The 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah are coming up, and we now know which players will play each other in the group stage as the draw was released.
The format of the Next Gen ATP Finals mimics that of the ATP Finals. There are two groups with four players, after which we have the semi-finals and then the final.
In this year's finals, the groups were named the Red Group and the Green Group. In the Red Group, there are Luca Van Ascche, Alex Michelsen, Hamad Medjedovic, and wild card Abedllah Shelbayh.
In the Green Group, Arthur, Fils, Dominic Stricker, Flavio Cobolli, and Luca Nardi will fight for a spot in the semifinals. This year's Finals should be quite interesting because there is only one player who played in the previous edition.
The player that competed last year is Switzerland's Stricker, but he still isn't the biggest favourite at the event. Some of these players have more experience like Fils who is ranked inside the Top 50 and he's certainly one of the favourites.
This is also the first time the event won't be held in Milan, which has hosted the competition since it started a few years ago. It's also the first time there is an official ATP event in Saudi Arabia, which was a hugely controversial topic before this year.
More events will follow in the future but first, let's see how this first one actually goes. Play starts on November 28th, and this will actually be the last event this year. Don't despair because tennis won't be gone for too long as the sport picks up quite quickly in a few weeks with a series of exhibitions.
One of those will be held in Saudi Arabia actually with Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz set to play against each other.