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Five rising stars discuss life on tour with fans in Indian Wells
Two years ago, the ATP World Tour launched its “Next Generation” campaign on the eve of the 2016 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells to celebrate the game's plethora of 21-and-under players climbing the ATP Rankings.
Two years later, some of the faces have changed, but the theme remains the same: The ATP World Tour has plenty of up-and-coming stars. Five of those #NextGenATP players – Russian Andrey Rublev, Aussie Alex de Minaur, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and Americans Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka – took time out of their day on Tuesday to talk to fans at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden about life on tour and their career aspirations.
Read More: Five Must-See First Rounds In Indian Wells
Of the five, the 20-year-old Rublev has experienced the most success so far. The 6'2” right-hander won his maiden ATP World Tour title last year in Umag and later reached the quarter-finals of the US Open (l. to Nadal). Rublev also finished runner-up at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, which welcomed eight of the best 21-and-under players in the world.
This season, Rublev has already reached a final, falling to Gael Monfils at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha during week one. Rublev, the 27th seed in Indian Wells, will be making his main-draw debut at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament.
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“I’m really excited, and I hope I can show a really great game,” he said. “All the ATP [World] Tour is really tough tournaments and the players are playing amazing and you have to be ready 500 per cent to compete every day, but I’m really grateful to be here and to be part of this.”
De Minaur certainly had the hottest start to the 2018 ATP World Tour season of the #NextGenATP group. The Aussie reached the semi-finals of the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp and his maiden ATP World Tour final at the Sydney International. The 19-year-old counts countryman and former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt as a mentor.
Read More: Belief, Hewitt's Advice, Propel de Minaur To Early Success
“It’s unbelievable. I’m extremely grateful. He’s pretty much told me to believe in myself, to leave it all out there on the court every time I step out on it, and just give it my all. That’s what I’m trying to do every day,” de Minaur said.
The right-hander received a wild card into the main draw and will meet German Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round.
The #NextGenATP players had to laugh when they heard who Fritz and Opelka would be playing in their Indian Wells openers: each other. It will be their first tour-level meeting, and it comes at a time when both have been raising their level.
The 20-year-old Opelka picked up his first Top 10 win two weeks ago at the Delray Beach Open against U.S. No. 1 Jack Sock. “It was good for me to get some more wins on the tour level. It was a pretty tough week. I had to play [Ryan] Harrison first round, Sock, so fellow Americans, which is never comfortable. It’s definitely given me a lot of confidence,” Opelka said.
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Fritz has also upped his game. The American won the ATP Challenger Tour event in Newport Beach in January, and last month, the right-hander upset No. 12 Sam Querrey of the U.S. en route to the Delray Beach Open quarter-finals.
“I’ve found a bit of consistency on tour, and I’m looking to push it to the next level,” Fritz said.
Watch Fritz's My Story

Tsitsipas, like Rublev, is also in new territory: The 19-year-old Greek has reached a career-high No. 71 in the ATP Rankings and is set to make his BNP Paribas Open debut. Tsitsipas narrowly missed qualifying for the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals, but he still attended the event as an alternate and played an exhibition match in Milan.
Read & Watch: 18 #NextGenATP To Watch In 2018
“I was grateful I had the opportunity to be there,” Tsitsipas said. “I left with some really positive vibes from Milan.”
The 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals will take place 6-10 November in Milan. Eligible players must be 21-and-under (born 1997 or later). The top seven players in the season-long ATP Race To Milan will qualify along with a wild-card recipient.
See Who's Leading The ATP Race To Milan

World No. 1 also has high hopes for #NextGenATP Munar
It's inevitable: the time will come for a generational change, one that will likely give the top of the ATP World Tour a major facelift. Even the sublime likes of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, ageless wonders and winners of a combined 37 Grand Slam titles, will have to call it a career at some point. And with a new crop of stars quickly coming into their own, there will be no shortage of players in which to pass the torch.

Nadal has one eye on the fresh wave of talent emerging on the tour, and another on helping to cultivate that talent. In addition to founding the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, a centre designed to train and educate promising talent, the Spaniard is hosting the Rafa Nadal Open Banc Sabadell, a newly created tournament on the ATP Challenger Tour, from 26 August to 2 September in Mallorca, Spain.

While they're already current regulars on the ATP World Tour these days, Nadal feels 21-year-old Alexander Zverev and 19-year-old Denis Shapovalov are the most likely of the strong bunch to lead the charge to the top in coming years and the forces to push a changing of the guard.

"The young guys are coming: Zverev, Shapovalov ... I'm not going to name them all, but there are many out there right now who I think are particularly special, and they are obviously going to replace us," said Nadal, who is preparing for the North American hard-court swing by training on the surface in Mallorca. "It’s either because they are going to just be better than us in a short time or because logic dictates that age will eventually catch up to us.

"Our era was particularly exceptional, when a series of players dominated the tour for years, at the highest level of tennis, at the biggest tournaments."

In addition to his 17 Grand Slam titles, the 32-year-old holds the record for the most ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns with 32.

Nadal also believes that the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 6-10 November in Milan, has added extra motivation for the sport's emerging talent and a platform to showcase how fierce the competition is among tennis' rising stars. Nadal takes particular interest in the career of Jaume Munar. The 21-year-old trains at Nadal's academy and is currently eighth in the ATP Race To Milan. The top seven will automatically qualify for the 21-and-under event.

"[Munar] has made major strides in recent months and for us at the academy, it is with great satisfaction to see that we are able to help an up-and-coming Spanish player," Nadal said.

Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers shows how not every point is created equal
In July 2017, Alex de Minaur was grinding his way through $15K Futures tournaments in Portugal. The 18-year-old Australian was learning the game, earning his stripes, and laying the foundation for his pro career.

Fast forward to July 2018 and the 19-year-old from Sydney is now one of the hottest players on the ATP World Tour. He has jumped from No. 244 to No. 45 in 12 months, and has only 30 ATP Rankings points to defend through the rest of the 2018.

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Look out world.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of De Minaur’s meteoric rise up the ATP Rankings once again uncovers that all points are not created equal in our sport.

Consider these 2018 metrics the next time you get disappointed about losing a point in your match:

De Minaur's win/loss record is a healthy 16-13.

Read More: Belief, Hewitt's Advice, Propel #NextGenATP De Minaur

He has won $609,891 in prize money.

He made the finals of the Citi Open, an ATP World Tour 500-level event, in Washington last week, and also reached the finals of the Sydney International, an ATP World Tour 250-level event, in January.

He has actually lost 14 more points than he has won (2210 won / 2224 lost).

In 2018, De Minaur’s ATP Ranking has climbed from No. 208 to No. 45, but you would never know it from looking at the amount of points he has won and lost.


The reality of tennis is that the margins between winning and losing are razor thin. A point or two won at the right time in Washington can help launch a career. A point or two lost in Cincinnati can stop momentum in its tracks.

De Minaur is excelling more on the return side of the game than serving so far. He is currently ranked No. 47 on the Infosys ATP Return LEADERBOARD, powered by Infosys Nia Data, but drops down to No. 64 when serving.

ATP Race To Milan

What De Minaur does do well is perform under pressure. He is 18th best on tour in the past 52 weeks in winning tie-breaks at 61.5 per cent, and 15th best with deciding sets won, at 66.7 per cent.

De Minaur is currently in third place in the ATP Race To Milan, behind Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas. The top seven will qualify automatically for the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 6-10 November in Milan, while the eighth spot will be reserved for the winner of an all-Italian qualifier tournament to be held just prior to the prestigious 21-and-under event.

Who knows how much further his Race position is going to climb when that tournament kicks off on 6 November.