Tennis fans will this week get a glimpse into the future as the best young male tennis stars play each other in Milan. The city will host the tournament for the third time since its inception in 2017. Previous winners include Hyeon Chung, who won the inaugural tournament and 2018 champion Stefanos Tsitsipas. Last year’s runner’s up Alex de Minaur will headline this year’s finals.
The contenders
The 20-year-old is the highest-seeded player in the tournament and will play in Group A. Joining the Australian are Casper Ruud, Miomir Kecmanovic, and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Francis Tiafoe, Ugo Humbert, Mikael Ymer, and Jannik Sinner will play in Group B. The under 21 stars will play each other in a round-robin format with the top two from each group qualifying for the semifinals. Bookmakers have provided odds for the opening matches of the tournament. Looking up tennis betting sites covering the ATP finals, De Minaur seems to be the overwhelming favorite in his opening match against Davidovich. Tiafoe and Sinner are more evenly matched, and the betting site slightly fancies Sinner over the American player.
Qualification for the event wrapped up before the Paris Masters began last week. This year’s tournament could spring some few surprises as the young stars try to establish themselves in the game. However, De Minaur is clearly the man to beat. He is the highest-ranked player at the tournament at number 18. He won the first ATP title of his career in his hometown of Sydney earlier in the year. Tiafoe has also had some impressive performances this season. The 21-year-old made it to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open losing to Rafael Nadal. He also reached the same stage at the ATP 1000 Masters event in Miami. Tiafoe will play for Team USA at the Davis Cup finals later in the month.
Tiafoe and De Minaur the favorites?
Although Tiafoe and De Minaur are strong favorites, the other players are capable of winning the competition. Italian Jannik Sinner has impressed many tennis pundits this year. He has quickly moved up the rankings since turning pro last year. The 18-year-old is currently 95th and is the youngest player in the top 300. Ugo Humbert has also impressed this year after reaching the semifinals of the Marseille Open as a wild card. The 21-year-old is 55th in the rankings. Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic recorded the biggest win of his career at the Cincinnati Masters when he defeated Alexander Zverev in the opening round. He achieved a career-high ranking at position 47 in September. Casper Rudd has also made a splash on tour this season. He defeated Matteo Berrettini at the French Open in an upset victory. He also reached his first ATP finals.
The tournament will have a unique feature this year. Players will wear performance monitoring devices and technology during matches. The information gathered using the technology will be used to evaluate the player and the areas they should work on for improvement based on actual data.
Alex De Minaur’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.18 (career-high), De Minaur played his last match on the 31st of October when he surrendered to Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 6-4 in the 3rd round in Paris.
This year De Minaur has a 33-19 win-loss record. The Australian has won 3 titles in 2019 in Sydney, in Atlanta and in Zhuhai. De Minaur was the finalist in Basel.
Frances Tiafoe’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.47, Francis played his last match on the 29th of October when he surrendered to Taylor Harry Fritz 7-66 3-6 6-4 in the 1st round in Paris.
Alex De Minaur and Frances Tiafoe played each other 2 times. The head to head is 2-0 for De Minaur.
The last time that they fought against each other, Alex De Minaur won 6-4 6-0 5-7 6-2 in the 2nd round in U.S. Open in August 2018.
