🏆 Ongoing Tournaments

Hey, Tennis Pro! Welcome to the middle of the week!

Matteo Arnaldi, the surprise. The Next Gen Finals are showing us the level of the best youngsters in the world of tennis.

Arnaldi (#134 ATP) stood out yesterday in the first day of the round robins, almost stealing away the win from Brandon Nakashima (#43 ATP).

The Italian was close to taking home his first official victory in a match that lasted up to five sets.

Arnaldi entered the Next Gen Finals at the last spot, just after the departure of the number one seed, the current champion of Paris, Holger Rune.

The only official match that the native of Sanremo has played was in the 2022 Italian Open against Marin Cilic in a Round of 64.

The Croatian took the victory in two straight sets and since then Matteo has not returned to an official matchup against a Top 50.

Now, fast forward to the Next Gen Finals. He almost got Nakashima.

The 21-year-old is brilliant and Milan is witnessing it.

💸 Next Gen Players Cash Money

Money is sometimes the biggest indicator of the talent gap between opponents. The Next Gen Finals are no exception.

We all knew that Musetti was everybody's first pick to win the trophy since Rune walked out. On top of that, he keeps winning at the dollars, no cap.

Musetti has entered his bank account almost 15 times more than his compatriot, and last spot of the tournament, Matteo Arnaldi... who is a year older.

In tennis as in all sports, money is backed by achievements and Musetti has the advantage with an ATP 250 and another ATP 500 trophy this season.

We'll see if all of his greens end up being enough on the Little Madonna.

🙊 Stricker upsets Draper

The big surprise of the Next Gen Finals' opening day was Dominic Stricker's (#111 ATP) win against the British, Jack Draper (#43 ATP).

Victory comes with a special flavor, as the 20-year-old can now boast a record to his name by becoming the first player in Next Gen Finals history to win three successive tie-breaks.

The Swiss was relentless with his serve, winning 86% of his service points and converting 14 aces.

Stricker had been having an excellent end to the year, beating the likes of Dutchman van de Zandschulp and Frenchman Gasquet in Antwerp or American Cressy in Basel.

Stricker leaves Jack "the Draper" empty-handed and enters the top four competitors that will look to overcome in Milan.

🚨 Yesterday’s Spotlight

[Updated 06:00 a.m. GMT]

⏱️ Today’s Order of Play

[Updated 06:00 a.m. GMT]

👋 So long, and thanks for all the tennis!

→ Musetti putting on a show in Milan.

→ Happy birthday, Jiri Lehecka!

→ All possible year-end points for ATP Top 11.

→ How it started v how's it going: Novak and Holger edition.

→ Jiri Lehecka's birthday shot (uff).