The Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals spotlights the best 21-and-under tennis players in the world. Popular 35-year-old Italian Fabio Fognini might be more than a decade removed from that classification, but he was thrilled to be at the Allianz Cloud on Tuesday with wife, WTA legend Flavia Pennetta.

“It’s nice. Milan, it’s a really beautiful city,” Fognini said. “For the tennis, especially because we are in Italy, it’s really important for us to have these kind of [Italian] guys who are on the top of the world [playing].”

🇮🇹 @fabiofogna supporting @Lorenzo1Musetti 👍@intesasanpaolo #NextGenATPFinals pic.twitter.com/eRHsO2WHba

— Next Gen ATP Finals (@nextgenfinals) November 8, 2022

There are three Italians in the field: Lorenzo Musetti, Francesco Passaro and Matteo Arnaldi. Another Italian, Jannik Sinner, won the 2019 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals. Fognini watched countryman Lorenzo Musetti from courtside Tuesday.

“It’s always nice. I always say that the more we are, the better it is,” Fognini said. “There are three Italians, Lorenzo [Musetti], [Francesco] Passaro and Matteo [Arnaldi]. It’s really important for us.”

Fognini added that it is key not just to have successful Italian players, but prestigious tournaments in the country to continue encouraging juniors to pick up the sport.

“It’s quite important to have these kind of events because of course you have a chance [for] young guys to play,” Fognini said. “But at the same time [you have] young guys who are on top of the world and they play really well. It’s really, really nice and of course my opinion it’s fantastic. It’s a great event.”

Jiri Lehecka celebrated his 21st birthday in style at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals Tuesday when he cruised past Francesco Passaro 4-1, 4-3(7), 4-1 to move to 1-0 in Green Group.

The Czech is making his debut in Milan and made a strong opening statement at the 21-and-under event, quickly adapting to the first-to-four, best-of five set format to triumph after 67 minutes.

“I have never played a match in this format before,” Lehecka said. “In the beginning I was getting used to it a little bit. I think I adapted well. We have used this format in practise and I got used to it pretty fast and it was fun.”

Lehecka pulled Passaro around the court with his consistent groundstrokes, firing 18 winners and breaking serve three times. With just 15 seconds between points following aces or missed returns, he also raced through his service games to earn victory.

The World No. 74 has enjoyed an impressive season. He reached the semi-finals as a qualifier in Rotterdam in February, before he clinched an ATP Challenger Tour crown in August.

Lehecka will also play American Brandon Nakashima and Matteo Arnaldi during the round-robin stage in Milan. Nakashima will face Arnaldi on Tuesday evening in Green Group.

Passaro held a 29-15 record on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2022, lifting a trophy in Trieste.

Jiri Lehecka couldn’t stop smiling when he sat down inside the Allianz Cloud ahead of his debut at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.

The Czech qualified for the 21-and-under event last month following an impressive season that saw him reach the semi-finals in Rotterdam and win an ATP Challenger Tour event. Ahead of his opening match in Milan, the 21-year-old Lehecka spoke to ATPTour.com about his interests, dream dinner guests and much more…

If you weren’t a tennis player, what job would you want and why?
I think I would go to business school first. Then I would probably still be in tennis. I would be in the sport as a coach or in a business role within the sport.

If you could have dinner with three people, who would they be and why?
I would choose Michael Jordan. Then I would choose Conor McGregor and probably my grandpa who [passed away].

I think Michael Jordan because of his sporting mentality. What things he was able to sacrifice for the success in what he was doing. McGregor, I would say that with him, I would love to speak about handling the pressure.

Describe your perfect day if you are not playing tennis?
I would probably spend some time with family. With my girlfriend, with my sister and her husband and their kids for sure. The I would see some old friends and then probably one or two games of League of Legends with my coach.

Who has had the greatest impact on your life and why?
My coach, Michael Navratil. He showed me how it is to be a man, how to go after what you really want. How to stay focused. How to become a top tennis player. And then of course my parents, both of them.

What is one thing you want to do in your life?
I would definitely love to drive World Rally Cars. Or the cars going at fast speeds through the forest. I hope this will happen once for me to, to live this experience.

What is one item you can’t travel without and why? If you could live one day as another person, who would you choose and why?
Any kind of book. I think this is a very important thing to have. It is important to read.

If you had to choose between attending a music concert or a sporting event, what would you choose and why?
It depends on the artist and the sporting event. Because if you have the final of the Champions League and at the same moment you have a concert with a big artist it is hard.

I think that big sporting events will have a priority. I was born and raised in a family where we were watching and followed all the sports when I was a kid. I like to support a Czech athlete. The sport could be an NBA game or game seven of the final of NHL would be good.

Have you got a hidden talent and can you tell me a bit about how you got into that?
I think that I can read through people. This I can do pretty well. I’m still exploring myself as well. I am 21, so still have plenty of time to find some hidden talents.

When American Ben Shelton fell short in the Tiburon Challenger final this past month, the teenager left California frustrated that he had lost in all three ATP Challenger Tour finals in which he had competed this year. But a new mindset aided Shelton this week as he grabbed his maiden Challenger crown.

Shelton, who is one of five Challenger champions this week, defeated close friend Christopher Eubanks 7-6(4), 7-5 in the final at the Jonathan Fried Pro Challenger in Charlottesville, Virginia to capture his long-awaited title.

“I started to realise that when I looked back on the film, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was,” Shelton said. “I really tried to focus on the things I can control, stop worrying about the little things such as how well I’m hitting my forehand and instead just compete really hard.”

After runner-up finishes in Rome (Georgia), Chicago, and Tiburon, the 20-year-old dropped just one set all week in Charlottesville en route to the title. The former University of Florida standout is the fifth player to win the NCAA singles title and a Challenger title in the same season and the first since Steve Johnson in 2012.

“I went in [to this week] with a mindset that I was going to out compete everybody,” Shelton said. “I was going to bring more energy than everyone I played. I think that was a really big part of my success this week.”

Ben Shelton celebrates winning his first ATP Challenger Tour title. Credit: Allen Hoover

Shelton is the third #NextGenATP American to claim a Challenger title this year (Zachary Svajda, Emilio Nava). The lefty rises to a career-high No. 128 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

In Charlottesville doubles action, Britain’s Julian Cash and Henry Patten triumphed to win a season-leading seventh Challenger title, the first time a duo has captured more than six Challenger titles in a season since Max Purcell and Luke Saville (7) in 2019.

In Bergamo, Italy, Finland’s Otto Virtanen advanced through qualifying en route to claiming his maiden Challenger title, defeating Jan-Lennard Struff 6-2, 7-5 in the final at the Trofeo Perrel – Faip.

The 21-year-old is the first Finnish Challenger champion since Emil Ruusuvuori in 2019. Virtanen is just the second player from Finland to win a Challenger title in the past 10 years.

“I had a chance of not even coming here,” Virtanen said. “I played the doubles final Saturday in Brest and I had to fly here to play my first match Sunday. Day-by-day, I kept playing better.”

Otto Virtanen is crowned champion in Bergamo, Italy. Credit: Antonio Milesi

Virtanen, who was competing in his first Challenger final, was a semi-finalist at the Surbiton and Liberec Challengers earlier this season. Virtanen joins a strong list of former champions in Bergamo including the previous three titlists: Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner, and Matteo Berrettini.

The title at the indoor hard court event lifts the #NextGenATP youngster to a career-high 195.

German Daniel Altmaier completed his run of capturing back-to-back titles at the Challenger Ciudad de Guayaquil. The 24-year-old, who won the Lima Challenger a week prior to Sunday, took down Federico Coria 6-2, 6-4 to extend his match-winning streak to 10.

Daniel Altmaier triumphs at the Guayaquil Challenger. Credit: Jose Alvarado

“This week was very positive for me,” Altmaier said. “I finished today with the title and that makes me very happy. I played against Coria last week and I felt quite comfortable. I had a good plan to play until the last point so I was always fighting, playing well until I won.”

Altmaier, who also won the Heilbronn Challenger in May, is one of five men to claim a trio of Challenger titles this season: Quentin Halys, Constant Lestienne, Luca Nardi, and Wu Yibing. Pedro Cachin and Jack Draper have claimed a season-leading four Challenger titles.

At the NSW Open in Sydney, Australia, Yu Hsiou Hsu earned his maiden Challenger title. The 23-year-old from Chinese Taipei defeated home favourite Marc Polmans 6-4, 7-6(5) in the final.

Hsu, who is a three-time Grand Slam boys’ doubles champion (2017 Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open), was competing in just his sixth Challenger event of the season. Hsu didn’t drop a set all week en route to the title and climbs to a career-high 226.

Australian Christopher O’Connell took down home hope Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 to win the Yokohama Keio Challenger.

Chris O’Connell in action at the 2022 Yokohama Challenger. Credit: Yokohama Keio Challenger

“Obviously I’m pretty happy,” O’Connell said during the trophy presentation. “This is my fourth Challenger win, it’s always good to get the win, especially in Japan, I love playing here.”

O’Connell, who has won eight of his past nine matches, is a three-time Challenger finalist this season, including in Split, Croatia, where the Aussie won his first of two titles this year. At his home Slam in January, the Sydney native upset 13th seed Diego Schwartzman before falling to Maxime Cressy in the third round. The title in Japan lifts the 28-year-old to a career-high 84.

Did You Know?
Holger Rune won the Rolex Paris Masters to become the second player this season to win a Challenger and a Masters 1000 title, joining Borna Coric. Coric’s title in Cincinnati marked the first time the feat has been done since 1993, and now the Danish teen and the Croat have combined to make history.

When Italian Mattia Bellucci earned his first Pepperstone ATP Rankings points in 2018, the youngster relished seeing his name amongst the stars he watched on TV, such as his idol, Rafael Nadal.

This season, the 21-year-old added his name to a new list. Bellucci advanced through qualifying en route to capturing his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title at the Saint-Tropez Challenger in October. He didn’t stop there.

At the Vilnius Challenger, the lefty dropped just one set all week en route to claiming back-to-back titles. Winning 12 straight matches was a welcome sight to Bellucci.

“I remember playing my first Futures in 2017 or 2018 and I got my first two [ranking] points and it felt amazing,” Bellucci said. “Being in the same rankings as my idols, even if I was like 1,000 something, it felt special.

“I started this season [2022] around 680 in the rankings. I was playing only Futures events, it was a good start. At the beginning of the season, I was also a bit stressed because of how it would go with my new coach [Fabio Chiappini]. I’m super, super happy with the level I’ve played at.”

After claiming five ITF Futures titles in the first half of the year, Bellucci transitioned to the Challenger Tour and found quick success. The title in Saint-Tropez, France was Bellucci’s eighth Challenger event.

Bellucci is one of seven Italian #NextGenATP youngsters who have claimed a Challenger title in 2022: Matteo Arnaldi, Flavio Cobolli, Francesco Maestrelli, Lorenzo Musetti, Luca Nardi, and Francesco Passaro have also triumphed this season. Bellucci and Nardi, who has three Challenger titles this year, are the only Italian #NextGenATP players to score multiple Challenger titles in 2022.

“When I won the tournament in Saint-Tropez, I felt super, super tired,” Bellucci said. “I had to travel the same day to home and the day after to Vilnius. I said, ‘Okay it could be a first round [loss]’. Because when you win a tournament playing seven matches with such a good level and then going indoors, and without practising indoors once before the tournament. I was super stressed because I was coming from a win and I said, ‘Okay, let’s see how it goes!’”

“To double up in Vilnius was super special. At the beginning of the year I wasn’t even playing Challengers. When I won, I said to myself, ‘Now, something changes!’”

Mattia Bellucci poses with the ballkids at the 2022 Saint-Tropez Challenger. Credit: Alexander Hergott

Bellucci became the youngest Italian to win Challenger titles in back-to-back weeks since 19-year-old Stefano Pescosolido in 1991. Hailing from a country rich in tennis history, Bellucci hopes to combine with the other Italian youngsters to continue the country’s long success.

With three Italians in the Top 25 (Matteo Berrettini, Jannik Sinner, Musetti) of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Bellucci looks to follow a similar path as his close friend, Musetti, to climb up the rankings.

“We are simulating each other,” Bellucci said. “I know Musetti really well. We played the same tournaments when we were younger, but he was way better than me so he went up first.

“I’m like, ‘Okay, if we had the same past, playing the same tournaments when we were younger, then why not [me]?’ We [Italy] have a lot of younger players, ages 20-22 who play at a really high level.”

Mattia Bellucci in action at the 2022 Vilnius Challenger. Credit: Saulius Čirba

Born and raised in Busto Arsizio, which is near Milan, Bellucci started playing tennis at four-years-old with his father, who coached at a local club. His father, Fabrizio, coached him until the start of the 2022 season, when Mattia started working with Fabio Chiappini. Both coaches have played a key role in developing Mattia into the player he is today.

“I think I’m a good server for the height I have,” Bellucci said. “I always love to variate, starting with the slice, being aggressive, especially on hard courts. My groundstrokes are at a different height. My backhand is super flat and my forehand has a lot of spin.”

Boasting a 15-9 Challenger-match record in 2022, Bellucci is set to close out his season at the Helsinki and Andria Challengers before embarking on chasing his goal for the 2023 season: cracking the Top 100.

A quartet of first-time ATP Head2Head meetings kick off the 2022 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals on Tuesday, when all eight competitors at the 21-and-under season finale will seek a fast start at the Allianz Cloud in Milan.

View Schedule | View Draw

[2] Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) vs. [6] Chun-Hsin Tseng (TPE)

The highest-ranked player in the event, World No. 23 Lorenzo Musetti will take to court for his Red Group battle against Chun-Hsin Tseng in confident mood following an impressive run of late-season form on European hard courts.

The 20-year-old won his second Tour title in Naples in October and took out Casper Ruud en route to the quarter-finals in Paris last week. He also has experience with the event’s innovative first-to-four-games, best-of-five-sets format, having gone 1-2 in the round-robin stage in 2021.

As Musetti was making his Milan debut last November, Chun-Hsin Tseng was well outside the Top 200 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The 21-year-old from Chinese Taipei has made great strides since, surging to a career-high No. 83 in August off the back of some strong performances on the ATP Challenger Tour. Can Tseng upset one of the pre-tournament favourites on opening day?

[3] Jack Draper (GBR) vs. [7] Dominic Stricker (SUI)

A hard-hitting lefty battle rounds out the Day 1 schedule in Milan as Briton Jack Draper tests himself against Dominic Stricker. The 20-year-old Draper has enjoyed a rapid rise this season, with winning four Challenger Tour titles and reaching a maiden ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final in Montreal among the highlights.

World No. 41 Draper sits 70 places higher than Stricker in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, but he will be aware of his Red Group opponent’s history of going toe-to-toe with the best. The 20-year-old Swiss Stricker defeated former World No. 3 Marin Cilic on his ATP Tour debut in 2021 and has beaten four Top 40 opponents in 2022 alone.

[4] Brandon Nakashima (USA) vs. [9] Matteo Arnaldi (ITA)

Like Musetti, 2021 semi-finalist Brandon Nakashima is returning to play in Milan for the second time. Unlike Musetti, the American will not enjoy vociferous home support when he returns to compete at the Allianz Cloud, where local fans will be hoping Nakashima’s opening-match opponent Matteo Arnaldi can spring an early upset.

Fourth seed Nakashima knows all about the impact of a supportive crowd — he lifted his maiden ATP Tour title in his hometown of San Diego in September — and Arnaldi arrives for this Green Group clash with some promising recent Challenger Tour showings in the bank. They include a run to the final in San Tropez in mid-October, but can the Italian make his mark in this battle of 21-year-olds?

[5] Jiri Lehecka (CZE) vs. [8] Francesco Passaro (ITA)

Francesco Passaro began the 2022 season outside the Top 600 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, but on Tuesday he will fly the flag for the home nation in the opening match at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals. The 21-year-old has already shown he can handle the pressure of performing on home soil. He won his maiden Challenger Tour title in Trieste in July and registered his maiden tour-level win in Florence in October.

His first opponent in Green Group, Jiri Lehecka, knows a thing or two about meteoric rises himself. The fifth-seeded Czech reached the semi-finals as a qualifier in Rotterdam in February, having never previously won a tour-level match.

Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals begins Tuesday in Milan. But first, the 21-and-under stars took a walk outside the Allianz Cloud for this year’s official group photo.

As the seasons change in Milan, the players posed in front of a resplendent stretch of leaves a block away from the tournament venue.

From left to right, the players competing in this year’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals are Francesco Passaro, Chun-Hsin Tseng, Brandon Nakashima, Lorenzo Musetti, Jack Draper, Jiri Lehecka, Dominic Stricker and Matteo Arnaldi.

Green Group consists of Nakashima, Lehecka, Passaro and Arnaldi, while Red Group features Musetti, Draper, Tseng and Stricker.

Six of the eight competitors are tournament debutants, with the exception of home favourite Musetti and 2021 semi-finalist Nakashima. The tournament runs 8-12 November.