Shapovalov, Tsitsipas Lead 14 #NextGenATP Players Into US Open

The #NextGenATP is on the rise, and for proof, look no further than the US Open. Canadian Denis Shapovalov and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas lead the Top 14 players in the ATP Race To Milan into the main draw at Flushing Meadows.

If that’s not impressive enough, consider this: only six of those 14 players competed in the main draw at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center a year ago. Seven of the field’s #NextGenATP competitiors are debuting at the US Open, and three of those athletes, including Canadian sensation Felix Auger-Aliassime, are making their first Grand Slam main draw appearances.

From this week last year until now, the 14 21-and-under players competing at the US Open have risen a combined 1,590 spots in the ATP Rankings, with World No. 139 Ugo Humbert rising an impressive 578 spots. Last year, their average ranking was No. 193, whereas they are now, on average, at World No. 79.

In 2017, Russian Andrey Rublev became the youngest US Open quarter-finalist since Andy Roddick in 2001. Shapovalov, who took the ATP World Tour by storm by reaching the 2017 Montreal semi-finals, backed up that performance by ousting eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga en route to the fourth round in Flushing Meadows, bringing the crowd to its feet time and time again before falling in three tie-breaks against eventual semi-finalist Pablo Carreno Busta.

American Frances Tiafoe showed his talent in his third appearance in the event, battling hard to push five-time champion Roger Federer to five sets, but Tiafoe was unable to earn his first US Open victory. That was the first time Federer was forced to a fifth set in the first round of the US Open, as he had won 13 of his 16 openers in New York in straight sets.

Fourth seed Alexander Zverev, World No. 45 Alex de Minaur and the seventh-placed player in the Race, Taylor Fritz, all were in the main draw last year, while American Michael Mmoh earned a wild card into the event two years ago. The athletic 20-year-old, once again a wild card, is pursuing his first Grand Slam match win.

Leading the way for the #NextGenATP debutants at the US Open is Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who went on a magical run at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, becoming the youngest player to defeat four Top 10 opponents at a single event since the ATP World Tour was established in 1990. A year ago, he was World No. 161. Now, he is World No. 15, and a proven threat against the very best.

Spaniard Jaume Munar, Pole Hubert Hurkacz and Norwegian Casper Ruud are competing in the main draw in New York for the first time, while Auger-Aliassime, South Africa’s Lloyd Harris and Frenchman Ugo Humbert will all be making their Slam debuts.

Auger-Aliassime will face his best friend and fellow #NextGenATP star Shapovalov in the first round in what will be their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. Shapovalov, 20, beat Auger-Aliassime, 18, at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Canada last year. This is a critical event for all of the #NextGenATP players, with Nos. 6-14 in the Race separated by just 355 points as the players compete for one of seven guaranteed spots at the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held in Milan from 6-10 November.

52-Week Rise Of Top 14 Players In The ATP Race To Milan