The eight-man field for the NextGen ATP Finals is set. Rafael Jodar was recently confirmed as the final participant, with his path to the prestigious event cleared by Joao Fonseca’s withdrawal.
Here is the list, in order of ranking:
1. Jakub Mensik
2. Learner Tien
3. Alexander Blockx
4. Dino Prizmic
5. Martin Landaluce
6. Nikolai Budkov Kjaer
7. Nishesh Basavareddy
8. Rafael Jodar
The NextGen ATP Finals will take place December 17-21 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Similar to the Nitto ATP Finals, this is a year-end championship for the top eight — in this case only for players who are 20 years old or younger.
Tien, Mensik, and Basavareddy are the only repeat participants. The first two faced each other in round-robin competition 12 months ago, with Tien prevailing in fifth-set tiebreaker. Mensik also fell to Fonseca in a fifth-set ‘breaker on his way to a winless record in Jeddah, having also lost to Arthur Fils. Tien eventually finished runner-up to Fonseca.
“I think a lot of the younger guys are doing well,” the left-handed American said during an interview with the ATP website at the Paris Masters. “Sometimes it’s tough — and people come out a little better than others during the first year, as they don’t really know how a lot of the new stuff can go. But the young guys do a good job of pushing each other. Everyone wants to catch the ‘top guy.’ It’s been great all the young guys pushing each other this year.”