2023 champion Alcaraz to play Queen's in 2025
Carlos Alcaraz will play at Queen’s in 2025 as part of his Wimbledon title defence preparations.
Carlos Alcaraz will play at Queen’s in 2025 as part of his Wimbledon title defence preparations.
Tickets for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, to be held in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, are now on sale.
The 20-and-under event takes place from 18-22 December at King Abdullah Sports City on indoor hard courts. Tickets to catch the action can be purchased here.
The Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF was first hosted in Jeddah in 2023 when Hamad Medjedovic lifted the title. Previous winners of the 20-and-under event include Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Arthur Fils, Alex Michelsen, Jakub Mensik and Shang Juncheng have qualified for the seventh edition of the event and there are four qualification spots still open.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Arthur Fils, Alex Michelsen, Jakub Mensik and Shang Juncheng have qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, to be held from 18-22 December.
Frenchman Fils reached the title match in Jeddah last year and has enjoyed another impressive season on Tour, highlighted by ATP 500 titles in Hamburg and Basel. The 20-year-old, who topped the 2024 ATP 500 Bonus Pool, is 37-26 on the season.
American Michelsen is set to return to Jeddah, having made his debut at the 20-and-under event last year. The 20-year-old made his Top 50 breakthrough in August and is currently at No. 42 in the PIF ATP Rankings, one spot off his career high.
Michelsen reached tour-level finals in Newport and Winston-Salem in 2024 and advanced to the third round at a major for the first time at the Australian Open.
Mensik and Shang will make their debuts in Jeddah, having made major progress in 2024. The 19-year-old Czech Mensik started the year at No. 167 in the PIF ATP Rankings but will arrive at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF at No. 48.
The big-hitting teen advanced to his maiden ATP Tour final in Doha in February and reached his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final in Shanghai in October, earning Top 10 wins against Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov.
World No. 50 Shang became just the second Chinese ATP Tour titlist in history when he won in Chengdu in September. The 19-year-old also reached semi-finals in Hong Kong and Atlanta and the third round at the Australian Open, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz.
Jannik Sinner caps an extraordinary 2024 season by battling past the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor to help Italy defend their Davis Cup title.
Jannik Sinner will enter 2025 as the leading men’s player after capping a sensational year by retaining the Davis Cup with Italy.
Watch the best shots as world number one Jannick Sinner secures back-to-back Davis Cups for Italy by beating the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 in Malaga.
Italy is within one Jannik Sinner win of a successful defence of the Davis Cup in Malaga.
Matteo Berrettini overcame Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday afternoon to put his country 1-0 up against the Netherlands in the final of the teams’ event. With his 76-minute victory, Berrettini handed World No. 1 Sinner the chance to seal the title for Italy by beating Tallon Griekspoor in the second singles rubber of the tie.
5 ⭐️ BERRETTINI@federtennis are ONE WIN AWAY from defending their #DavisCup trophy! 🇮🇹@DavisCup | #DavisCup | @MattBerrettini pic.twitter.com/SS0f8QZ5Za
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 24, 2024
After a hard-fought opening, Berrettini won nine of 11 games from 3-4 in the first set to improve to 5-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Van de Zandschulp. The Italian, who has this year lifted ATP Tour crowns in Marrakech, Gstaad and Kitzbühel, won 86 per cent (30/35) of points behind his first serve and did not face a break point en route to victory.
Should Italy go on to lift the trophy, whether via a Sinner singles win or a deciding doubles triumph, it will be the first country to successfully defend the Davis Cup crown since Czechia in 2013.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
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Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini put defending champions Italy into the Davis Cup final with a 2-0 victory over Australia.
With victory in a rematch of last year’s Davis Cup final against Australia, defending champions Italy are back in the title round thanks to contrasting singles wins for Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini on Saturday in Malaga. The Italians advanced behind a 2-0 semi-final scoreline, with Sinner beating Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4 after Berrettini edged Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5.
Berrettini needed two hours, 39 minutes to dispatch Kokkinakis, who won a third-set tie-break against Ben Shelton of the United States in his previous outing. The Aussie struck first after saving two set points from 4/6 in the opening tie-break, having stopped his opponent from serving out the opening set at 6-5. But Berrettini would not surrender another break in the match as he powered Italy into a 1-0 lead.
“After I lost the first set, it wasn’t easy to digest that,” said the Italian. “But I’m fighting for my country with this crowd, so I’m happy.”
[ATP AWARDS]At 5-5 in the third set, Berrettini conjured a forehand squash shot from deep behind the baseline that angled sharply for a stunning winner. The majestic, driven slice left a stunned Kokkinakis stranded and sparked a run of six straight points from 15/0 to put Berrettini on the brink of victory.
“Some points sometimes are just changing the match, the momentum,” he said of his moment of magic. “I guess it’s coming from years and years of playing on clay, we use a lot of our hands. And maybe a little bit of genetics from my parents — I’m going to give them the credit.
“It’s all about the energy, how you face the tough moments. But I got the break and I [was able to] finish.”
Matteo Berrettini that is OUT OF THIS WORLD 🤯🌍#DavisCup | @MattBerrettini | @federtennis pic.twitter.com/zL2iDbtYkG
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) November 23, 2024
That set up World No. 1 Jannik Sinner to close out the victory, and the man who earned Year-End ATP No. 1 presented by PIF honours this season delivered with a dominant display against De Minaur. The 6-3, 6-4 scoreline was identical to the result in the pair’s Nitto ATP Finals meeting earlier this month. Sinner will now hope he can lift the title in Malaga, just as he did in Turin.
“It means a lot. It was a tough encounter, playing Alex. We know each other quite well now so I have to be very careful every time,” Sinner said after improving to 9-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. “It’s a very tough challenge for me, so I was looking forward to this one.
“Obviously it helped a lot that Matteo won the singles today. He played amazing tennis, it was very high quality. Hopefully this can give us some confidence for tomorrow. It’s going to be a very difficult and tough day for us and also the Netherlands.”
Sinner picked up where Berrettini left off by winning the first two games against De Minaur, but the Aussie responded to level the opening set at 2-2. But after converting on his first break point, the Aussie would not create another one in the one-hour, 28-minute match.
Sinner snatched back the advantage to lead 5-2, battling through deuce to consolidate his second break. There were no break points on offer in set two until Sinner carved out three in the ninth game. He made good on the third, then coolly served out the victory to continue Italy’s title defence.
The Netherlands also advanced to Sunday’s final with a 2-0 win, with the Dutch victory coming via a pair of three-set singles results Friday against Germany. If the lineups for both finalists remain the same, Berrettini will face Botic van de Zandschulp and Sinner will meet Tallon Griekspoor in the final. Italy nominated Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori for the unplayed doubles rubber, while the Germans listed Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz.
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