Next Gen ATP Finals Jeddah 2026, Qualification Guide

The Next Gen ATP Finals is the tour's year-end event for the top 20-and-under players. Eight qualifiers, two round-robin groups of four, semifinals and a final. It runs in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia under a 2023 to 2027 hosting deal with the Saudi Tennis Federation. The format looks different from any other ATP tournament because the event is also the tour's laboratory for rule experiments: short sets, no-ad scoring, no-let, electronic line calling only. This guide covers the Race to Jeddah qualification, the 2026 ruleset and the verified champions from 2017 Chung to 2025 Tien.

Race to Jeddah, the qualification path

There is no separate points system. Qualification runs through the PIF ATP Race to Jeddah, which ranks 20-and-under players by current-season ATP Race points. Players must be 20 or younger at the end of the calendar year. Per the ATP, the age threshold was lowered from 21-and-under to 20-and-under starting in 2024, and the wild card slot used through 2023 was dropped at the same time.

1. Top 8 qualify directly. The top eight 20-and- under players on the Race to Jeddah at the November cut-off are the field. No wild card slot since 2024.
2. Alternates. The next two players on the Race travel to Jeddah as on-site alternates. They step in if a qualifier withdraws.
3. No ranking points.Results do not add to the ATP ranking and the ATP does not list the event as an official title. Matches played count on the player's season win-loss record only.

Format, every rule that differs from Turin

The event exists in part to test format reforms. When a rule works in Jeddah, the ATP considers moving it to the main tour. Electronic line calling, first piloted at the 2017 Next Gen, was adopted across the ATP Tour from 2025. Here is the 2025 ruleset, the latest full edition played and the baseline for 2026.

The combined effect of short sets, no-ad and no-let is a faster match. Per the nextgenatpfinals.com rules page, the format is designed to produce a higher-tempo, more compact broadcast product than a standard best-of-three.

Round-robin structure

Eight players, two groups of four, single round-robin inside each group. The top two from each group advance to the semifinals. Group A winner faces Group B runner-up and vice versa. The winners meet in the final. Same draw shape as the main ATP Finals in Turin, compressed into roughly a five-day window because matches run shorter.

Jeddah venue and contract

The Next Gen ATP Finals moved from Milan to Jeddah in 2023 under a five-year deal with the Saudi Tennis Federation signed that year. Per ATP and Sportcal reporting, the contract runs 2023 to 2027. Matches are played at King Abdullah Sports City on an indoor hard court. Prize money rose sharply under the Saudi deal: 2 million USD in 2023, 2.05 million USD in 2024, and 2.1 million USD in 2025, per ATP and perfect-tennis.com prize breakdowns.

Past editions, champions and runners-up

Per ATP match reports, the 2019 title run by Jannik Sinner was an Italian wild card entry who beat top seed Alex de Minaur 4-2, 4-1, 4-2. The 2023 Jeddah debut produced the first five-set final in event history, with Hamad Medjedovic defeating Arthur Fils 3-4(6), 4-1, 4-2, 3-4(9), 4-1. The 2024 final had 18-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca defeat Learner Tien 2-4, 4-3(10-8), 4-0, 4-2 for the title. One year later, Tien returned and beat Belgian Alexander Blockx 4-3(4), 4-2, 4-1 in the 2025 final, becoming the third top seed to win the event after Tsitsipas in 2018 and Alcaraz in 2021.

How Jeddah graduates players

The ATP treats the event as a development stage, not a terminus. Several past champions went on to the top of the sport. Per ATP records and Wikipedia career pages, Jannik Sinner, 2019 champion, has four Grand Slam titles and reached World No. 1 in 2024. Carlos Alcaraz, 2021 champion, holds seven Grand Slam titles and completed the Career Grand Slam at the 2026 Australian Open. Stefanos Tsitsipas, 2018 champion, won the 2019 ATP Finals and reached two Slam finals without winning one. Hyeon Chung, the 2017 champion, broke into the top 20 the following year before injuries shortened his career.

The pattern holds into the 2020s. Per ATP news, Learner Tien went from outside the top 120 at the start of 2025 to a career-high No. 28 within the year of his Jeddah title, and was ranked No. 21 in the live rankings after a quarterfinal run at Indian Wells in early 2026.

Can a player double up with Turin?

In theory yes, but in practice the two events are not routinely combined. A 20-and-under player who is also top 8 on the main Race to Turin qualifies for both. Carlos Alcaraz was in that position in 2022 and qualified for both Turin and the Next Gen, but withdrew from the Turin main draw due to an abdominal injury and did not play either event that year, per ATP Tour reporting. The short-set format in Jeddah plus the travel back to Italy makes doubling up rare.

Key dates, 2026 edition

• Race to Jeddah reset: opening week of the 2026 ATP season in early January 2026.
• Cut-off: November 2026, after the final main tour event of the regular season, as in prior editions.
• Event window: December 2026, King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah. Exact dates to be published by the ATP on the event site once announced.
• Contract status: 2026 is the fourth year of the five-year Jeddah deal. 2027 is scheduled as the final contracted year.

Frequently asked questions

Why are there no ranking points?

The ATP does not list the Next Gen as an official title and awards no ranking points, per ATP publications. Matches played still count on the player's seasonal win-loss record. Prize money is the only tangible reward.

Has the format changed since 2017?

The set structure has stayed consistent, best-of-five first-to- four short sets with no-ad scoring. Rule tweaks have happened every year. The no-let rule was used in early editions, dropped for the 2023 Jeddah debut, then reimplemented in 2024 per ATP announcements. Changeover and warm-up timings have been adjusted several times. Electronic line calling has been the only line system throughout.

Why was 2020 missing?

The 2020 edition was cancelled by the ATP on 14 August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event had been scheduled for Milan. The series resumed in 2021 back in Milan, then moved to Jeddah in 2023.

Does the WTA run a similar under-20 year-end event?

The WTA does not currently run a dedicated under-20 year-end event. The closest historical analogue was the WTA Elite Trophy, which was not age-restricted and has not been staged since the pandemic. For the main women's year-end event see the WTA Race to the Finals guide.