Ricky’s picks for the 2024 NextGen ATP Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

With the new tennis season is just two weeks away, the NextGen ATP Finals is almost like the start of a new year rather than the conclusion of an old one. The 2025 installment of this 20-and-under tournament will be played in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for the second time and it will be hosted from Wednesday through Sunday. Jeddah’s eight participants are Arthur Fils, Alex Michelsen, Jakub Mensik, Jerry Shang, Learner Tien, Luca Van Assche, Nishesh Basavareddy, and Joao Fonseca

Here are my three picks for the NextGen ATP Finals.

Arthur Fils

Fils is in a class all by himself at this event, at least on paper. The Frenchman is already up to No. 20 in the rankings; no one else in this field is ranked higher than No. 41 (Michelsen). Fils has earned 60 ATP-level match wins, including 37 during the 2024 campaign. He played especially well during the fall, with a 500-point triumph in Tokyo and a semifinal result in Basel. Fils was runner-up at the 2023 NextGen ATP Finals (lost to Hamad Medjedovic), so the 20-year-old Frenchman will be eager to go one step further in 2024.

Jakub Mensik

A U.S. Open third-round appearance in 2023 was Mensik’s first mark on tour, but he really made a name for himself in 2024. The 19-year-old climbed to 48th in the rankings thanks to racking up 25 victories at the ATP level. Mensik advanced to the Doha final and his fall swing was highlighted by a quarterfinal effort at the Shanghai Masters (d. Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov) and a quarterfinal showing as a qualifier in Vienna. Mensik can never be discounted with his big serve — especially indoors.

Joao Fonseca

Will Fonseca win the tournament? Obviously the odds are stacked against him as the lowest-seeded player in the field — and because he is more comfortably on clay than hard courts at this point in his career. Sill, he is an intriguing play as a longshot. The 18-year-old Brazilian is oozing with talent, as we saw during a quarterfinal run at the Rio ATP 500 back in February. Fonseca has been playing well in Challengers of late, so he heads into Jeddah with plenty of confidence.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.