From innovations to the #NextGenATP stars putting on a show all week in Milan, the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals has been a resounding success. But the tournament is not over quite yet, and a lot is at stake on Saturday.

Only one man can walk away with the ATP World Tour title — for Hyeon Chung, it would be his first, and Andrey Rublev, his second (Umag).

It will be the second time the pair meets this week alone. On Wednesday, Chung won 4-0, 4-1, 4-3(1) in the second match in Group A play. The 21-year-old South Korean comes into the final with a 4-0 record in the event after beating Daniil Medvedev in a five-set classic in the semi-finals, while the 20-year-old Russian is 3-1, suffering his only loss against Chung.

Overall this is their third FedEx ATP Head2Head battle. Chung won 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 in the second round of the Winston-Salem Open in August prior to the US Open, where Rublev reached the quarter-finals.

Chung is appearing in his first ATP World Tour final and is trying to become the first player from South Korea to win a tour-level singles title since Hyung-Taik Lee captured the 2003 Sydney title (d. Ferrero). He has won his last two matches in five sets (d. Quinzi, Medvedev) after dropping only one set in his first two Group A matches. Chung has a 28-18 match record on the season and his 28 wins is the most in the field. 

The right-hander has dominated on return of serve this week, breaking opponents a tournament-high 16 times (16 of 45 games). He also leads in break points saved (77%, 27 of 35). If Chung wins, he will take home $390,000 as an undefeated champion.

“I have to focus on the match,” Chung said. “After winning the match I can think about prize money and [the] trophy, [if] I get my first trophy in the ATP. So I have to finish the match first and nothing else.”

Rublev, who is the top seed in the tournament, needed only 62 minutes to beat Borna Coric in the semi-finals. Rublev has been broken 11 times in 42 service games this week (26%), but he saved the only break point faced on Friday. The Russian lifted his first ATP World Tour trophy in Umag in July (d. Lorenzi) as a lucky loser.

He beat third-seeded Denis Shapovalov 4-1, 3-4(8), 4-3(2), 0-4, 4-3(3) on Thursday in his final Group A match to earn a spot in the semi-finals. Rublev has a 21-17 match record on the season and he reached a career-high No. 35 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 9 October. He is No. 37 this week, and can claim $335,000 if he earns the trophy.

“This was my best tennis in the whole week. I’m really happy, and I hope tomorrow I can show even better game,” Rublev said after beating Coric. “I’ll try, like always I will try to play my game to try to dictate, because the first match here, I wasn’t playing that aggressive. I didn’t play that good. I was missing a lot. So I hope tomorrow I can show a better game.”

In the third-place match, Medvedev and Coric square off for the second time this week. On Wednesday, Coric won 4-3(5), 2-4, 4-1, 4-2 in their second Group B match. Medvedev was a finalist in Chennai (l. to Bautista Agut) in the opening week of the year, while Coric won his first ATP World Tour title in Marrakech in April.

Fear does not come into the equation for Rafael Nadal. Having arrived in London for the Nitto ATP Finals, the Spaniard admitted he would not even allow a resurgent Roger Federer, nipping at his heels for a return to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, to play on his mind in the latter part of 2017.

Having achieved so much already, reassuming top spot was a bonus, an unexpected reward for a season that has bagged titles in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, Roland Garros, Flushing Meadows and Beijing. The Spaniard begins his season-ending campaign with one less pressure hanging over his head.

Federer can nip at his heels all he wants. The year-end Emirates ATP No. 1 Ranking belongs to Nadal, regardless of results in London.

“I was not afraid at all,” Nadal said of Federer’s pursuit of the top spot. “It’s something that I was clear in my mind. I will not do a different calendar to try to be No.1 again. I did what I thought was best for my happiness, my tennis career and for my results. 

“It’s a very important achievement, especially for my age – No.1 in the world at the end of the season is a great achievement for me at 31.5 years old. For sure, it was never on my mind to be in that position again, but here, I made it happen, my team helped me to where I am today.”

Few big titles have eluded the Spaniard over his decorated career. Of his 75 titles, however, none have included the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals. 

“Yes it’s a goal in my mind, I’ve qualified 13 years,” Nadal said. “Of course being here is an important thing but for me, it is what happens during the year – competing in tournaments, almost every week with a very competitive level of tennis, and being healthy (that matter).”

Seventh seed David Goffin is his first round-robin assignment on Monday night. The pair has squared off twice, both times on the slower clay, both this year – at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid and ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo – where Nadal prevailed each time in straight sets. 

“After what happened to him at Roland Garros (an ankle injury), it would be really unfair if he was not here,” Nadal said. “I’m very happy to see him recovered and playing well. Hopefully he won’t play that well on Monday but he’s 100 per cent here and he deserves to be.”

Nadal would have to progress beyond the group stage of the Nitto ATP Finals to have another shot at playing Federer. While he leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 23-15, the Swiss has claimed all four of their encounters in 2017. Any talk of revenge in London, though, is quickly downplayed.

“No I don’t need to beat Roger for good confidence,” Nadal said. “I’ve won enough to be confident. If I play him here it would be great to finish the year playing him again to give me another chance. 

“We cannot forget that we played all the times (in 2017) on surfaces that he likes more than me. I just accept that and find different ways to approach the match and if that happens (in London), I’m healthy enough so I hope I have my chances.”

Jack Sock might be the only non-European at the Nitto ATP Finals this year, but he certainly isn’t out of place. 

Having earned his place at the prestigious year-end event in London on the back of a surprising title run at the Rolex Paris Masters, Sock is flying the American flag amidst a field of Europeans. Although they might not share the same continent, they’ll share the same court over the next week of exciting matchups at The O2 arena in Britain’s capital.

Not since 2011 has an American qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals, when Mardy Fish capped off a sensational season with three tight matches at the round robin stage, and Sock’s victory in Paris, which halted a run of 69-straight ATP Masters 1000 titles won by Europeans, might just signal a continental changing of the guard in tennis.

“[Europe is] producing some amazing players year after year, but I think we have a great group of young guys coming up,” said Sock. “We’ve got a good group of us now that are holding steady at the top and a good wave coming through behind, so hopefully for the years to come there will be some change to that. 

“Obviously, being patriotic, I wish some of my friends were here, the other American guys, but [I’m] definitely excited for the week and ready to get things going on Sunday.”

Sock would be the first to admit that it hasn’t been the consistent year he had anticipated. Following an electric start to the season that saw him claim two titles and deep runs at the Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami, the 25-year-old’s results dipped disappointingly, particularly at events on home soil. 

But did he ever imagine himself qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals?

“Through April, yeah, I envisioned being here – from June through November, maybe not,” said Sock, assessing his season. It was a good start to the year, kind of a rougher middle part and beginning to the fall and then obviously an amazing week to cap off what I thought was going to be my last week of the season.”

Although his odds were a long shot going into the Rolex Paris Masters, where he was ranked a far-off 24^th in the Emirates ATP Race to London, Sock seized control of an open draw to defeat surprise finalist Filip Krajinovic, instantly qualifying him for the season-ending event.

“Going into Paris I was honestly hoping to play some matches and was getting ready to regroup mentally and get ready for my off-season at home. I genuinely had no idea mathematically that I could make London after the five, six-month stretch I had there in the middle to the end of the season,” said the American.

“It wasn’t until after the match I played Lucas Pouille in Paris that someone in the media mentioned ‘if you happen to win this week you can still make London,’” he added. “I kind of laughed it off and then was just focusing on one match at a time. Obviously the closer it got and the farther I got in the draw then it became more of a reality and was definitely a motivation there at the end of the week.

Sock’s Nitto ATP Finals campaign sees him in Group Boris Becker alongside Marin Cilic, Alexander Zverev and Roger Federer, who earlier in the season noted Sock’s penchant for playing on the biggest stages – and when the two face off against each other on Sunday, it will be put to the test.

“That’s a fair assessment by Roger, I do enjoy playing in front of a lot of people,” said Sock. “I think I have a fairly entertaining game … so I’m definitely looking forward to showcasing it and getting out there this weekend and into next week.”

Hyeon Chung was unstoppable. That was until he wasn’t.

The South Korean dominated round-robin competition, winning all three of his matches. And after winning the first two sets easily and going up a break in the third set of Friday’s semi-final at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals against Daniil Medvedev, it looked like he would cruise right into the final against Andrey Rublev, who he crushed in group play.

But then Medvedev dug into the match. The Russian found his rhythm and with it enough momentum to carry the encounter to a deciding fifth set. Chung looked vulnerable.

Not so fast. Chung impressively enough found perhaps his best tennis of the week when he needed it the most, putting on a scintillating display of aggression and mental toughness to oust Medvedev, 4-1, 4-1, 3-4(4), 1-4, 4-0.

“I had to stay calm,” Chung said. “Just trying to stay calm and he was playing good, so I had to play the same as I did in the first and second set.”

At 30/30 in the first game of the final set, Medvedev was just two points from breaking Chung and possibly running away with the match. But the South Korean stayed the course, holding and then breaking to earn a lead he would not give up for a spot in Saturday’s final.

There, Chung will play Rublev, who he beat in Group A play on Wednesday, 4-0, 4-1, 4-3(1), in 68 minutes. He also defeated the Russian this August at the Winston-Salem Open. So, at the moment, he is not worried about creating a gameplan from scratch to combat the top seed.

“I need a rest because it’s already 12, so I have to do my recovery first,” Chung said. “We know how to play each other, so I have to go sleep, only.”

Rublev managed to find his best tennis of the event as well to oust the previously undefeated Borna Coric in the day’s first semi-final.

Chung will be playing in his first ATP World Tour final, while Rublev claimed his maiden trophy earlier this year as a lucky loser in Umag.

If Chung goes on to win at the Fiera Milano, he will earn $390,000 as an undefeated champion, while Rublev can leave Italy with $335,000.

Hyeon Chung was unstoppable. That was until he wasn’t.

The South Korean dominated round-robin competition, winning all three of his matches. And after winning the first two sets easily and going up a break in the third set of Friday’s semi-final at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals against Daniil Medvedev, it looked like he would cruise right into the final against Andrey Rublev, who he crushed in group play.

But then Medvedev dug into the match. The Russian found his rhythm and with it enough momentum to carry the encounter to a deciding fifth set. Chung looked vulnerable.

Not so fast. Chung impressively enough found perhaps his best tennis of the week when he needed it the most, putting on a scintillating display of aggression and mental toughness to oust Medvedev, 4-1, 4-1, 3-4(4), 1-4, 4-0.

“I had to stay calm,” Chung said. “Just trying to stay calm and he was playing good, so I had to play the same as I did in the first and second set.”

At 30/30 in the first game of the final set, Medvedev was just two points from breaking Chung and possibly running away with the match. But the South Korean stayed the course, holding and then breaking to earn a lead he would not give up for a spot in Saturday’s final.

There, Chung will play Rublev, who he beat in Group A play on Wednesday, 4-0, 4-1, 4-3(1), in 68 minutes. He also defeated the Russian this August at the Winston-Salem Open. So, at the moment, he is not worried about creating a gameplan from scratch to combat the top seed.

“I need a rest because it’s already 12, so I have to do my recovery first,” Chung said. “We know how to play each other, so I have to go sleep, only.”

Rublev managed to find his best tennis of the event as well to oust the previously undefeated Borna Coric in the day’s first semi-final.

Chung will be playing in his first ATP World Tour final, while Rublev claimed his maiden trophy earlier this year as a lucky loser in Umag.

If Chung goes on to win at the Fiera Milano, he will earn $390,000 as an undefeated champion, while Rublev can leave Italy with $335,000.

Andrey Rublev started the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals mired in a five-set battle against the World No. 305 Gianluigi Quinzi, the Italian wild card. The Russian looked uncomfortable and said he wasn’t so sure about the shorter format being used in Milan.

Three days later, it looks as if Rublev has acclimated well. The 20-year-old Moscow native handed Croatian Borna Coric his first loss of the tournament, sweeping the Group B winner 4-1, 4-3(6), 4-1 on Friday night to reach the title match of the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals.

“Today I played my best tennis of the week. I’m really happy,” Rublev said.

On Saturday night, the top-seeded Russian will go for his second ATP World Tour title against either South Korean Hyeon Chung, who also hasn’t lost yet in Italy, or seventh-seeded countryman Daniil Medvedev. Chung and Medvedev are playing the second semi-final at the Fiera Milano.

Rublev celebrated his maiden ATP World Tour title in July in Umag, when, as a lucky loser, he raced through the draw and beat Italian veteran Paolo Lorenzi in the final. On Friday, the Russian looked ready to hoist another trophy this weekend.

Rublev was relentless against Coric, swinging away from the start. He broke when Coric double faulted for a 2-0 lead, and then the Russian held to love to gain a one-set lead after 15 minutes. Coric, who came back from two sets down against Russian Karen Khachanov on Thursday night, rallied in the second but couldn’t get over the hump during the tie-break. A single break sealed the match for Rublev in the third set.

“He was just playing too good for me today,” Coric said. “He was the better player on the court.”

Rublev finished with 17 winners to only eight unforced errors. Coric, meanwhile, hit 12 winners but 14 unforced errors.