While most of tennis' established stars are now enjoying their well-earned Christmas downtime, a selection of the finest ATP Tour proteges must delay their festive preparations to compete at the Next Gen ATP Finals.
The curtain comes down on the 2024 season with eight phenoms born in 2004 or later vying for the year-end title over the course of five days, and this year's edition marks the first tournament since the age threshold was lower from 21 and under to 20 and under.
A few former Next Gen ATP Finals winners have gone on to forge successful careers at the top of the senior game, such as reigning ATP Finals champion and world number one Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas, while others such as Brandon Nakashima and Chung Hyeon are yet to live up to the potential they showed during their triumphant runs.
Defending champion Hamad Medjedovic cannot try to retain his title due to his age, meaning that a new winner will be crowned in the Middle East, and here, Sports Mole provides an in-depth guide to this year's Next Gen ATP Finals.
When and where is the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals?
The Next Gen ATP Finals take place between December 18 and 22, on hard courts at King Abdullah Sports City complex in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.
The venue may be familiar to fans of football; Saudi Pro League giants Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli play their home games at the stadium, which also hosted the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup final, won by Manchester City.
How does the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals work?
As is the case with the senior ATP Tour Finals, the Next Gen ATP Finals sees players drawn into two groups of four for the round-robin stage, and the top two in each section will advance to the semi-finals.
However, the contests will be best of five sets rather than three, and players only need to win four games to win a set, as opposed to the standard six seen in tour and Grand Slam matches.
Who is playing at the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals? When is the draw?
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Three Americans, two Frenchman, one Brazilian, one Czech protege and one Chinese talent make up this year's Next Gen ATP Finals field, and the top seed is Arthur Fils, the world number 20 who lost to Medjedovic in last year's final.
Fils's compatriot Luca Van Assche is also going for glory in Saudi Arabia, while team USA are represented by Alex Michelsen, Learner Tien and Nishesh Basavareddy.
Brazil's Joao Fonseca - born in 2006 - is the youngest player competing at the tournament, and the eight-strong group is completed by the Czech Republic's Jakub Mensik and China's Shang Juncheng. Spain's Martin Landaluce and Hong Kong's Coleman Wong are the alternatives.
The participants will discover their round-robin opponents and possible paths to the final when the draw is made on Sunday, December 15 at 8pm.
2024 Next Gen ATP Finals schedule
December 18: Round-robin matches (2pm | 7pm)
December 19: Round-robin matches (2pm | 7pm)
December 20: Round-robin matches (2pm | 7pm)
December 21: Semi-final one (7pm), Semi-final two (Not before 9pm)
December 22: Final (8pm)
How can I watch the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals?
Viewers in the UK can catch all the Next Gen ATP Finals action on Sky Sports, and the competition will also be streamed in its entirety on the TennisTV subscription service.
For a full list of global TV and streaming options, click here.
2024 Next Gen ATP Finals prize money
The total prize pot for this year's Next Gen ATP Finals is $2,050,000 - equivalent to around £1.6m - and the maximum amount on offer is $526,480 (£417,063), which will be awarded if a player wins the title without losing a single match.
Prize money breakdown:
Undefeated Champion: $526,480 (£417,063)
Final Win: $153,000 (£121,202)
Semi-Final Win: $113,500 (£89,911)
Each Round-Robin Match Win: $36,660 (£28,993)
Participation Fee: $150,000 (£118,825)
Alternate: $15,000 (£11,882)
Previous Next Gen ATP Finals winners
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2017: Chung Hyeon
2018: Stefanos Tsitsipas
2019: Jannik Sinner
2020: Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021: Carlos Alcaraz
2022: Brandon Nakashima
2023: Hamad Medjedovic
Ben Knapton
