Looking for Tennis and Racket Sports International News?

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

Since he set the 2024 season as the possible stage for his comeback, Rafael Nadal has been erring on the side of caution. Facing one of the longest spells away from the game in his career, with a full year sidelined from competition due to an iliopsoas injury in his left leg, the Spaniard is now counting down the days until his return to professional tournament tennis at the ATP 250 in Brisbane, which starts on 29 December.

In the midst of a period of preparation that started in October, with work set to continue over the coming days in Kuwait alongside French #NextGenATP star Arthur Fils, the Spaniard was keen to share his thoughts before returning to the ATP Tour, with a sincere message for fans.

“I have thought many times that it did not make sense,” admitted the Spaniard, whose last match was in the second round of the Australian Open last January. “In the end, there have been many years, many hours of work in which I did not see the result. I still believe what I said in the last press conference, that I do not deserve to end my sports career in a press room. I would like to finish in a different way, and I have fought and kept the illusion for that to happen, with doubts, with bad moments, very bad or better moments.”

[ATP APP]

The 22-time Grand Slam champion, who decided to end his 2023 season before Roland Garros, has had a completely different year to what he has been used to. Away from the big stages, away from the tension of competition, he surrounded himself with his own people in order to make the best decisions at all times.

The growing rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner added three installments in 2023, with all three Lexus ATP Head2Head matchups coming in semi-finals. After they split two meetings in quick succession at Indian Wells and Miami, Sinner gained a 2-1 edge on the year and a 4-3 advantage overall by beating the Spaniard en route to the Beijing title.

ATPTour.com looks back at their three monumental matchups this season.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

Indian Wells SFs, Alcaraz d. Sinner 7-6(4), 6-3
In their first meeting since their five-set epic at the 2023 US Open, Alcaraz won a back-and-forth opening set at the BNP Paribas Open before pulling away early in the second.

The Spaniard started fast but was pegged back by Sinner, who won 11 points in a row and later brought up set point at 6-5 in the opener. But Alcaraz erased the opportunity with the help of a drop shot and powered through the tie-break before building a 3-0 lead in set two. He would see home the victory with relative ease from there.

The 2023 season was a transformational year on the ATP Tour. Here’s a look back at the record growth and progress delivered by ATP’s OneVision plan this season.

More than $50m in new money flowed to players in 2023, the largest increase ever. That included $22m growth in performance bonuses, $18.9m in prize money increases and a $9m increase in prize money awarded at ATP Challenger Tour level.

The number of players eligible for Performance Bonus increased from 12 to 150 this year. This includes a $20m 1000 Bonus, a brand new $1.3m 500 Bonus, and a new 50-50 profit sharing distribution of $12.2m.

Attendance at ATP Tour events topped 5 million in 2023, with 22 tournaments reporting record numbers.

Next season will see the introduction of Baseline, a game-changing compensation model that provides financial assurances to players: Guaranteed Base Earnings will allow them to plan their seasons and invest in their teams. Income Protection will support injured players during their recovery. Newcomer Investment will provide an up-front $200,000 payment for players who break into the Top 125 for the first time.

When Carlos Alcaraz broke onto the scene, Novak Djokovic was already one of the greatest players in history. As much as the Spaniard respects the Serbian, he has brought an element of fearlessness to his matches with the longest-reigning World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

That has helped develop a captivating Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry between the sport's two best players — a rivalry that blossomed in 2023 with four Lexus ATP Head2Head showdowns. ATPTour.com looks back at those memorable matches here.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

2023 Roland Garros SF, Djokovic d. Alcaraz 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1
There was a lot of anticipation ahead of a blockbuster semi-final between Djokovic and Alcaraz in Paris, especially after their first meeting, won by the Spaniard just more than a year earlier.

That match more than lived up to the hype for the first two sets, with the competitors one-upping each other with shotmaking and defending of the highest quality. Both of the opening sets finished in dramatic fashion, with break points coming and going for both men down the stretch — 15 combined across the first two sets.

ATP Tour and Grand Slam breakthroughs, career-high Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Davis Cup heroics, storybook Laver Cup debuts: Our four Most Improved Player of the Year nominees in the 2023 ATP Awards seemed to do it all this season.

Matteo Arnaldi, Christopher Eubanks, Ben Shelton and Jannik Sinner showed an improved level of performance throughout the year and made significant jumps in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Nominees for Most Improved Player of the Year are determined by an International Tennis Writers' Association (ITWA) vote. The winner is selected by players from the shortlist.

Matteo Arnaldi, 22

As if Italy wasn’t already deep enough with the likes of Jannik Sinner, Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Musetti, Lorenzo Sonego, etc. You can now add Matteo Arnaldi to that potent mix, an aggressive, physical baseliner from the Italian Riviera who in 2023 leapt from No. 134 into the Top 50 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Hamad Medjedovic’s breakthrough season all started on the ATP Challenger Tour.

After entering 2023 as World No. 255 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the Serbian was the youngest player this year to win three ATP Challenger Tour titles and capped the season in the best way possible: winning the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM. Medjedovic, now ranked No. 113, is the sixth champion in the tournament’s history, a list that includes Top 10 stars Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“It means a lot. To know that all the great champions [won here], it gives you a lot of confidence and a boost for next season,” Medjedovic said. “I will be coming into next year with a lot of confidence.”

#TheNextGenATP star boasted a 23-12 record on the ATP Challenger Tour this season, with titles in Szekesfehervar, Mauthausen and Mallorca. In May, the-then 19-year-old Medjedovic joined elite company, becoming the third Serbian teenager to win a trio of Challenger titles, alongside Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic.

“The Challenger Tour is a high level, many great players, you need to be really consistent. You need to play good tennis every week,” Medjedovic told ATPTour.com in May. “There are a lot of tournaments and a lot of great matches. Consistency, hard work, discipline, and a good mentality are the keys.

One of the most interesting players in tennis is Jules Marie, currently No. 245 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. At 32, the Frenchman is working hard to earn his place in qualifying at the four majors.

But Marie is also a YouTube star, whose channel has more than 100,000 subscribers. Fans around the world follow his journey as a professional tennis player.

ATPTour.com spoke to Marie to learn more about his tennis journey, YouTube channel and more.

1) Jules’ Start In Tennis Might Surprise You
Some tennis players are whisked into the tennis world from a young age because of family members loving the sport. That was not the case for Marie, who began tennis aged eight because a friend at school was playing it.

None of Marie’s family members had been involved in the sport. He did not learn tennis at a big club, either.

After a one-year hiatus in their long-running Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev made up for lost time with six Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings in 2023. Four of those matchups came at the ATP Masters 1000 level and the sixth came at the Nitto ATP Finals, with Medvedev posting a 5-1 record to improve to 11-7 in the overall series.

At the end of a resurgent year for both stars, ATPTour.com looks back on their six meetings from 2023.

Indian Wells R16, Medvedev d. Zverev 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5
In an eventful matchup at the BNP Paribas Open, Medvedev survived a stern challenge from Zverev and a twisted ankle suffered during a fall in the second set. He hit 40 winners in a gritty victory that extended his winning streak to 17 matches.

On the brink of defeat and with a tape job on his right ankle, Medvedev fought off 10 break points in the second set, including two escapes from 0/40. Early in the tie-break, he produced one of the shots of the season with a brilliant defensive smash as he began to take control of the match. While he missed out on a match point on serve at 5-4 in the final set, Medvedev managed to close out the victory by serving out the win at the second time of asking after a late break.

"When I twisted [my ankle], I thought I was going to stand up just fine," Medvedev said of his dramatic fall. "But then the pain started growing very fast, so I was like 'That is not a good sign.' I felt like I didn't break it but I felt that one of the ligaments was a little injured, so I thought I wasn't going to be able to play."

ATP is proud to announce the extension of its longstanding partnership with Lacoste. The iconic fashion-sport brand will continue as the Official Outfitter of the ATP Tour from 2024-2026.

Lacoste will outfit ATP staff and officials, including chair umpires, elevating style in travel across the Tour. The fashion-sport pioneer will also be showcased to a global tennis audience through the ATP Tour’s fast-growing social and digital channels.

The partnership celebrates a unique shared legacy in tennis. In 2022, ATP celebrated its 50th Anniversary, while 2023 marked Lacoste’s 90th birthday. The partnership also builds on ATP and Lacoste’s aim of bringing together diverse communities through a love of tennis and fashion.

Lacoste's partnerships in tennis span some of the most prestigious events on the calendar, including ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Miami, and Roland-Garros. The brand’s roster of ambassadors includes tennis stars Daniil Medvedev, Grigor Dimitrov, Ugo Humbert, Venus Williams, Fiona Ferro and World No.1 Novak Djokovic.

Lacoste has also teamed with its ambassadors to provide free access to sport for enthusiasts from underprivileged communities. In the past three years, the ‘We Are Etendard’ project has rebuilt more than 20 courts across tennis, basketball, football and handball, helping inspire young people through sport.

Just three days after announcing he will make his return in Week 1 of the 2024 season at the Brisbane International presented by Evie, Rafael Nadal further elaborated on his comeback Monday on social media. In a philosophical message spoken in Spanish, the former World No. 1 brought the fans closer to his current mentality.

“I have been afraid to announce things because in the end it’s [been] a year without competing and it’s a hip operation,” Nadal said. “But what worries me most is not the hip, it’s everything else. I think I’m ready and I trust and hope that things go well and that it gives me the opportunity to enjoy myself on the court.”

De mi anuncio del viernes… algunas explicaciones esta semana. Aquí la primera:
?? Tengo y he tenido miedo de anunciar las cosas. Me ha causado miedo querer anunciar algo sin estar seguro al 100%…
?? Creo que estoy preparado y confío y espero que las cosas vayan bien y que me… pic.twitter.com/vHnDSQzBCx

The 37-year-old explained that because he has not competed since the 2023 Australian Open, he hopes to quickly have the feelings associated with competition.

“I hope, first of all, to feel again those nerves, that illusion, those fears, those doubts. I expect from myself not to expect anything. This is the truth,” Nadal said. “To have the ability not to demand myself what I have demanded myself throughout my career. I believe I’m in a different moment, in a different situation and in an unexplored terrain."

Portugal’s Nuno Borges closed his 2023 season in the best possible way: winning an ATP Challenger Tour title on home soil.

The 26-year-old dropped just one set all week en route to winning the Maia Open, where he downed Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-1, 6-4 in the final. Borges also won Challenger titles in Monterrey, Mexico and Phoenix, Arizona, where he lifted the first title of the all-new 175 category.

"It’s definitely the best season of my career,” Borges said. “Last year I had the chance to play some ATP tournaments and the Grand Slams, but in 2023 I was a regular on the tour and got to live amazing experiences like facing [Carlos] Alcaraz in Barcelona or [Stefanos] Tsitsipas in Rome, the kind of matches that make me feel what it's like to play at the highest level. And in 2024 I'll be looking for more."

In addition to the great success Borges already tasted this year, his clay-court triumph at home is a memory that the World No. 66 will not soon forget.

“Right after winning the match point I started thinking about all the moments I lived here. I spent countless hours [here],” Borges said. “Watching the Davis Cup, being a ball kid in a Davis Cup tie. To become part of the group of champions here in Maia is something I'll always cherish, especially because it happened in front of my family and my childhood friends. It's definitely something very special for me and I'll never forget it."

They have arrived at the big stage, but they are only just getting started: Flavio Cobolli, Arthur Fils, Alex Michelsen, Dominic Stricker and Luca Van Assche are nominees for the Newcomer of the Year in the 2023 ATP Awards, to be announced later this month.

Selected by players, the award goes to the #NextGenATP player who entered the Top 100 for the first time in 2023 and made the biggest impact on the ATP Tour this season.

Flavio Cobolli, 21
“I want to be in the future of tennis, I don’t want to stop,” Cobolli told ATPTour.com after making his Top 100 breakthrough in October.

The Italian earned his second career ATP Challenger Tour title in Lisbon and reached the final in Olbia two weeks later, becoming one of seven players to win at least 40 Challenger-level matches in 2023 (40-26).

"It was of course special, because this year I worked a lot," Cobolli said of his Lisbon trophy run. "I played 36 weeks, a lot. I was tired but I think that title means a lot for me and for the season. But I don't want to stop now. I want to push more for the goals of 2024."

The ATP today published the 2023 year-end Pepperstone ATP Rankings on ATPTour.com with Novak Djokovic finishing as ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone for a record-extending eighth time.

After a back-and-forth battle with Carlos Alcaraz throughout the season, Djokovic clinched the honour at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. The Serbian is now two year-end No. 1 finishes clear of the player with the second-most year-end No. 1 finishes, Pete Sampras (6).

The 36-year-old now owns the three oldest ATP Year-End No. 1 honours in history (since 1973) after accomplishing the feat as a 33-year-old in 2020 and a 34-year-old in 2021.

The Monday after winning his seventh Nitto ATP Finals, Djokovic began his historic 400th week atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Only Roger Federer (310 weeks) has also eclipsed the 300-weeks milestone. Djokovic tied Federer for the most year-end finishes in the Top 3 with 15. This is Djokovic's 402nd week atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and he is guaranteed to remain No. 1 through the week of 22 January.

The winner of a Tour-leading seven titles this season, Djokovic held the top spot for 28 weeks across four stints. He first returned to No. 1 after winning the Australian Open, less than three months after falling to No. 8. The top spot switched seven times in 2023 between Djokovic and Alcaraz, the most No. 1 changes since 2018, when there were also seven. The only years in which it switched more often were 1983 (10) and 1999 (8). 

A rivalry that was born across late-round Wimbledon meetings in 2022 and 2023 hit new heights with three showdowns in quick succession at the end of this season.

Novak Djokovic lost a LexusATP Head2Head meeting with Jannik Sinner for the first time in the round-robin stage of the Nitto ATP Finals, but that was only the beginning of their end-of-season battles. Read on to relive the pair's four memorable matches this season — or five, if you include their decisive Davis Cup doubles rubber in Malaga.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

Wimbledon SFs, Djokovic d. Sinner 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4)
One year after Djokovic beat Sinner in the 2022 Wimbledon quarter-finals, the pair met one round later at the All England Club. The Serbian produced a great escape to beat Sinner in 2022, fighting back from two sets down, but he was in command from the beginning on this occasion.

The match was not without its fair share of drama, as Djokovic saved all six break points against him, including two that doubled as set points for Sinner in the third set.

Beaming from ear to ear, Hamad Medjedovic was proud of his achievements on Saturday in Jeddah, where he reflected on winning the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM title. The 20-year-old Serbian defeated Arthur Fils in the title match.

I feel amazing,” Medjedovic said in his post-match press conference. “It was unreal and still is. It was tough to process everything. It was a really tough match. I was on the edge of going crazy after the first set as I had two set points but I managed to stay relaxed and focused and it is an unreal feeling.”

Medjedovic is the sixth champion in the tournament’s history, a list that includes Top 10 stars Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 20-year-old is delighted to join such elite company and hopes it will help him push on further in 2024 as he aims to break the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time.

“It means a lot. To know that all the great champions [won here], it gives you a lot of confidence and a boost for next season,” Medjedovic said. “I will be coming into next year with a lot of confidence.

“I have a big game and big shots but I still have a lot of things to work on with my coach. Physically I need to get much better and I will use preseason for this and I need to improve my focus on the court more.”

As he closes the books on his breakthrough 2023 season, French teen Arthur Fils is wasting little time in preparing to push even higher in 2024.

The 19-year-old, who finished runner-up to Hamad Medjedovic Saturday at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM in Jeddah, will remain in the Middle East for a practice week with Rafael Nadal at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Kuwait.

"I was very happy, very surprised when he asked me to practise with him," Fils said in his post-match press conference. "It's such a big thing for me to play with one of the greatest players of all time. I will try my best for him but I have a big season coming so I will also try my best for myself. I will try to enjoy it as well."

Despite the disappointment of losing in five sets to Medjedovic after saving two match points in the fourth set, Fils can be justifiably happy with his banner year in 2023. He shaved more than 200 places off his Pepperstone ATP Ranking during the year to finish inside the Top 40.

"It was a nice year for sure. I started at 250 but finished at 36, so that's pretty good. It still could have been better. I lost some close matches, like I did today, but it's just experience and I will try to do better next year.”

Fils, who had not won a tour-level match before this year, finishes 2023 with a 23-18 match record, including his 4-1 mark in Jeddah. He won his first title in Lyon and also reached the Antwerp final.

When Ammar Alhogbani stepped on court to take on Zhang Zhizhen at the Asian Games in September, it was more than just an opportunity for the Saudi Arabian to prove himself against a Top 100 player.

Despite falling to a 7-5, 6-2 defeat in Hangzhou, the 25-year-old Alhogbani’s performance against Chinese star Zhang made him realise he was ready to make a full-time return to professional tennis after time away working as National Teams Development Officer for the Saudi Tennis Federation.

“I played Zhang, and I almost took the first set,” the No. 1 Saudi player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings told ATPTour.com on Saturday in Jeddah. “I was like, ‘If I’m almost taking the first set against a guy like this, there is a good possibility I can do well with [full-time] training. I almost took the first set when I’m training three or four times a week and with no coach'.”

[ATP AWARDS]

Born in Saudi Arabia, Alhogbani and his family moved to the United States when he was three years old. After growing up in Ohio and then Virginia, he played college tennis at the University of Virginia, where he was part of a NCAA Championship-winning team in his first year. Due to a variety of reasons, however, Alhogbani’s playing career stalled after he graduated and returned to Saudi Arabia in 2021.

Hamad Medjedovic capped his breakthrough season by lifting the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM trophy on Saturday in Jeddah, where he recovered from squandering two match points in the fourth set against Arthur Fils to win the first five-set final in tournament history.

The 20-year-old played aggressively in front of a packed crowd in King Abdullah Sports City, where he received loud support from energetic fans. The Serbian took large cuts at the ball, won 88 per cent (61/69) of points on his first delivery and converted his third match point to fire past the 19-year-old Frenchman 3-4(6), 4-1, 4-2, 3-4(9), 4-1 after two hours and 11 minutes.

It also capped a great end of the season for Serbia after Novak Djokovic clinched a record seventh Nitto ATP Finals crown in Turin earlier this month. The World No. 1 has been sending Medjedovic messages of support this week.

"Two of us from Serbia. He won the big Masters, the real one, and I won the Next Gen. Obviously it's a huge thing and I'm happy to follow in his footsteps in some way," Medjedovic said.

Medjedovic did not lose a match en route to becoming the first Serbian to triumph at the tournament, taking home a tournament-record $514,000 in prize money.

The ATP and Tennis Data Innovations (TDI) will deliver unprecedented insights at the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM. Using state-of-the-art tracking metrics, the insights will assess the physical capacity required to compete at the highest professional level of our sport.

Read more to learn about Saturday's final in Jeddah.

Arthur Fils vs. Hamad Medjedovic

The road to the final has been a physical journey at times for Arthur Fils and Hamad Medjedovic. Both players have been pushed by their opponents physically and mentally. So, as the players and their teams are looking to put together the final touches on their game plan for Saturday’s match, here are a few key insights that have come through when looking at the tactical and physical data.

The on-court performance from both of these players during the course of the entire week has been extremely high. They have both done an amazing job of converting on the offense they have created with their easy power, staying in attack over 28% of all points played. Fils has been able to steal 34% of the points using a combination of his speed and power, whereas Medjedovic has been able to steal 33% of his points using mostly great anticipation and strength.

On average, the players are hitting their forehands over 80 MPH and their backhands over 70 MPH. Fils will tend to look for his forehand a little more, especially from the AD court, where Medjedovic is more balanced with his attack off the ground, settling for a few more backhands from the middle. They are both very comfortable spreading the court with their forehands to both sides of the court, and they love to finish with their forehands down the line (both of their #1 hot play).

The final chance for title glory of the 2023 ATP Tour season also represents an opportunity for Arthur Fils and Hamad Medjedovic to join an impressive list of champions at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM.

Top seed Fils and sixth seed Medjedovic face off at 8 p.m. local time Saturday at King Abdullah Sports City, where they are each hoping to join current Top 10 stars Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas as champions at the season-ending 21-and-under event.

Both players head into the championship match undefeated for the week in Saudi Arabia and their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting promises to be an intriguing one. Despite Fils sitting 74 places higher than Medjedovic in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the Frenchman will take nothing for granted against a player who has thrilled fans this week with his powerful groundstrokes and huge serving.

“We’ve known each other a long time,” said the World No. 36 Fils on Friday in Jeddah. “We played juniors together, so I know that he has an unbelievable serve. The fastest of the tournament. It’s going to be a tough one. I’m going to need to know exactly how to play, with good tactics, but I think that it’s going to be a good match for sure.

“With his tennis and my tennis, we are altogether playing [well]. Let’s see tomorrow, but he’s a nice guy. I hope he will be very good for the next generation [on Tour], but not tomorrow I hope.”