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The 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM will award a tournament-record $2 million in prize money at the 21-and-under event, which will be played in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from 28 November-2 December.

If the champion at this year’s tournament lifts the trophy with a perfect record, he will earn $514,000, an increase over the previous record.

Three matches at this year’s Next Gen ATP Finals will be worth more than $100,000. Each semi-final victory will be worth $113,500 and the championship match will yield the winner $153,000. The participation fee for each player at the event is $150,000.

Prize Money 2023

In the early stages of his budding career, Jordan’s Abdullah Shelbayh is already etching his name in history.

The 20-year-old, who is at a career-high No. 187 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, became the first Jordanian to win a main-draw ATP Tour match in April and has since continued his rapid rise. Shelbayh will have another opportunity to perform on a big stage as a wild card at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Shelbayh is doing it all with the pride of Jordan behind him.

“It makes me happy to represent my country and the Arab world,” Shelbayh told ATPTour.com. “There is some pressure but you feel like it’s good pressure to have on your shoulders when you’re representing your country and the region you come from.”

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Sky has agreed new five-year partnerships with both ATP Media, the broadcast arm of the ATP, and WTA Ventures, the commercial arm of the WTA, which will see over 80 tournaments made up of 4000 matches available on Sky Sports, NOW and WOW.

Both Tours will be available for fans year-round with Sky having secured rights exclusively in the U.K. and Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, as well as non-exclusive rights in Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and South Tyrol.

The two Tours will showcase the world's top players such as World No. 1s Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic, alongside Rafael Nadal, Aryna Sabalenka, Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and the returning Naomi Osaka as well as the ‘new era’ of tennis stars including Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff, Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu, competing at all levels including at combined Masters 1000 events taking place in Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome, and Cincinnati, and both the Nitto ATP Finals and WTA Finals. From 2024, Sky Sports will create a new home for tennis all year round, delivering the live action from the six continents direct to fans.

Sky Sports coverage will be led by presenter Gigi Salmon, alongside Tim Henman and Laura Robson who will offer their expert analysis and insights across the two Tours, with Jonathan
Overend on the match commentary. The Sky Sports team will also be joined by additional talent and co-commentators at various events across the season.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

Novak Djokovic has guided Serbia into Saturday's Davis Cup semi-finals in Malaga, where he will face a third showdown with World No. 4 Italian Jannik Sinner in less than two weeks.

World No. 1 Djokovic defeated Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4  in one hour, 41 minutes to give Serbia an unassailable 2-0 lead after World No. 55 Miomir Kecmanovic had earlier held his nerve to edge Jack Draper 7-6(2), 7-6(6) in a match in which neither player was able to break serve.

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Djokovic, who helped Serbia win its first Davis Cup title in 2010, continued the impressive serving he displayed in Turin, dropping just eight points on serve, while hitting 16 forehand winners, double Norrie's tally. A winner of 98 tour-level titles, Djokovic took control of the match with an immediate break of serve in the first game of the second set.

Less than two weeks ago Djokovic lost a third-set tie-break to Sinner in group player in the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, before he avenged that defeat with a commanding 6-3, 6-3 victory in the championship match last Sunday. The 40-time ATP Masters 1000 champion will take a 4-1 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series into the semi-finals.

Jannik Sinner is delighting Italian fans for the second consecutive week after pulling double duty to lead Italy to a comeback victory over The Netherlands in their Davis Cup quarter-final in Malaga, Spain.

Fresh of his run to the title match at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, Sinner survived a tight opening set with Tallon Griekspoor before breaking open the match in the second to run out a confident 7-6(3), 6-1 winner to level the tie at 1-1.

He then partnered Lorenzo Sonego to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof to book Italy’s semi-final spot against the winner of Thursday evening’s tie between Serbia, led by World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, and Great Britain.

In his singles win against Griekspoor, Sinner leveraged his dramatically improved serve this year to drop just six points on his delivery, firing nine aces while also cracking 10 forehand winners.

Botic van de Zandschulp had earlier given The Netherlands a 1-0 lead when he saved two match points to defeat Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-6(7) in two hours, 52 minutes.

Frances Tiafoe is a prominent supporter of the NBA's Washington Wizards, but this week the American paid a visit to another one of his favourite local pro teams. Instead of the basketball hardwood, Tiafoe hit the ice for some hockey with the NHL's Washington Capitals.

"That's way faster than it looks!" a surprised Tiafoe said after attempting to control a pass.

The World No. 16 was more at ease when he mixed in some tennis fun, rallying with Capitals forward Tom Wilson and bombing serves to test the players' reactions. Tiafoe also made time for a photo opportunity with NHL legend Alex Ovechkin in the locker room, and the pair signed a tennis racquet and a hockey stick for one another.

A native of Hyattsville, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C., Tiafoe has supported the teams in the area since his youth. Speaking in front of the Capitals team, Tiafoe explained that he grew up playing tennis just 20 minutes outside of the city.

Check out the full video above for an inside look at Tiafoe's time with the NHL stars. 

Alex de Minaur led a great escape for Australia at the Davis Cup Final 8 on Wednesday to send his country into the semi-finals in Malaga.

The 2022 Davis Cup runners-up were in a big hole against the Czech Republic after Tomas Machac beat Jordan Thompson 6-4, 7-5 and Jiri Lehecka built a 6-4, 5-3 lead against De Minaur. But from deuce in his 3-5 service game, the 24-year-old won 10 straight points to turn the match on its head. 

Showing his famed fighting spirit, De Minaur levelled the tie at 1-1 with a 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-5 victory, breaking late in the final set before serving out the match to love.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

That set the stage for a decisive doubles rubber that pit Aussies Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell against Czechs Lehecka and Adam Pavlasek. Behind a single break in each set, Ebden/Purcell scored a 6-4, 7-5 win to put Australia through to the semi-finals.

After a successful start to their new player-coach relationship, Holger Rune and Boris Becker will continue working together during the 2024 ATP Tour season.

Rune's team initially confirmed the partnership on 19 October, and the Dane has posted a 6-4 record since then, reaching the Basel semi-finals and the Rolex Paris Masters quarters before narrowly missing out on the Nitto ATP Finals knockout rounds with a 1-2 mark in Turin.

Forza, vamos , allez, kom jetzt ? https://t.co/4MzE001BWt

Rune reached a career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 4 in August after a strong start to the season but slumped after reaching consecutive major quarter-finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Prior to his Basel run in his first tournament after confirming Becker as his coach, Rune had just one win in eight matches.

The Dane pushed Novak Djokovic — who was previously coached by Becker — to three sets in both Paris-Bercy and Turin but was beaten on both occasions by the World No. 1. In his Nitto ATP Finals debut, Rune was one set away from qualifying for the knockout rounds but ultimately fell just short in a three-set loss to home favourite and eventual finalist Jannik Sinner in his final group-stage match.

Finland's best-ever Davis Cup run continued on Tuesday at the Final 8 in Malaga, where Otto Virtanen scored wins in singles and doubles to send his country through to the semi-finals at the expense of defending champion Canada.

The 22-year-old Virtanen defeated Canada's Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 7-5 to force a decisive doubles rubber, then teamed with Harri Heliovaara to beat Alexis Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 6-3 in front of vocal Finnish support in Spain.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

Virtanen's heroics were required after Milos Raonic staked Canada an early advantage with a 6-3, 7-5 victory against Patrick Kaukovalta to open the day's play. The 32-year-old Raonic opened the match with four straight aces and never looked back.

But Virtanen levelled the tie by breaking once in each set against Diallo, and a late break in each set of the doubles match sealed a famous victory for the Finns.

Covering a total area of 34,170 sq miles, Serbia is the 111th largest county in the world. While it may not be the biggest in size, it is a nation that has produced world-class tennis players throughout the years. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is the clear example, with now-retired Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki climbing as high as No. 8 and No. 12, respectively, in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Aiming to follow in their footsteps is 20-year-old Hamad Medjedovic, who will compete at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM in Jeddah next week.

“It was a big thing for sure growing up, having so many good players in our country,” Medjedovic told ATPTour.com when discussing his early influences. “I remember starting to watch tennis when I was a kid. We had Novak [Djokovic], Viktor [Troicki] and Janko [Tipsarevic] and they were so good.

“I remember watching them constantly. As a kid it gave me a lot of motivation to start playing tennis and then to become one of them because I saw that they could do it. They're coming from a small country, same as me, and it gave me a lot of motivation and self-belief that I could do it as well.”

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Brazil and Chile have qualified for the United Cup, completing the 18-team line-up for the 2024 event.

Brazil qualified on the strength of their top WTA player Beatriz Haddad Maia, the current world No.11 who closed her 2023 season on a high note with victory at the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai.

She cracked the Top 10 in June shortly after Roland Garros, where she enjoyed her best Grand Slam result with a run to the semi-finals.

Haddad Maia will be joined by teammates Marcelo Melo, Thiago Seyboth Wild, Felipe Meligeni Alves and Carolina Alves.

Team Brazil has landed in Group A – headed by No.1 seed Poland – and will play its matches at RAC Arena in Perth. This sets up a showdown between Haddad Maia and World No.1 Iga Swiatek, a rematch of their Roland Garros semi-final.

On Sunday night, Novak Djokovic was lifting the Nitto ATP Finals trophy for a record seventh time. Less than 24 hours had passed when he boarded a flight on Monday at 4:10 pm CET, carrying the No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings from Turin to Malaga, where he joined Serbia’s team in the Final 8 of the Davis Cup.

In the terminal, he was awaited by Feliciano Lopez, the director of the Davis Cup, who gave him a special welcome: “What’s up, man?! Congratulations!” “Hey, man,” Djokovic answered jokingly before a warm embrace.

The Balkan side, captained by Viktor Troicki, and led by Djokovic, will also count Laslo Djere, Dusan Lajovic, Miomir Kecmanovic and Hamad Medjedovic among its ranks.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

Serbia will play in the quarter-finals of the competition on Thursday 23 November (not before 4:00 pm CET) against a Great Britain outfit that will have to make do without Andy Murray, who recently announced his withdrawal. The news means Cameron Norrie, Jack Draper, Liam Broady, Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury will take on Djokovic’s men.

Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek have earned Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honours for the first time.

The Croatian-American duo, which teamed for the first time last year, enjoyed a banner 2023 campaign to finish atop the standings.

Dodig said: “This year was an amazing year for me and Austin. We won five tournaments this year, one Grand Slam, a Masters [1000] and three 500 tournaments. We had a great year, played very consistent. All the hard work we put this year, it's just amazing to finish the year as the number one team and really proud and happy about that. Actually it was one of my best years, even though I'm already for the ninth time in the [Nitto ATP Finals]... I was always playing consistent, was always Top 10 in the world in doubles. But this is something special. This was my goal since I started a couple of years back to only focus on doubles. And now I'm number one as a team.”

Krajicek said: “It's an amazing feeling for sure. Obviously a tough end of the year for us at the Finals, but it really was a special year, the whole year. It's a cool feeling. It's hard to put into words. It's pretty cool to be able to finish as the number one team and know that the hard work you put in all year, all the ups and downs and tough losses and really special wins we've had this year came together at the end there and pretty cool to be able to finish the year number one. It's something that we can always be proud of and look back on, so we're super excited about that.”

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Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury ended their late-season surge in spectacular fashion on Sunday at the Nitto ATP Finals.

The American-British duo downed Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 6-4 to successfully defend their title at the prestigious season finale in Turin. Ram and Salisbury delivered a rock-solid all-around performance to wrap a 69-minute triumph and extend their winning streak inside the Pala Alpitour to 10 matches.

“I don’t know what to say, to be honest,” said Ram after the match. “We love this place. This is the biggest tournament we play on the ATP calendar all year and to win it twice in a row is something I never would have thought of and I’m so proud of.”

Salisbury added: “I think we’ve got better throughout the week. I think that was our best match, maybe along with the semi-final yesterday. I think we’ve served well and not got broken many times. We did that really well and managed to take the few chances we had today. I think we got a little bit of luck as well, but it seems like we get it in this place.”

They love Turin ?@RajeevRam ? @joesalisbury92 #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/Hw1r307K5H

Editor's note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es

Juan Carlos Ferrero accompanied Carlos Alcaraz to the Spaniard’s press conference after he bowed out to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at the Nitto ATP Finals. Sitting on the floor of the press-conference room in the Pala Alpitour, the former World No. 1 listened as his charge offered a self-critique of his loss to the Serb, while also speaking with pride about the best year of his career.

“It’s been a spectacular year,” said Alcaraz. “You have to realise that I picked up 2000 more points than the previous year but played one fewer Grand Slam. I didn’t play in Australia, and it was still my best season. It was incredible, I played some great matches. I’ve improved little by little and also learned how to deal with the pressure, and with difficult moments.”

“On balance it’s been extremely good,” reflected Ferrero, the 20-year-old’s coach, later. “As long as you improve on your previous season, it is good on balance. This year we won the Grand Slam we were least expecting [Wimbledon], and it was a pleasant surprise. And he picked up about 2000 more points without playing in the Australian Open. That says a lot about the effort he’s made at every tournament to build and keep pushing.”

JAW-DROPPING ?

Just an insane level between @carlosalcaraz & @DjokerNole!!! #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/Qgy6nAsIMR

Novak Djokovic had little to nitpick about his game Saturday evening after dismissing World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz 6-3, 6-2 for a place in the Nitto ATP Finals championship match.

“One of the best matches of the year in these circumstances playing probably the biggest rival I had this year, Carlos. We had some epic matches. Actually, all three matches we played this year were marathon matches that went the distance,” Djokovic said. “I think everyone expected, including probably both of us, that we were going to have a long night, a big fight, a long match.

“I just managed to I guess step it up. When I broke his serve at 4-3 in the first set, played a really flawless match until the end of the match. Played great tennis, high level, put a lot of pressure on his service games, made him play. I served really well when I needed to.”

Djokovic needed three hours and 49 minutes to defeat the 20-year-old in the Cincinnati final. But by playing what he called “one of the best matches of the year”, the Serbian faced much less difficulty at the Pala Alpitour.

“Couldn't be coming at a better time for me, considering that I maybe wasn't playing my best tennis in the first three group stages, matches of the group stages,” Djokovic said. “But tonight I played close to my very, very best.”

Carlos Alcaraz struck Novak Djokovic on the wrong night. And on the wrong court.

As the Spaniard and the capacity crowd inside Turin's Pala Alpitour expected another epic showdown to match their clashes in the Wimbledon and Cincinnati finals, Djokovic played what he described as ‘one of the best matches of the year’ in their Nitto ATP Finals semi-final, which the Serb won 6-3, 6-2.

Alcaraz saw two break point chances at 15/40 in the opening game but he could not convert. Djokovic gambled with two bold second serves during the game to get out of trouble, sending a clear signal of intent that set the pattern of the night."

“He plays the same level during the whole match. The shot quality he has is unbelievable,” Alcaraz said. “He plays really, really deep. It's really difficult to take advantage from that. Once again, he has shown why he's the best player in the world.

The Turin debutant also noted that his lack of indoor hard court experience, especially when matched against that of Djokovic, a seven-time champion in Paris and six-time champion at the season finale, was telling.

Some of the biggest celebrities in the world have performed at the Pala Alpitour, from Bob Dylan and Madonna to U2 and Rihanna. But nobody rocks the 2006 Olympics venue like Jannik Sinner.

“Ole! Ole, Ole, Ole! Sinner! Sinner!”

The chants have shaken the facility for the past week as the Italian has taken the Nitto ATP Finals by storm to become the first Italian to reach the final at the event. In the bowels of the arena, the constant vibrations caused by the crowd have felt more like what you would expect from a rock concert than a tennis match.

Finals Day at #NittoATPFinals @janniksin vs @DjokerNole

If their match in the Round Robin left you wanting more, good news, its time to re-run the fun ??

Who's taking home the ?❓#TennisInsights | @atptour pic.twitter.com/wHXLJJq0oj

Sinner is so popular around these parts that one of the streets that runs next to the Pala Alpitour is lined with dozens of Nitto ATP Finals banners sporting his image. It feels like this is the Italian’s moment to step into the sun and become even more of a national icon than he already is.

Novak Djokovic capped a year of tense battles with Carlos Alcaraz in style Saturday at the Nitto ATP Finals, where the World No. 1 powered to a 6-3, 6-2 semi-final victory against the Spaniard.

Djokovic was at his rock-solid best throughout the 88-minute encounter in Turin to notch his third win in four Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes with Alcaraz this year. The Serbian offered few attacking opportunities to his powerful opponent by consistently striking deep and clinched a break of Alcaraz’s serve in each set to set a championship-match meeting with home favourite Jannik Sinner.

“After spending a lot of time on the court in the first three matches, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel tonight,” said Djokovic. “This year I wasn’t maybe as sharp in the second and third group matches, particularly, but I think tonight from the very beginning I felt the ball well.

“I approached the match with the right attitude, the right mentality, and I knew from the very first point it was going to be greatly intense. He had break points right away, 15/40 in the first game. That’s Carlos. He always brings out his best in these kinds of matches and starts with a lot of high quality tennis and intensity. You’ve got to match that, try to weather the storm, and I did that.”

NOVAK. DJOKOVIC. @DjokerNole | #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/daUY8787Pi

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury moved to within one win of successfully defending their Nitto ATP Finals crown on Saturday when they defeated Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, ending the fourth seeds Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by Pepperstone hopes.

As they have done throughout their time together, the American-British pair came up with big shots in big moments, finding first serves and penetrating returns to triumph 7-6(5), 3-6, 10-7 after one hour and 50 minutes.

Ram and Salisbury have now won their past nine matches in Turin, having lifted the trophy at the year-end event 12 months ago. They will aim to make it 10 and successive crowns when they play Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the final.

"It is amazing," Salisbury said. "I can't quite believe it. We have had some really tough matches this week. We have not always played our best but we managed to come through and it feels that there is something speical playing here. It is amazing to play in another final here tomorrow."

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