Several #NextGenATP stars impressed on the biggest stages of the ATP Tour in recent months, claiming Top 20 victories and challenging for titles.
Alex Michelsen advanced to two ATP Tour finals in both Newport and Winston-Salem, Shang Juncheng notched up a Top 20 win over top seed Ben Shelton in Atlanta and Jakub Mensik had a run to the third round of the US Open.
Learner Tien and Joao Fonseca both broke new ground with debut ATP Challenger Tour crowns, while Arthur Fils continued his strong ascent with his biggest ATP title so far in Hamburg.
ATPTour.com looks at the current standings in the current PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah ahead of the NextGen ATP Finals presented by PIF, to be held from 18-22 December.
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Michelsen has strong swing on home turf
American Michelsen had a strong North American swing prior to the US Open, using the home support to make the final in both Newport and Winston-Salem. Michelsen swept past countrymen Reilly Opelka and Maxime Cressy en route to the final at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, narrowly losing to Marcos Giron in three sets.
The 20-year old also was also a runner-up at the Winston-Salem Open, defeating Christopher Eubanks and Pablo Carreno Busta before falling to Lorenzo Sonego. Michelsen also reached the doubles final at the Cincinnati Open alongside Mackenzie McDonald, with the Americans losing 6-2, 6-4 to fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic.
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/09/06/18/05/michelsen-nextgen-q3-review.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Alex Michelsen” />
Michelsen reached his third career final at Winston-Salem. (Photo credit: Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
At the US Open, Michelsen advanced past countryman Eliot Spizzirri before falling to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Jannik Sinner.
After so much time spent travelling, Michelsen reflected on the fun memories he had when returning home.
“I’m going to say [the most fun was] when I got back from Wimby, because I hadn’t seen my friends in like, three, four months, and everyone was home for summer,” Michelsen said. “I played a lot of pickleball, went to the beach. It was a blast. I would say that in the last year for sure that’s the most fun I’ve had.”
Shang delights at Flushing Meadows
Shang reached the semi-finals as a qualifier in Atlanta, upsetting top seed and home favourite Shelton 7-6(6), 6-4. The 19-year-old also reached the third round at Winston-Salem, defeating seventh seed Mariano Navone.
Shang Juncheng defeated Ben Shelton en route to the semi-finals in Atlanta. (Photo credit: Adam Hagy/Getty Images)
Shang advanced to the third round at the US Open, his joint career-best result at a Grand Slam. He battled past Alexander Bublik and Roberto Carballes Baena before narrowly losing out to eighth seed Casper Ruud in five sets.
Shang explained to ATPTour.com how staying in the moment and acting level-headed has helped to keep him grounded.
“I take days off. Sometimes I don’t want to practise, just like a normal guy,” Shang said at the US Open. “I try not to think about too much of the other things that happened before, just focusing on the present and what’s going to happen in the future as well.”
Fils reaches new heights in Hamburg
Fils won his maiden ATP 500 title in Hamburg in July, taking down the top three seeds en route to victory. The Frenchman overcame Holger Rune and Sebastian Baez before facing home favourite and top seed Alexander Zverev. Fils saved an impressive 21 of 22 break points against the German according to Infosys ATP Stats to clinch the biggest title of his career.
At the US Open, the 20-year-old battled past fellow #NextGenATP star Tien in four sets in the opening round. Fils then suffered a tight four-set loss to Canadian Gabriel Diallo in the second round.
On court Fils has impressed and off court he has taken time to enjoy the experiences that the tour offers.
“I’m still young, so of course, I enjoy [travelling]. Maybe [it’s not] for the guys who are 35 or 40 they do because they play tennis,” Fils told ATPTour.com. “But me, I’m still young so I love to travel, sometimes with my friends, sometimes with my family, and every time with my coach.”
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Mensik and Fonseca remain in contention
Mensik advanced to the semi-finals in Umag, defeating fifth seed Luciano Darderi and Montreal champion Alexei Popyrin before losing to eventual winner Lorenzo Musetti. The 19-year-old also impressed at the US Open, equalling his performance at Flushing Meadows last year. The Czech upset 19th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the opening round and saved two match points against Tristan Schoolkate before overcoming the Australian in five sets. Mensik felt short in the third-round against Nuno Borges, but held three match points in the fourth set.
Off the court, Mensik turned his focus to his education, outlining his academic ambitions, “I was also doing final exams in school, so that was also a big part of my life, because before a Grand Slam [Roland Garros] I had final exams, and I had the elbow [injury],” Mensik said. “I was much more happier to play on the court, pain free. And obviously, with straight A’s in school.”
<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/09/06/18/03/mensik-nextgen-q3-review.jpg” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Jakub Mensik” />
Jakub Mensik saved match points to defeat Tristan Schoolkate at the US Open. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
The 18-year-old Fonseca picked up his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in Lexington. The Brazilian, who did not drop a set, defeated Gabriel Diallo and Hugo Grenier en route to victory.
Fonseca’s athletic ability was apparent to his parents from an early age.
“When he was two, we were like, ‘This boy is different,’” Fonseca’s father, Christiano said. “I remember that my yoga teacher came here and he started playing with the ball with Joao and he said to me, ‘This boy is different. He has much more reflexes and coordination than the average.’ Very young, we knew he was different.”
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Tien breaks new ground
American Tien captured his first ATP Challenger Tour title in July at Bloomfield Hills, rallying from a set down to defeat compatriot Nishesh Basavareddy 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. He followed this up with a semi-final appearance at another Challenger event in Chicago, taking out second seed Benjamin Bonzi en route.
The 18-year-old also made an impressive run to the quarter-finals at the Winston-Salem Open as a qualifier, overcoming Fabian Marozsan and Thiago Seyboth Wild. At the US Open, Tien faced fellow #NextGenATP star Fils, losing in four sets in his third main-draw appearance at Flushing Meadows.
Tien played a semester of college tennis at the University of Southern California before turning pro last year. He wrote about the influence the experience had on him and the gratitude he felt.
“To my brothers, thank you for taking me in as the naive kid I was and opening my eyes to see that there was a part of tennis so much bigger than just myself,” Tien wrote on social media last year. “Above all else, thank you for the lifelong memories and friendships. You guys will always have my support, and I look forward to seeing you all crush it next year.”
Van Assche, Gaubas in the mix
Luca Van Assche, Vilius Gaubas, Henrique Rocha and Coleman Wong all remained in the mix for spots at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF.
Van Assche and Gaubas both reached the third round of qualifying at the US Open while Rocha made the last 16 at a Challenger event in Porto. Wong advanced to the final of the Challenger event in Lincoln, losing to Jacob Fearnley.
Gaubas, Rocha and Wong are all looking to make their first appearance in Jeddah this year.
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