#NextGenATP Update: Michelsen, Mensik, Fils aim to boost Jeddah hopes on grass

The grass-court swing is here on the ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour and a host of #NextGenATP stars will be hoping to make their mark in a bid to raise their hopes of qualifying for this year’s Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF.

Alex Michelsen, currently fourth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, plays at the ATP 250 in Stuttgart. The American has the best pedigree on grass out of those competing for a place in Jeddah, having advanced to an ATP Tour final on the surface in Newport last season.

The 19-year-old beat John Isner in the semi-finals before he fell to Adrian Mannarino in the championship match in the United States. Michelsen will hope to recapture that form in Stuttgart, where he plays Arthur Rinderknech on his tournament debut.

PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah

Frenchman Arthur Fils, who is first in the Live Race To Jeddah, competes in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, where he faces countryman Arthur Cazaux in the first round. Fils is seeking his first tour-level win on grass.

Mensik, 18, will also play at the ATP 250 event in The Netherlands. The Czech star, who reached the final in Doha earlier this year, has never played a tour-level match on grass before.

Shang Juncheng, Joao Fonseca and Coleman Wong are all inside the Top 8 in the Live Race To Jeddah and compete at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Nottingham. The 17-year-old Brazilian Fonseca defeated former World No. 14 Kyle Edmund in Surbiton last week for his first grass-court win at Challenger Tour level. The 19-year-old Chinese lefty Shang reached the quarter-finals at a Challenger Tour event on grass in Ilkley last year. Wong has never played a professional match on the surface.

Fifth-placed Luca Van Assche and seventh-placed Gonzalo Bueno are remaining on clay for another week. Van Assche, 20, plays at an ATP Challenger Tour event Lyon, while Bueno, 20, competes in Lima.