Draw announced for Next Gen ATP finals in Saudi Arabia

JEDDAH: The draw for the Next Gen ATP finals, starting in Saudi Arabia next week, was held on Saturday night.

The season-ending tournament, presented by NEOM, will be staged at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah from Nov. 28 with the final taking place on Saturday, Dec. 2.

The draw was divided into two groups. The Red group will have Luca Van Assche, Alex Michelensen, Hamad Madjedovic and Abdullah Shelbaya. While the Green group consists of Arthur Fils, Dominic Stricker, Flavio Cobolli and Luca Nardi.

The tournament is organized by the Ministry of Sports and the Saudi Tennis Federation, who signed a partnership with ATP for a period of five years until 2027.

The top eight players aged 21 or under in the 2023 ATP Tour qualified for the event, although there have been withdrawals as world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz and world No 8 Holger Rune (both 20) will not feature as they competed at the ATP Finals.

The tournament prize pot will be a record $2 million, with the champion at this year’s event set to earn $514,000.

Three matches at this year’s Next Gen ATP Finals will be worth more than $100,000. Each semi-final victory will be worth $113,500 and the championship match will yield the winner $153,000. The participation fee for each player at the event is $150,000.