The rising stars of the ATP World Tour are ready to take the ASB Classic by storm this week in Auckland. But first, they tested their skills on a court of a different kind.

#NextGenATP Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas joined reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung in a visit to the SKYCITY Breakers, a professional basketball team based in Auckland. The players took part in drills during the team’s pregame warm-up, practising ball handling skills and shooting, before going head-to-head in a 3-on-3 game.

“I’ve never played basketball before and I’ve only watched it on TV, but I had a very good time today,” said Chung. “It’s difficult. Shooting and dribbling are not easy.

“It’s my first time in Auckland and it’s a nice city. I’m feeling good for the tournament.”

Chung will open his Auckland campaign against Kyle Edmund, seeking revenge after falling to the Brit in three sets last week in Brisbane. Fourth seed John Isner potentially awaits in the second round.

“I like basketball very much and it’s a very good opportunity,” added Tsitsipas, who faces lucky loser Lukas Lacko in the first round. It was a pleasure to hang out with these guys. It’s a good start for the tournament this week.

“I feel very motivated and good with my tennis. When you have these kind of wins, you feel like you can beat anyone. Coming to New Zealand has been on my bucket list and I’m happy to be here.”

The 19-year-old Greek was awarded a main draw wild card after enjoying a breakout 2017 season. Up to No. 91 in the ATP Rankings, he is coming off a quarter-final appearance at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, where he stunned Richard Gasquet.

Tsitsipas and Shapovalov are two of three teenagers in the Top 100 (also Frances Tiafoe). Shapovalov, the ATP Star of Tomorrow presented by Emirates, opens against Rogerio Dutra Silva with a potential second round blockbuster against Juan Martin del Potro in the cards. The Canadian saved four match points to defeat Dutra Silva in Montreal last year.

“I’ve worked hard in the offseason and while it’s always difficult at the start of the year,” said Shapovalov. “You don’t know where your game is at, but I’m confident I’m going to play great.”

The ASB Classic is the biggest men’s professional sporting event in New Zealand and has been held in Auckland since 1956. Defending champion Jack Sock is the top seed, with four-time winner David Ferrer seeded seventh.

A LOOK BACK
Internationaux BNP Paribas (Noumea, New Caledonia): Noah Rubin will be the first to admit that 2017 was a struggle, having missed nearly four months due to a sprained right wrist and bone bruise. Playing the best tennis of his young career, the 21-year-old was coming off a second round meeting with Roger Federer at the Australian Open and ATP Challenger Tour title in nearby Launceston when he sustained the injury. 

Rubin would conclude the season outside the Top 200 and was in search of a much-needed confidence boost as 2018 got underway. It did not take long for the New York native to find exactly that. A third Challenger crown would jump start his campaign, dropping just one set en route to the title in Noumea. Rubin defeated countryman Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-4 in Saturday’s final. The American, who has received a wild card into the inaugural New York Open next month, will rise to a career-high No. 162 in the ATP Rankings.

Meanwhile, the upset of the week was registered by qualifier Zsombor Piros, who stunned top seed Julien Benneteau from a set down. It was the first Challenger match victory for the World No. 631 from Hungary (age 18). 

This is one crazy ride. pic.twitter.com/87afnNNCTM

— Noah Rubin (@Noahrubin33) January 7, 2018

City of Playford Tennis International (Playford, Australia): You would be hard-pressed to find a more improbable success story than that of Jason Kubler. The Aussie, a former junior No. 1 whose career was derailed due to chronic knee injuries, was forced to compete exclusively on clay for many years. But improved health and conditioning have allowed Kubler to make the transition to hard courts. And the results have been nothing short of incredible.

Kubler, age 24, lifted his second title on the surface in 10 weeks, defeating Canada’s Brayden Schnur 6-4, 6-2 on home soil in Playford on Sunday. He had never competed in a hard-court Challenger prior to October and would streak to the title in his first tournament in Traralgon, Australia. Having won both titles as a qualifier, he is now a staggering 17-1 on the surface and is up to No. 242 in the ATP Rankings. Kubler did not drop a set all week in Playford (16-0), becoming the first qualifier to do so since 2009. He will hope to continue his strong form at the Australian Open, having been awarded a main draw wild card.

What a week! @JasonKubler claims his second hard-court ?, winning on ?? soil in Playford.

Did not drop a set all week as a qualifier (16-0) pic.twitter.com/DlyHDvG5Lh

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) January 7, 2018

KPN Academy-Usierra Bangkok Open (Bangkok, Thailand): Sixth seed Marcel Granollers won his fifth ATP Challenger Tour title, rallying past German qualifier Mats Moraing 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in Bangkok. The Spaniard was a break down in the third set, but would fight for the victory after two hours and 35 minutes. The former World No. 19 is projected to rise 28 spots to No. 149, as he continues his quest to return to the Top 100. It was his first Challenger title since March 2016 (Irving, USA).

“Obviously it has been a great week for me,” said Granollers. “I have a lot of confidence from this. It is very important to see the hard work from the preseason pay off in the first work.”

Victory for @M_Granollers in Bangkok! The ?? lifts his fifth #ATPChallenger ?, rallying past Mats Moraing 46 63 75 on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/27Qtf8Aqea

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) January 7, 2018

A LOOK AHEAD
Two tournaments are on the calendar next week, as the season-opening Aussie swing continues in Canberra. Top seed Dudi Sela is the defending champion, while #NextGenATP prospects Corentin Moutet, Geoffrey Blancaneaux, Soonwoo Kwon and Yosuke Watanuki are looking to wrestle the trophy. Moutet, Kwon and 22-year-old Nicolas Jarry are three of our 10 players to watch in 2018.

At the second event in Bangkok, top seed Granollers looks to go back-to-back. He is joined by countrymen Enrique Lopez Perez, seeded second, and Pedro Martinez, seeded third.

There is certainly no lack of hype surrounding China’s Wu Yibing. It was a landmark year for the 18-year-old in 2017, after all.

The right-hander served as a practice partner at the Nitto ATP Finals, played his first two ATP World Tour main draws in Chengdu and Shangha, won both the boys’ singles and doubles titles at the US Open, reached the top spot in the junior rankings, and perhaps most impressively, claimed his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Shanghai — becoming the fourth player in five years to win a junior Slam and a Challenger title in the same season.

Capturing that trophy at 17, Yibing was also one of just four players aged 17 or younger to win on the ATP Challenger Tour. He beat Yen-Hsun Lu — the all-time title leader at that level with 29 triumphs — in the final.

But as the World No. 314 begins his first full season on the ATP World Tour at the ASB Classic in Auckland, Yibing knows that he still has a lot to learn as the opponents get tougher.

“I played two tournaments [at the] ATP [level] in China,” Yibing said. “I feel the level is a big, big difference than juniors. So for me the main thing is to try to learn from them, try to raise my ranking and help my technique and tactics.”

If the #NextGenATP star is looking to learn from the stars of the ATP World Tour, he is in luck this week. The youngest player from China to win an ATP Challenger Tour title will get to play one of the most experienced competitors on the tour in his opening match of the season: seventh seed David Ferrer.

The Spaniard (35) is nearly twice Yibing’s age and has played 1,068 more tour-level matches. Ironically, they share a favoured playing style.

“I like making my opponent move,” Yibing said with a smile. “I think this is one of my favorite techniques.”

It is safe to say fans of the ATP World Tour will get to see him do that for years to come. And since Yibing broke onto the scene with his US Open victory, he has noticed the uptick in attention.

“After I won the US Open, there was lots of media [that] came to me,” Yibing said. “It was like my life changed a little bit. But for me, I’m happy for this because this is also in my mind.”

Yibing is ready for the journey, but is not looking too far ahead. His focus is solely on his opening tournament of 2018. In a way, the fact that he is in Auckland playing a tour-level event is still surreal.

“I’m excited to come here,” Yibing said. “Even the flight, I was talking about [it with] my coach. It’s a little bit amazing that I can come here.”

Jordan Thompson made good use of a wild card at the 2017 Sydney International, winning his first-round match before falling in a battle against the fifth seed.

Italian veteran Paolo Lorenzi had no intention of letting the home favourite advance to the second round this year. The 36-year-old defeated Thompson 7-6(5), 6-4 to set up a second-round match against top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

The World No. 43 was broken in his first service game and faced a break point in his second, but steadied the ship from there. After claiming an intense first-set tie-break, the right-hander sprinted to a 3-0 lead in the second set. Despite failing to serve out the match at 5-3, Lorenzi broke his opponent a third time to clinch the victory.

If that was complicated, few words could describe Alexandr Dolgopolov’s 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-5 first-round win against Viktor Troicki.

The Ukrainian held match point at 6/5 in the second-set tie-break, but could not convert and he was soon behind a break at 2-3 in the third set. But Dolgopolov managed to get right back on serve and after saving break point at 4-4, he broke for the triumph at 6-5 to end the two-hour, 21-minute clash and set up a meeting against fourth seed Fabio Fognini.

The only seed in action on the first day of play was seventh seed Damir Dzumhur. The Bosnian got back on track after a season-opening loss at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, eliminating Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1, 6-4. Dzumhur will play the winner of Fernando Verdasco and Alex de Minaur, fresh off his dream run to the Brisbane semi-finals.

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