour final in Winston-Salem.

“[The Next Gen ATP Finals] helped me a lot, because [in 2022] when I was finishing the season, I didn’t really have good results,” said Lehecka. “I didn’t play well, I didn’t feel good on court, and then Milan came. My attention went a little bit away from the fact that we were just coming and playing [each week]. It helped me to get my mind free and helped me to focus more on enjoying the fact that I was playing.

“I played well there, and I prepared well. It gave me a feeling of what I’m capable of and how well I really can play. That was a feeling and a confidence that I took with myself into the Australian summer, and it worked well.”

Since its inception in 2017, the Next Gen ATP Finals has been renowned for its pioneering scoring format, rule changes, and technological innovations. This year at the King Abdullah Sports City will be no different — no on-court warm-ups, shot-clock reductions and greater in-match analytics available to coaches via the new Tennis IQ platform are among the additions for the 2023.

It is another aspect of the event that Lehecka particularly enjoyed in Milan, and something he believes suits younger players who have only relatively recently made the step-up to competing week-in, week-out as a pro. The Czech feels that the event’s bold approach could also be instrumental in the future of the sport.

“We are young and still like to explore new things and try something new,” said Lehecka. “For us, it was the most fun. It wasn’t something that would get us down or bore us. It felt fun to do that. I think that it is an event that showed us how things could be in the coming years.

“I think it’s good to have this kind of event every year, and I’m looking forward to this year. I will watch for sure and we will see who comes out on top.”

Carlos Alcaraz is used to carving up opponents, week-in, week-out, on the tennis courts of the ATP Tour. One of the keys to the Spaniard’s success is his reading of the game, his tactical nous, and his ability to strategically outthink his opponents during rallies.

So how do those skills help the 20-year-old when it comes to chasing victories on a chess board? Alcaraz is a keen chess player, whose grandfather introduced him to the game when he was a young boy. His passion for it has endured until today.

“It helps me be mentally quicker, to observe moves, see the move you want to make, strategy… concentrating all the time,” said Alcaraz in an interview with Marca. “In chess, like in tennis, if you take your eye off the ball for a minute you can lose the match. In that regard, they are pretty similar disciplines. It helps me because you are focused, your mind is working.”

Fans of tennis and chess alike now have the chance to test Alcaraz’s skills with bishop and pawn in hand. The No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and winner of 12 ATP Tour titles, including two Grand Slams, has been introduced as a Chess.com bot that any user can challenge virtually on the platform.

♟️👀😏🤝🏻 https://t.co/1kuObxBjOT

— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) November 22, 2023

It will be no easy game, though. The bot has all the weapons in Alcaraz’s repertoire, reflecting his real-life movements on a chess board. He will likely be hard to shake off.

Alcaraz has been practising recently, too. A few weeks ago, he sat on a public terrace at Plaza de las Flores in his hometown of Murcia to play members of the city’s Thader Chess Club. Passers-by were surprised to see the tennis player competing, this time without a racquet.

The ATP and Tennis Data Innovations (TDI) will deliver unprecedented insights at the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM. Using state-of-the-art tracking metrics, the insights will assess the physical capacity required to compete at the highest professional level of our sport. The Physicality Index (PI) will allow fans and media to objectively evaluate and quantify the physical outputs of two players competing against each other at the 21-and-under event.

It is important to understand that the Physicality Index (PI) is NOT a direct measurement of the athletes overall tactical performance. It is only reflective of the physical work being produced by each athlete during the match.

At the 2021 Next Gen ATP Finals, Carlos Alcaraz won all five of his matches, spending less than 6.5 hours on court, and only dropping one set in the entire event. From a PI perspective, he worked harder than his opponents in four of the five matches, and his highest match physicality never reached above a 3.4 in the tournament. This did not mean he was not performing at a very high level, but rather indicated that he was able to execute tactically while being very efficient with how much energy he was spending on court.

A similar pattern is visible in the NBA. All-Stars tend to have a lower physicality index ranking because of how efficient they are within different parts of the game. They know when to push and how to save energy while still being on the court, contributing to the overall success of the team.

Tennis champions are some of the most physically fit athletes in the world and are asked to move around the court, executing shots from compromising positions, while staying balanced over multiple hours. The highest levels of tennis set themselves apart from other sports due to the combination of skill and athleticism rarely seen in other sports.

So what are the actual physical demands required to win the Next Gen ATP Finals? With the emergence of this performance tracking data, the answer is clear. We must first crack the code of the Physicality Index, breaking it down into four key metrics, to better understand how each metric affects the overall physicality of each match.

The first two metrics, distance and workload, help establish an overall volume of work. The volume metrics define how much overall work the athlete has to do in the time frame being evaluated. By using two different volume metrics—total distance and workload—we’ll ensure that different biological systems affected by overall workload are accounted for. High Speed Distance and Explosive Movements make up our Intensity metric, which measure how much of the work being done is performed at high levels of exertion, that place the body under extreme stress levels.

Distance: Overall volume of work [total ground covered] an athlete must undertake in order to excel at the highest levels of the sport.
Work Load: Total amount of weighted accelerations and decelerations the athlete has performed at different intensities.
High Speed Distance: Total distance covered at the Top 3 per cent of speeds observed in professional tennis.
Explosive Movements: High intensity changes of direction (highly-demanding acceleration or deceleration).
Intensity: High Speed Movements and Explosive Movements are used to calculate: Intensity.