The world’s best 21-and-under players will compete at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan next week, with home favourite Lorenzo Musetti and Dane Holger Rune leading the eight-man playing field.

Here is what you need to know ahead of the event in Italy.

When is the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals?

The 2022 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen Finals will be held from 8-12 November. The indoor hard-court event, established in 2017, will take place at the Allianz Cloud in Milan. The tournament director is Ross Hutchins.

What is the format & who is playing at the 2022 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals?

The event in Milan will see eight 21-and-under players divided into two groups of four, with the top two from each group advancing to the semi-finals. Matches are played best of five sets and first-to-four games. Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune, Jack Draper, Brandon Nakashima, Jiri Lehecka, Chun-Hsin Tseng, Francesco Passaro and Dominic Stricker will compete.

When is the draw for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals?

The Milan draw will be made on Saturday 5 November at 12:00 p.m.

What is the schedule for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals?

* Main Draw Round-Robin Matches: Tuesday 8 November – Thursday 10 November at 2: 00 p.m., second match n/b 3:00 p.m.. Evening sessions at 7:30 p.m., followed by second match.
* Semi-final One: Friday 11 November at 7:00 p.m.
* Semi-final Two: Friday 11 November n/b 9:00 p.m.
* Final: Saturday 12 November at 9:00 p.m.

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What is the prize money for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals?

The prize money for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals is $1,400,000.

Undefeated Champion: $432,750
Final Win: $153,000
Semi-Final Win: $113,500
Each Round-Robin Match Win: $28,000
Participation Fee: $82,250
Alternate: $13,000

How can I watch the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals?

View TV Schedule

How can I follow the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals?

Hashtag: #NextGenATP
Facebook: Next Gen ATP Finals
Twitter: @nextgenfinals
Instagram: @nextgenfinals

Who won the last edition of the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in 2021?

Carlos Alcaraz won the 2021 singles title in Milan with a 4-3(5), 4-2, 4-2 victory against Sebastian Korda in the championship match (Read & Watch).

Who holds the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals record for most titles, oldest champion, youngest champion and more?

Most Titles, Singles: Hyeon Chung (1), Stefanos Tsitsipas (1), Jannik Sinner (1), Carlos Alcaraz (1)
Oldest Champion: Hyeon Chung, 21, in 2017
Youngest Champion: Jannik Sinner, 18, in 2019, Carlos Alcaraz, 18, in 2021
Highest-Ranked Champion: No. 15 Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2018
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 95 Jannik Sinner in 2019
Last Home Champion: Jannik Sinner in 2019
Most Match Wins: Alex de Minaur (8)

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Novak Djokovic’s admiration of fellow legend Pete Sampras is well documented. Maxime Cressy, who will play Djokovic on Tuesday at the Rolex Paris Masters, not only looked up to Sampras, but is a disciple of the American’s serve-and-volley style.

“I wanted to study [serve-and-volley] patterns, what made them successful, and Pete Sampras was the one player I watched the most since he was one of the most recent serve and volleyers,” Cressy told ATPTour.com. “I watched a lot of tapes from him and studied his game a lot. I was completely inspired by his way of playing.”

The American began focussing on serve and volleying aged 14, spending countless hours closely analysing his countryman’s serve. Cressy spent the most time watching videos of Sampras serving against Andre Agassi.

“He was hitting a lot of T serves and was having a lot of easy putaway volleys or easy second shots after the ball bounced after hitting T serves. I noticed that would be extremely valuable for my game,” said Cressy, who played college tennis at UCLA. “One tip that one of the assistant coaches at UCLA from when I was there, Grant Chen, gave me [is] that Pete Sampras’ biggest quality was to be unpredictable on the serve. I really took a lot of inspiration from that, a lot of admiration and I started to really analyse how he was making his serve unpredictable.”

Cressy discovered that the key is the service toss. It should not be a surprise whose toss he studied.

“Based on watching Pete’s serve motion and his toss, my main goal was to have the same exact toss for every single serve I would hit, whether it be a slice serve, a flat serve or a kick serve,” Cressy said. “The opponent does not know which kind of spin I’m going to put on my serve and what spot I’m going to choose.

“The serve I believe is the most difficult shot to master in today’s game and in the game of tennis and it’s also the one shot you practise the most when you’re alone. It was hours and hours of training on my own, with baskets of balls to really get that toss perfectly aligned. It’s about repetition and faith that it would work.”

It has worked so far. When Cressy arrived at UCLA, he struggled to make the lineup and would spend a bulk of his time on the team’s lower practice courts. Now he is one of the most dangerous players on the ATP Tour.

Stella Sampras Webster, the head coach for UCLA’s women’s tennis team and Pete’s sister, has been impressed by Cressy’s rise.

“[It’s] incredible because he came in to UCLA and he barely made the lineup. He definitely had some things he needed to work on,” Sampras Webster said. “But he really figured out his gamestyle and really found his identity. Once he did that, he just exploded. It was really neat to see him come through so well from where he was.”

Although she has not spoken to her brother about Cressy’s ascent, Sampras Webster added that ‘Pistol Pete’ still has an appreciation for serve and volley.

“I’m sure he watches it and I think he appreciates it because he knows how tough it is,” Sampras Webster said. “I think he likes the idea of having some serve and volleyers especially because there just aren’t very many.

“There are so many great grinders out there and that’s just one style to really counter those grinders. Being able to come forward and win points up at the nets just doesn’t give those grinders as much time.”

Cressy claimed his first ATP Tour title earlier this year at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, where another recent serve-and-volleying star, Todd Martin, is the outgoing CEO.

“Maxime reminds me a lot of how I played. [He] serve and volleys, [is] willing to take risks, understanding that he’s not somebody out there who is meant to hit forehands from the left alley and just pin somebody,” Martin said. “He’s got to be different and it appears as those he really embraces being different.”

According to Martin, Cressy has “a pretty cool toolkit”. Serve and volleying is not a style seen often today’s game, but it has set the American apart.

“I would rather be Cressy than somebody who plays an awful lot like [Carlos] Alcaraz,” Martin said. “I don’t imagine many guys out there are going to be better than Alcaraz at that style of play.”

Andrey Rublev strengthened his Nitto ATP Finals chances on Tuesday when he downed big-serving American John Isner 6-2, 6-3 to reach the third round at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The 25-year-old produced a strong returning performance against Isner, breaking three times and winning 83 per cent (10/12) of points on the American’s second service to advance after 62 minutes. With his 49th victory of the season, Rublev has improved to 1-3 in his ATP Head2Head series against Isner.

“It is a really important win at this moment when I am fighting for Turin,” Rublev said. “I think I was a bit lucky. It was his first tournament since his bad injury. From the baseline I was feeling really confident. As soon as I was returning and the ball was in play, I felt I had an advantage and wasn’t nervous.”

Rublev is currently seventh in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin with 3,530 points. He is in the final qualification spot for the prestigious year-end event, to be held from 13-20 November.

Rublev’s closest challenger, Taylor Fritz, is in eighth, holding 2,955 points. The American, who defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his opening match, will next play Gilles Simon.

Ninth-placed Pole Hubert Hurkacz can also still qualify. The 25-year-old, who has 2,870 points, will face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the first round later on Tuesday. If Hurkacz can advance and then defeat either Holger Rune or Stan Wawrinka, he would face Rublev in the third round in Paris.

Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev have already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals, with two spots left in the final week of the regular season.

Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios have qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be played in Turin from 13-20 November.

The Australians are guaranteed a spot under the Grand Slam champion provision, under which if there is a current-year major-winning team positioned between eighth and 20th in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Team Rankings after the Rolex Paris Masters, that team qualifies for Turin in eighth.

Since Kokkinakis and Kyrgios are ensured of a Top 20 finish and Wimbledon champions Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell cannot catch them, they will compete at the year-end championships, joining Wesley Koolhof/Neal Skupski, Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury, Marcelo Arevalo/Jean-Julien Rojer and Nikola Mektic/Mate Pavic in the field.

Kokkinakis and Kyrgios made a splash at the beginning of the season when they went on a dream run to the Australian Open title. The home favourites quickly rallied the Melbourne crowd to their side, defeating a lineup of top veteran teams, including Mektic and Pavic, before lifting the trophy with a victory against Ebden and Purcell.

The duo played seven tournaments together this year, tallying an 18-5 record. The Australians also lifted the trophy in Atlanta and made the semi-finals in Miami and Tokyo.

Three places remain at the season finale, with fifth-placed Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos currently next in line to qualify.

Gilles Simon wrote another stirring chapter into his storied career Monday when he edged former World No. 1 Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round at the Rolex Paris Masters.

Competing in his final tour-level event, the Frenchman refused to go down without a fight in an entertaining clash. The 37-year-old rallied from 3-5 in the second set, lighting up Paris with his grit and quality to level the match, sparking scenes of joy among the home supporters.

Simon then kept his focus and outlasted the Scot in the longer exchanges in the third set to earn the 503rd win of his 20-year career. With his two-hour, 52-minute victory, the wild card improved to 3-16 in his ATP Head2Head series against Murray and will next face Taylor Fritz.

“It was a crazy match,” Simon said. “I was behind the whole match… At 3-4 in the second set I felt a lot of emotions coming. It was difficult to play my service game at that moment and he broke me. He got tight at 5-3 and this time I managed to push, hold my serve and break him again. I tried to push on every game.

“It was really difficult physically, but it was difficult physically on his side. But I thought ‘Come on, I have a chance to beat him.’ It is not like I have the best record against Andy. I really wanted to win this one and I was really happy I was able to do it.”

The American Fritz is currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, but will need a deep run in Paris if he is to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held from 13-20 November.

Simon is making his 17th appearance at the final ATP Masters 1000 event of the season, with his best result being a run to the semi-finals in 2012. The former World No. 6, who has won 14 ATP Tour titles, will hang up his racquet following the event.

Murray has fond memories in Paris, having reached the final in 2015 before lifting the trophy in 2016. The 35-year-old claimed the No. 1 spot in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings following his title run in Paris six years ago. However, after a strong start, he was unable to cross the finishing line against Simon, misfiring in the crucial moments.

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies are back to winning ways at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The German pair dug deep to hold off home favourites Adrian Mannarino and Fabrice Martin and clinch a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory on Monday at the ATP Masters 1000 event in France. The six-time tour-level titlists saved six of seven break points they faced to notch their first win at Paris-Bercy since they reached the semi-finals on tournament debut in 2019.

Krawietz and Mies are two-time Grand Slam champions, having lifted the trophy at Roland Garros in 2019 and 2020, and the pair is chasing its first ATP Masters 1000 crown in the French capital this week. However, they face a tough second-round assignment in Paris in fifth seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.

Also on Monday, home wild card pairing Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul saved two match points in the Match Tie-break before clinching a thrilling 7-5, 6-7(4), 15-13 win against Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski. Doumbia and Reboul’s reward for holding their nerve to clinch an epic two-hour, 10-minute battle is a second-round meeting with top seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.

Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen also advanced to the second round by defeating Sebastian Baez and Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-4. The Belgian duo will continue its bid for its sixth tour-level title against the in-form Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.

The eighth-seeded Dodig and Krajieck are on an eight-match unbeaten run after triumphing in Naples and Basel in the past two weeks and are currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Rankings as they look to qualify for November’s Nitto ATP Finals.

It has been an unforgettable season for Carlos Alcaraz full of historic moments. One of them was when the Spaniard became the youngest World No. 1 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

On Monday evening at the Rolex Paris Masters, ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi presented Alcaraz with the ATP No. 1 trophy presented by Pepperstone.

“For me it’s a dream come true being No. 1 in the world, to be a Grand Slam champion,” Alcaraz told the ATP Tour. “I feel like the No. 1, to have this trophy, it means a lot to me. “

Alcaraz is one of 28 players who have reached World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. He accomplished the feat after claiming his first major crown at the US Open.

“Everything has come so fast. I didn’t think at the beginning of the year that I’m going to have the year that I’m having right now,” Alcaraz said. “I always believe in my team and in my work, so this is something that came with the hard work that I put in every day, the hard preseason, the work during the year with my team. Everything pays off.”

The teen is the top seed this week in Paris, where he will play Japanese lefty Yoshihito Nishioka in the second round. Alcaraz is now looking to become the youngest year-end World No. 1 in history with that award to be presented at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he will make his debut.

Australian Rinky Hijikata and Croatia’s Borna Gojo cruised to victory to claim their maiden ATP Challenger Tour titles this week. Hijikata dropped just one set all week to win on home soil in Playford, Australia, while Gojo was unbroken at the Ortisei Challenger. Gojo and Hijikata are among five Challenger champions this week.

#NextGenATP Hijikata took down Japan’s Rio Noguchi 6-1 6-1 in Sunday’s final to win the City of Playford International.

“I’m stoked [to win the title], I’m over the moon,” Hijikata said. “It’s a little bit of a relief, it’s always nice to win the first title, it’s not easy to get over that hump. To be able to do that this week at home, I’m pretty proud of the way I played this week.

“I came out firing. I thought I stuck to my game plan well. I played to the [windy] conditions as well as I could.”

Hijikata, 21, made his Challenger Tour main-draw debut at the 2018 Playford Challenger and this week, the fifth seed collected the title to become the youngest Australian to win a Challenger title since 2018, when the-then 19-year-old Alexei Popyrin won in Jinan, China. The title in Australia lifts Hijikata to a career-high No. 159 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Hijikata, who played college tennis at University of North Carolina from 2020-21, earned All-American honours as a sophomore before turning pro.

In August, the Sydney native claimed his first Tour-level win at the ATP 250 event in Los Cabos, Mexico, where he advanced through qualifying and defeated wild card Pacheco Mendez before falling to then-World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev. At the US Open, Hijikata made his Grand Slam main-draw debut and pushed Rafael Nadal to four sets in the opening round.

Gojo, 24, went on a run ousting four of the top-seven seeds at the indoor hard court event in Ortisei, Italy, including defeating seventh seed Lukas Klein in the final 7-6(4), 6-3 to win the Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena.

Borna Gojo in action at the 2022 Ortisei Challenger. Credit: P.Codeluppi/ChallengerOrtisei

“This is big for me,” Gojo said. “I’m happy I was able to put together a nice tournament here and win my first Challenger.”

“It’s [The surface] a bit faster than usual, which is great for my serve, it helps me get some free points.”

The Split native, a former college standout, finished runner-up at 2018 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships (l. Chrysochos) and was named a three-time All-American at Wake Forest University. In 2018, Gojo helped Wake Forest earn the NCAA team title. Following his victory in Ortisei, Gojo climbs to a career-high 148.

At the Lima Challenger, Daniel Altmaier was crowned champion to win his second Challenger title this season. The German escaped Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-4 in the final.

Daniel Altmaier celebrates winning a point at the Lima Challenger. Credit: @igmachallengers

Altmaier, 24, needed deciding sets in four out of his five matches in Lima to triumph and ousted top seed Federico Coria in the semi-finals. After claiming the Heilbronn Challenger in May, Altmaier climbed to a career-high 53. The title in Peru is Altmaier’s fifth Challenger title.

Gregoire Barrere won the all-French final in Brest, defeating 18-year-old Luca Van Assche 6-3, 6-3 to win the Open Brest-Credit Agricole.

“It was a great week for me,” Barrere said. “I had a level of play that increased as the week went on. Once I won my first round match here, it was all or nothing.”

Gregoire Barrere in action at the 2022 Brest Challenger. Credit: Un Oeil Averty

Barrere, seeded third, dropped just one set en route to claiming his fifth Challenger title. The 28-year-old is a five-time Challenger finalist this season, including in Orleans, where he won his first Challenger title (d. Halys) of 2022. The Frenchman rises to No. 93, marking a return to the Top 100 for the first time since August 2020.

Van Assche, who rises to a career-high No. 208, also reached the final at the Lisbon Challenger in September and qualified for the ATP 250 event in Antwerp, Belgium (l. Nishioka).

Tennys Sandgren advanced through qualifying en route to winning the Las Vegas Tennis Open, where he defeated countryman Stefan Kozlov 7-5, 6-3 in the final.

“This win means a lot to me as it’s been a tough couple of years,” Sandgren said. “This is the first time I’ve done a trophy speech in quite some time. I got lucky. We could be in the third set by now, roles reversed.”

Tennys Sandgren is crowned champion at the 2022 Las Vegas Challenger. Credit: Steve Krahn

The title on home soil is Sandgren’s first Challenger title since May 2017 (Savannah). In January 2019, Sandgren won his maiden Tour-level title in Auckland (d. Norrie) and climbed to a career-high 41.

Kozlov, who had defeated Sandgren in five of their previous six meetings across all levels, held five set points in the opening set, but was unable to convert them. The 24-year-old was competing in his first Challenger final this season.