China’s Jerry Shang and Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong, who both attained their career-high rankings this month, are currently sitting at No. 3 and No. 10 respectively on the Race to Jeddah.  The top 8-ranked under-20 players in the world make up the field for the US$2 million Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, set to take place at The Jewel in Saudi Arabia from December 18-22, 2024.  

Race to Jeddah: https://www.atptour.com/en/rankings/next-gen-race

Jerry Shang, 19, reached the semifinal of the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open 2024 to start the year off before battling his way to the third round at the Australian Open.  On May 20, he became the youngest player in history from China to crack the ATP top 100, rising to a career-high No. 89 after a semifinal showing at the ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Bordeaux.

Coleman Wong, who turns 20 in June, made his ATP Tour debut at the aforementioned Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open 2024 courtesy of a maindraw wildcard when he faced Lorenzo Musetti in the first round.  He lost to the world No. 27 Italian in a highly respectable 6-4 7-5 in front of a packed Centre Court at Victoria Park, the same site where he captured back-to-back boys’ under-12 National age group titles from 2015-16.

Earlier, he reached the final of the New Delhi Challenger and then beat two more top 100 players in Hugo Gaston and Sumit Nagal to become the first player from Hong Kong to qualify for the maindraw of a Masters 1000 event at the Miami Open.   He peaked at a career-best No. 180 on May 6.

Both Shang and Wong are looking to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals for the first time.

The Next Gen ATP Finals is an award-winning event showcasing a series of new age changes and innovations aimed at creating a high-tempo, cutting-edge and TV-friendly product that are geared towards attracting new and younger fans into the sport.  Matches are played on a singles court and scores are kept with a shorter format – first to four games sets (Tiebreak at 3-All), best-of-five sets, no-Ad scoring – electronic line-calling ‘Hawk-Eye Live’, a no-let rule, and coaching is allowed.  Moreover, a ‘free movement’ policy is in effect at all times to enable fans to go in and out of the stadium as they please. Players are divided into two groups of four in the round robin stage, followed by the semis and final.

Previous Title Deciders

2017 Chung Hyeon d. Andrey Rublev 3-4(5) 4-3(2) 4-2 4-2

2018 Stefanos Tsitsipas d. Alex de Minaur 2-4 4-1 4-3(3) 4-3(3)

2019 Jannik Sinner d. Alex de Minaur 4-2 4-1 4-2

2021 Carlos Alcaraz d. Sebastian Korda 4-3(5) 4-2 4-2

2022 Brandon Nakashima d. Jiri Lehecka 4-3(5) 4-3(6) 4-2

2023 Hamad Medjedovic d. Arthur Fils 3-4(6) 4-1 4-2 3-4(9) 4-1

Photo: ArcK Photography @arckphoto