In October, Hurricane Otis caused devastating damage in Acapulco, including to the venue of the city’s ATP 500 event, the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC. But tournament organisers confirmed Thursday that the 2024 edition of the tournament will proceed in Acapulco.
“With great enthusiasm and optimism, we are pleased to announce that the Telcel Mexican Open presented by HSBC will take place in Acapulco, from February 24 to March 2, 2024,” tournament organisers wrote. “This event marks a significant milestone in the reconstruction and revitalisation of this emblematic city. By holding the tournament in Acapulco, we not only promote tennis, but we also generate a positive impact on the local economy and the community, providing vitality to sectors such as tourism, transportation, gastronomy and hospitality, including job creation in the region.
“With this celebration, we reaffirm to the world that Acapulco is open and standing.”
Organisers made clear in their announcement that the tournament does not just celebrate tennis, but a wider camaraderie among Mexicans, who are rebuilding from the damage caused by the hurricane.
Tournament Director Álvaro Falla said: “We express our recognition and gratitude to the great work and support of the people of Guerrero, to the public that has purchased tickets, to all our sponsors for their continued support, and to tennis led by the ATP.”
You never know what you will see from the world's best tennis players. The next point you watch could feature one of the most incredible shots of the season.
With a lengthy list to choose from, ATPTour.com compiled the 10 best hot shots from 2023. From tweeners to no-look winners and more, perhaps the highlight reel of superb shotmaking will inspire you to try these at home.
Two players were featured twice. Any guesses on who?
One incredible point came during an ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, earning ‘ooh's’ and ‘ahh's’ from the crowd before concluding with a standing ovation.
What was the number one hot shot? Watch the full video below to see the shot so good it even had the player's opponent laughing.
Arthur Fils’ triumph at the Oeiras Challenger in January was an early sign of what was to come on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2023: Frenchmen building off their countrymen's success as they win Challenger titles.
Despite Fils competing in his first Challenger final in Oeiras, the teen held his nerve, lifting the trophy within 24 hours of Arthur Cazaux winning the Nonthaburi Challenger and Richard Gasquet claiming the ATP 250 in Auckland.
“I saw that overnight Arthur Cazaux did it, I saw that Richard Gasquet did it. I said, ‘Okay you have to win this one!’” Fils said after triumphing in Oeiras.
Players from France collected 27 Challenger titles this year, marking the most titles by a single country in a season.
Constant Lestienne’s trio of Challenger titles led the way for France, which had 19 players triumph at that level in 2023. The 31-year-old went on a late-season surge earning titles in Stanford, Saint-Tropez and Alicante. Lestienne’s triumph in Alicante steered France clear of Argentina’s then-record 23 Challenger titles, which was set last year.
Constant Lestienne was the lone Frenchman to earn three Challenger titles in 2023. Credit: Lani-Rae Green
In southwest France, more history was made in March when #NextGenATP star Luca Van Assche saved two championship points against countryman Ugo Humbert to win the Pau Challenger. Van Assche and Humbert battled for three hours, 56 minutes, marking the longest Challenger final in history.
“It was a crazy match, an amazing fight,” Van Assche said. “I’m very happy. A lot of emotions during this match. I was leading, then losing. I was match point up, then match point down. It was a fantastic match with great support from the crowd.”
The following week, Benoit Paire captured his first title at any level since 2019 when he won the Puerto Vallarta Challenger. Paire returned to the winners’ circle in July, overcoming Gasquet in the San Benedetto Del Tronto Challenger final.
Humbert’s standout season included two consecutive Challenger 175 titles. In Cagliari, Italy, the 25-year-old saved three match points against Taro Daniel in a four-hour, 13-minute quarter-final marathon en route to his first clay-court title.
“I will never forget this trophy because I hate clay normally, never won more than two matches in a row on clay,” Humbert said in his post-tournament press conference. “It feels unbelievable to have the trophy.”
The lefty then captured the BNP Paribas Primrose in Bordeaux, marking his return to the Top 40 for the first time since 31 January, 2022. Humbert finished the season at a career-high No. 20.
Five #NextGenATP Frenchmen were among those to add to their home country’s record-breaking season: Atmane, Cazaux, Fils, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Van Assche. Arthur Weber became the oldest player to win a title in his Challenger debut in Zhuhai (31 years, eight months).
List Of French Challenger Champions In 2023
Constant Lestienne (Stanford, Saint-Tropez, Alicante)
Luca Van Assche (Pau, Sanremo)
Benoit Paire (Puerto Vallarta, San Benedetto Del Tronto)
Ugo Humbert (Cagliari, Bordeaux)
Hugo Grenier (Las Franquesas Del Valles, Pozoblanco)
Hugo Gaston (Iasi, Trieste)
Terence Atmane (Zhangjiagang, Guangzhou)
Arthur Cazaux (Nonthaburi)
Arthur Fils (Oeiras)
Gregoire Barrere (Quimper)
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (León)
Alexandre Muller (Montechiarugolo)
Quentin Halys (Blois)
Manuel Guinard (Troyes)
Arthur Rinderknech (Zug)
Arthur Weber (Zhuhai)
Ugo Blanchet (Malaga)
Kyrian Jacquet (Olbia)
Corentin Moutet (Helsinki)
The 'Mextenis León Open', in León, Mexico, has been awarded 2023 Tournament of the Year on the ATP Challenger Tour.
This year, a comprehensive rating system was established on the Challenger circuit, giving players the opportunity to evaluate and grade each tournament they compete in, based on various criteria. After a successful inaugural edition, the Mextenis León Open received the highest rating of all 196 Challenger tournaments. Located in the heart of Mexico, it is the fourth award winner from the country since 2015.
“Our commitment with the players, ATP, fans and sponsors will be always our priority," tournament director Jose Antonio Fernandez said. "We will keep working harder than ever to deliver this kind of experience to our players."
This year's León Challenger, held in April, was won by the-then 19-year-old Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, who captured his maiden title at that level in front of a packed crowd. The 6'8" Frenchman struck 21 aces in the final and played five tie-breaks across his semi-final and title match in Mexico.
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The ATP Challenger Tour also recognises the Vitas Gerulaitis Cup in Vilnius, Lithuania, as the top tournament in the Europe/Africa region. The European nation celebrated its debut on the circuit just one year ago, becoming the 91st different country to host a Challenger tournament.
"It is amazing news to find our tournament being acknowledged in such a high level. This recognition is so important for Lithuanian tennis," assistant tournament director Virginija Paliukaite said. "We worked for so many years just to have an opportunity to organize an ATP Challenger tournament in our country and we came out strongly. This is a proof that we have strong, motivated and competent people and our infrastructure is perfect for such and even higher level tournaments.
"I want to thank the players, our team, volunteers and sponsors. None of this would have happened in the way it did without their contribution. Hopefully, with such a strong debut and inspiration to move and improve forward, Vilnius will stay in the international map of tennis and host more such and better tournaments in the future.”
In South America, the event in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, earned top honours. The Challenger Bolivia also made its second appearance on the calendar in 2023.
"It is a great surprise to have received this award and it fills us with satisfaction to know that the players have selected us as the best ATP Challenger Tour event in South America in 2023," tournament director Carolina Poehlmann said. "We remain firm in our commitment to continue supporting the growth of tennis in Bolivia and we will try to improve to give the best possible conditions to our international competitors."
In the Asia-Pacific region, the tournament in Shanghai made its mark in China's long-awaited return to the Challenger Tour. It is held at the Qizhong Tennis Center, the same site as the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
"We are extremely appreciative and honoured to be named best tournament on the Challenger Tour for 2023 in the Asia/Pacific Region," tournament director Michael Luevano said. "To be back on the tour after four years took a lot of hard work from a team that relished the opportunity to produce a first-rate event. There was a lot of pride that went into creating, promoting and staging the Road to the Rolex Shanghai Masters Challenger and to receive the support of the players in this way is very gratifying.”
Richard Glover, VP Challenger Tour added: "The Challenger Tour has made great strides in 2023, with elevated tournament standards and unprecedented growth across all categories. I would like to congratulate and commend the Mextenis León Open on exemplifying this progress and our tournaments in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Shanghai and Vilnius, for setting the standard in their respective regions. This award greatly reflects their passion, professionalism and commitment to the players and the Tour."
Stronger pathway, stronger sport. Elevating the Challenger Tour is core to the #OneVision mission! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/AMtaP5Ya2k
— ATP Tour (@atptour) December 11, 2023
Novak Djokovic was recognised for his record-extending eighth ATP No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honour and Jannik Sinner figured in three categories in the 2023 ATP Awards.
Sinner was named Most Improved Player of the Year and received the Fans’ Favourite Award, capping a breakout season in which the 22-year-old claimed his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Toronto, reached the trophy match at the Nitto ATP Finals, and led Italy to its first Davis Cup title in nearly five decades. Additionally, Sinner’s mentors, Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi, shared the Coach of the Year award as voted by their contemporaries. Their charge reached a career-high No. 4 in 2023, matching legend Adriano Panatta as the highest-ranked Italian in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history.
Visit the official ATP Awards section
Longtime friends and ATP Masters 1000 Madrid winners Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev took home the Fans’ Favourite Award in the doubles category.
The 2023 ATP Awards also honours Djokovic and the tandem of Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek, who clinched year-end No. 1 during the Nitto ATP Finals. Djokovic won a tour-best seven singles titles on the year, including the 24th Grand Slam of his career. Dodig and Krajicek accounted for five doubles titles, their biggest coming on clay at Roland-Garros.
Jan-Lennard Struff was named Comeback Player of the Year after overcoming injury to jump from No. 167 to a career-high No. 21, while 19-year-old Arthur Fils, a first-time ATP Tour titlist in Lyon and the youngest member of the year-end Top 50, is the Newcomer of the Year.
[SWEEPSTAKES]
A year after becoming the youngest No. 1 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Carlos Alcaraz was selected by his fellow players as the winner of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award, which recognises fair play, professionalism and integrity on and off the court. He is the fourth Spaniard to receive the honour, joining Jose Higueras (1983), Alex Corretja (1996, 1998) and Rafael Nadal (2010, 2018-21).
Higueras, who worked with legends like Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Roger Federer and Michael Chang, and later served as director of player development for the United States Tennis Association (USTA), is the recipient of the Tim Gullikson Career Coach Award.
Felix Auger-Aliassime received the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award in recognition of his efforts to support educational initiatives in his father’s homeland, the West African nation of Togo. The 23-year-old Canadian partnered with BNP Paribas in 2020 to create the #FAAPointsForChange programme and since, $20 for has been donated to EduChange for every point he has won.
The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (ATP Masters 1000), the cinch Championships at The Queen’s Club in London (ATP 500), the Nordea Open in Bastad (ATP 250) and the Mextenis León Open (ATP Challenger Tour) have been voted by the players as Tournament of the Year in their respective categories. Meanwhile, L’Équipe is the recipient of the Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award.
2023 ATP Awards Winners
ATP No. 1 presented by Pepperstone
(determined by Pepperstone ATP Rankings)
Novak Djokovic: Djokovic finished as the oldest year-end No. 1 in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history, his record eighth year atop the charts. For the fourth time in his career, he claimed three of the season’s four major titles, only Carlos Alcaraz keeping him from the Grand Slam — winning all four majors in the same season — with a comeback in the Wimbledon final. Djokovic’s 24th major singles title came at the US Open, a number unequalled in the Open Era. The 36-year-old Serbian also triumphed in Cincinnati and Paris, to bring his ATP Masters 1000 title haul to a record 40 at that level, and clinched a record seventh Nitto ATP Finals title.
ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by Pepperstone
(determined by Pepperstone ATP Rankings)
Ivan Dodig & Austin Krajicek: The Croatian-American duo, which launched its partnership last year, earned ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honours for the first time. Dodig and Krajicek teamed to win five tournaments in 2023, including Roland Garros, the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and ATP 500-level events in Rotterdam, London (Queen’s Club) and Beijing. Finishing with a 39-15 record, they also reached finals in Miami, Adelaide and Eastbourne, and advanced to the semi-finals of the US Open.
Comeback Player of the Year
(voted by ATP players)
Jan-Lennard Struff: The German started the season outside the Top 150, but soared after standout ATP Masters 1000 results. He reached the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo before he became the first lucky loser in history to reach a Masters 1000 final at the Mutua Madrid Open. A run to the title match in Stuttgart followed in June, before a hip injury forced the 33-year-old to miss three months of the season, with Struff not holding a racquet for seven weeks. He made a winning return in Zhuhai in September before he advanced to his third tour-level semi-final of the season in Sofia in November. He ended the year at No. 25. Dominik Koepfer, Gael Monfils and Alexander Zverev were also nominated in this category.
Most Improved Player of the Year
(voted by ATP players)
Fans’ Favourite Award (Singles)
(voted by fans)
Jannik Sinner: The 22-year-old Italian won four tour-level titles in 2023, including his first ATP Masters 1000 crown in Toronto. He also reached the title match at the Nitto ATP Finals, his first major semi-final at Wimbledon, and led Italy to its first Davis Cup trophy since 1976. Sinner, who held a 64-15 tour-level record in 2023, finished the season at a career-high No. 4 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, becoming the first Italian man to end a season in the Top 5. Sinner won Newcomer of the Year in the 2019 ATP Awards. Matteo Arnaldi, Christopher Eubanks and Ben Shelton were also nominated for Most Improved Player of the Year.
Newcomer of the Year
(voted by ATP players)
Arthur Fils: The Frenchman started the season outside the Top 250 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, but peaked at a career-high No. 36 in October after reaching the final in Antwerp. The 19-year-old was the youngest champion on the ATP Tour in 2023, winning his first tour-level title in Lyon in May. He made the most of opportunities to play at home, also advancing to the tour-level semi-finals in Montpellier and Marseille. Fils finished the season by reaching the title match at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM. #NextGenATP players Flavio Cobolli, Alex Michelsen, Dominic Stricker and Luca Van Assche were also nominees for Newcomer of the Year.
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Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
(voted by ATP players)
Carlos Alcaraz: The Spaniard has been recognised by fellow players for his fair play, professionalism and integrity on and off the court. Whether sending get-well-soon messages to injured opponents or sharing his umbrella with ballkids during a prolonged rain delay, the two-time major singles titlist has fast gained a reputation as one of the tour’s classiest players. When Fabio Fognini crashed to the court earlier this year in Rio de Janeiro, Alcaraz famously crossed the net and, much to the delight of the fans, helped return his foe to his feet. The 20-year-old has now won three player-voted ATP Awards, receiving Newcomer of the Year in 2020 and Most Improved in 2022. Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner were also nominated in this category.
Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award
(awarded by ATP)
Felix Auger-Aliassime: Joining names like John McEnroe, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer, the Canadian was recognised for his efforts beyond the tennis court. By partnering with BNP Paribas to create the #FAAPointsForChange programme, Auger-Aliassime has been able to spark educational initiatives in his father Sam’s homeland of Togo. This year, the 23-year-old also became the spokesperson for the Grow Beyond Campaign of the Montreal-based CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation, the charitable arm of the hospital where he was born.
Fans’ Favourite Award (Doubles)
(voted by fans)
Karen Khachanov & Andrey Rublev: The longtime friends joined forces to capture their first team title at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid, where they earned Match Tie-break wins in four of their five matches en route to the trophy. Khachanov and Rublev also reached the semi-finals at the ATP 500 event in Beijing.
Coach of the Year
(voted by ATP coaches)
Darren Cahill & Simone Vagnozzi: The Australian and Italian helped guide Jannik Sinner to a career-best season. Vagnozzi has worked with Sinner since February 2022, while Cahill joined the team in June 2022 with a focus on developing Sinner’s mental side. The results have been immediate: Sinner reached three Masters 1000 quarter-finals and a like number of major quarter-finals that first year, then broke through to his first Masters 1000 title (Toronto) and major semi-final (Wimbledon) in 2023. Cahill and Vagnozzi were nominated for Coach of the Year honours along with Craig Boynton (Hubert Hurkacz), 2022 winner Juan Carlos Ferrero (Carlos Alcaraz), Goran Ivanisevic (Novak Djokovic) and Bryan Shelton (Ben Shelton).
Tim Gullikson Career Coach Award
(voted by ATP coaches)
Jose Higueras: A former World No. 6 who made his name in the coaching ranks tutoring the likes of future Hall of Famers Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Roger Federer, Michael Chang, Jennifer Capriati and Mary Joe Fernandez, the Spaniard exemplifies excellence, leadership, respect, and a true love for the art of coaching. Named for the late Tim Gullikson, the award showcases someone who has inspired generations of young players and fellow coaches to grow the sport.
ATP Masters 1000 Tournament of the Year
(voted by ATP players)
BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells): The BNP Paribas Open won in the ATP Masters 1000 category for a record-extending ninth time — all in succession. Held amidst the natural beauty and backdrop of the desert landscape, the Indian Wells Tennis Garden offers top-notch player facilities and amenities; plentiful practice courts that allow fans to watch players up close; and unparalleled dining options.
ATP 500 Tournament of the Year
(voted by ATP players)
cinch Championships (London): The cinch Championships at The Queen’s Club claimed honours at the ATP 500 level, winning for the fifth time. Also recognised in the ATP Awards in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2022, the tournament has thrived in its prestigious setting in West Kensington by consistently attracting some of the best singles and doubles players on the ATP Tour.
ATP 250 Tournament of the Year
(voted by ATP players)
Nordea Open (Bastad): The Nordea Open won in the ATP 250 category for the 12th time overall. It was named Tournament of the Year from 2002-12, sharing honours with Houston two of those years (2003-04). The Nordea Open celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2023.
ATP Challenger Tournament of the Year
(voted by ATP players)
Mextenis León Open (León): In 2023, a comprehensive rating system was established on the ATP Challenger Tour circuit, giving players the opportunity to evaluate and grade each tournament they compete in, based on various criteria. After a successful inaugural edition, the Mextenis León Open received the highest rating of all 196 Challenger tournaments. Located in the heart of Mexico, it is the fourth award winner from the country since 2015.
Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award
(awarded by ATP)
L'Équipe: The French media outlet receives the Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award for the third time, also winning this honour in 1999 and 2010. Recognised for excellent coverage of tennis on all their platforms (newspaper, magazine, digital, TV), L'Équipe prides themselves in being present on the Tour all year round, boasting a list of writers whose sole focus is tennis reporting: Lucile Alard, Vincent Cognet, Bertrand Lagacherie, Romain Lefebvre, David Loriot, Quentin Moynet, Franck Ramella and Julien Reboullet. Journalists Anne-Sophie Bourdet and Bruno Garay also play a key role for the magazine.
The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the cinch Championships at the Queen’s Club in London and the Nordea Open in Bastad continue to set the standard on the ATP Tour, winning Tournament of the Year honours in their respective categories in the 2023 ATP Awards.
For the ninth consecutive year, Indian Wells has been named the ATP Masters 1000 Tournament of the Year. Held amidst the natural beauty and backdrop of the desert landscape, the Indian Wells Tennis Garden offers top-notch player facilities and amenities; plentiful practice courts that allow fans to watch players up close; and unparalleled dining options.
“We’re honored to see the ATP players once again vote Indian Wells as their favourite 1000-level stop of the year,” said BNP Paribas Open Tournament Director Tommy Haas. “This award reflects the dedicated support from all of our wonderful tournament staff, volunteers, fans and so many others who bring the BNP Paribas Open to life every year and contribute to the sustained success of our one-of-a-kind event.”
Carlos Alcaraz claimed the third Masters 1000 title of his young career at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in March, and Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden teamed to take the doubles crown.
Like the BNP Paribas Open, the cinch Championships is a repeat winner, having also been recognised in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2022. Alcaraz claimed the singles title at this year’s Queen’s Club-hosted event, with the duo of Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek taking the doubles.
“We’re absolutely delighted to have been voted ATP 500 Tournament of the Year by the players again this year,” said Chris Pollard, the tournament’s Digital, Technology and Events Director. “The LTA takes great pride in continuously improving the experience of the players who take part in the tournament, and this award is recognition of the hard work of the LTA event team and the collaborative way in which they work with The Queen’s Club, the ATP and a number of other sponsors and suppliers to deliver a world-class event.”
Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2023, the Nordea Open was voted ATP 250 Tournament of the Year for 11 consecutive years between 2002 and 2012. The 2023 singles and doubles titles went to Andrey Rublev and Gonzalo Escobar/Aleksandr Nedovyesov, respectively.
“The whole team and all volunteers are, of course, extremely happy and proud to receive this award,” said Christer Hult, CEO and Managing Director of the Nordea Open. “Our ambition is to provide all players with the highest quality of service both on and off the court regardless of their ranking. We want all players to be treated as they are No. 1. This award is a proof that it has been appreciated by all the players who played the Nordea Open this year and I’d like to thank all the players for their appreciation and welcome everyone back to Båstad 2024.”
On the ATP Challenger Tour, the Mextenis León Open was selected by players as Tournament of the Year.
A year after becoming the youngest No. 1 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Carlos Alcaraz has been selected by his fellow players as the winner of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award, which recognises fair play, professionalism and integrity on and off the court.
"I’m so happy to win the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award," said Alcaraz. "I’m especially happy that it’s an award chosen by my colleagues on the circuit. It means a lot to me, so thank you all very much."
Alcaraz becomes the fourth Spaniard to receive the prestigious ATP Awards honour, joining Jose Higueras (1983), Alex Corretja (1996, 1998) and five-time winner Rafael Nadal (2010, 2018-21).
The 20-year-old has now won three player-voted ATP Awards, receiving Newcomer of the Year in 2020 and Most Improved in 2022.
Whether sending get-well-soon messages to injured opponents or sharing his umbrella with ballkids during a prolonged rain delay, the two-time major singles titlist has fast gained a reputation as one of the tour’s classiest players. When Fabio Fognini crashed to the court earlier this year in Rio de Janeiro, Alcaraz famously crossed the net and, much to the delight of the fans, helped return his foe to his feet.
Alcaraz captured six titles in 2023, his biggest coming via a five-set win over two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. He also prevailed in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid and London (Queen’s Club). The baseliner was the World No. 1 heading into the US Open, bringing his total to 36 weeks atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner were also nominated in this category. Sportsmanship nominees are determined by an International Tennis Writers' Association (ITWA) vote, and the winner is selected by players from the shortlist.
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Tickets for the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals, to be held from 10-17 November at the Palaolimpico, are now on sale.
Fans can buy their tickets for the season finale, where the season's top eight singles players and doubles teams will compete for the ultimate prize. Turin will host the prestigious event for the third consecutive year.
In the 2023 edition there were 15 sold-out sessions and more than 174,000 fans attended. Fans can now guarantee their 2024 tickets just in time for the holiday season.
Last month, Novak Djokovic captured his seventh Nitto ATP Finals crown in a thrilling week in which he avenged his round-robin loss to Jannik Sinner in the championship match.
Home hero Sinner enjoyed a standout run, surviving three consecutive deciding-set matches against Djokovic, Holger Rune and Daniil Medvedev to make the final.
Buy your Turin tickets now to watch as champions try to become champion at the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals.
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Many fans would not have heard of Arthur Fils 12 months ago. Today the 19-year-old Frenchman is regarded as one of the sports’ most promising talents and he has capped his breakthrough year in style, being named the Newcomer of the Year in the 2023 ATP Awards.
“I’m really happy to win the ATP Newcomer of the Year,” said Fils. “It’s been an amazing year for me with a lot of good memories. I hope next year is going to be better, but thanks for the support all around the world.”
Fils started the season outside the Top 250 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings but peaked at a career-high No. 36 in October after reaching the final in Antwerp. The Frenchman’s standout highlight came on home soil in Lyon in May, when he won his first tour-level title. He was the youngest champion on the ATP Tour in 2023.
Fils’ breakthrough season started from day one. He won his first nine matches of the year on the ATP Challenger Tour, including a title run in Oeiras. In February, he made the most of opportunities to play at home, reaching the tour-level semi-finals in Montpellier and Marseille.
[SWEEPSTAKES]
He finished the season as strongly as he started, reaching the title match at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM in the first ATP-sanctioned event in Saudi Arabia.
"It was a nice year for sure. I started at 250 but finished at 36, so that's pretty good," Fils said. "It still could have been better. I lost some close matches, but it's just experience and I will try to do better next year.”
Fils fended off competition from fellow nominees Flavio Cobolli, Alex Michelsen, Dominic Stricker and Luca Van Assche to win the Award. The 19-year-old joins Holger Rune, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as recent Newcomer of the Year winners.
Selected by players, the award goes to the #NextGenATP player who entered the Top 100 for the first time and made the biggest impact on the ATP Tour during the season.
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Jannik Sinner has been selected by peers as the Most Improved Player of the Year. It is the Italian’s second ATP Award of 2023 after he won the Fans’ Favourite Award earlier this week.
The Italian entered the 2023 season at No. 15 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, having clinched six tour-level trophies. With hype surrounding the 22-year-old, Sinner went from strength to strength in 2023, meeting and even exceeding lofty expectations.
The 22-year-old claimed four tour-level titles, including his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Toronto, and reached the Nitto ATP Finals championship match. He also won the Davis Cup title with Italy, rose to a career-high No. 4 and advanced to his first major semi-final at Wimbledon.
By going 64-15, he set an Open Era record for most wins by an Italian player in a single season.
Sinner earned a personal-best 13 Top 10 wins in 2023, including two victories against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and two wins against Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. He had clinched nine Top 10 wins across the preceding three seasons."I think, especially the second half of the year, mentally I was much, much stronger," said Sinner. "I was not complaining so much on court when things were going in the wrong way. I think these kind of things, they make difference sometimes...
"One of the things where I can be really happy is that I played many, many important matches in the biggest stadiums we have throughout the whole year. This is something [that] hopefully can help for the next season."
Earlier this week, Sinner’s coaches Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi won the Coach of the Year award for their work with the Italian.
Matteo Arnaldi, Christopher Eubanks and Ben Shelton were also nominated for Most Improved Player of the Year in the 2023 ATP Awards.
The ATP 250 event in Gijon, Spain, which was held in 2022, will return to the ATP Tour calendar in 2024 as the Watergen Gijon Open. The indoor hard-court tournament will be played in Week 45 alongside the Moselle Open in Metz, from 3-9 November.
Andrey Rublev triumphed in Gijon in 2022, when the field featured stars including Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem, Roberto Bautista Agut and Pablo Carreno Busta. Rublev defeated Sebastian Korda in the final.
Promoted by Watergen in collaboration with the city of Gijon and the Spanish Tennis Federation, the venue for the tournament will be the same as in 2022, the Palacio de Deportes la Gijon.
With Gijon slotting into Week 45, the BNP Paribas Nordic Open in Stockholm will return to Week 42. The ATP 250 event will be played from 14-20 October.
In the same week, the ATP 250 event previously held in Astana will relocate to Almaty. The tournament will be held at Almaty Arena, the largest sports facility in Kazakhstan. The city served as the country’s capital for almost 70 years and is the financial, scientific, cultural, economic, historical and industrial centre of Kazakhstan.
The Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM in 2024 will be held from 18-22 December. It will be the event’s second edition in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The 2023 season was a breakthrough year for a host of #NextGenATP stars, with Arthur Fils and Hamad Medjedovic earning standout wins at tour-level events.
From Top 10 victories, to career-high Pepperstone ATP Rankings, ATPTour.com looks back at the brightest young prospects of 2022.
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Arthur Fils, 19 years old
Arthur Fils started the season outside the Top 250 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings but peaked at a career-high No. 36 in October after reaching the final in Antwerp, where he defeated Top 10 star Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Frenchman’s standout highlight came on home soil in Lyon in May, when he won his first tour-level title. He was the youngest champion on the ATP Tour in 2023.
"I will remember this forever," Fils said after triumphing in Lyon. "It has been amazing. I am happy with the win and now I want more.”
Fils’ breakthrough season started from day one. He won his first nine matches of the year on the ATP Challenger Tour, including a title run in Oeiras. In February, he made the most of opportunities to play at home, reaching the tour-level semi-finals in Montpellier and Marseille.
He finished the season as strongly as he started, reaching the title match at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM in the first ATP-sanctioned event in Saudi Arabia.
Hamad Medjedovic, 20 years old
Twelve months ago, not many fans would have heard of Hamad Medjedovic. Today his name will be on many people’s radar after he ended his season by becoming the sixth champion at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM. The Serbian blitzed through the field in Jeddah to become an undefeated champion in Saudi Arabia, taking home a tournament-record $514,000 in prize money.
The 20-year-old, who is coached by former World No. 12 Viktor Troicki, received messages of support from Novak Djokovic throughout the event. The World No. 1 has financially supported Medjedovic through the early stages of his blossoming career.
“He’s been helping me out financially, giving me courts, coaches, whatever I need for my career. He’s helped me a lot for sure,” Medjedovic said earlier this season. “Anything a professional tennis player needs, he covered it all. He paid for it. It’s been helpful. He just helped me out when I needed it and he’s still helping me out in all types of ways. I’m glad he’s there for me.”
Earlier this season Medjedovic reached tour-level semi-finals in Gstaad and Astana, while he clinched three ATP Challenger Tour titles.
“The season together [with Troicki] has been good,” Medjedovic said in November. “The first four or three months I was struggling a little bit. It took time to start doing what we were working on during pre-season. After a couple of months, it all clicked. I played well in India in February. I made my first semis after a long time and then everything started going better. I also played in the semi-finals in Gstaad. It was a big thing for me, beating a couple of players from the Top 100.”
Luca Van Assche, 19 years old
Luca Van Assche joins Arthur Fils as one of France’s most promising talents. The 19-year-old is a clean ball striker and played with courageous determination on court throughout 2023 to earn standout results.
Van Assche, who reached the semi-finals at the Next Gen ATP Finals, won consecutive Challenger Tour crowns in February and captured the first tour-level win of his career in Estoril, where he beat Pedro Sousa. The Frenchman won a set against Novak Djokovic in Banja Luka and reached tour-level quarter-finals in Hamburg (ATP 500) and Metz (250). He also advanced to the second round at his home Slam, Roland Garros, where he won the 2021 boys’ singles crown.
“Two years ago, I was like 1,000-something so I don’t think I would’ve expected to be Top 100 now,” Van Assche said in April. “Last year, I was like 400. I was not expecting this maybe a year or two ago. It was very fast. Of course I was dreaming about it. I’m very proud and I just want to be even better now.”
He ended the season at No. 90, having reached a career-high No. 63 earlier this year.
Dominic Stricker, 21 years old
Possessing a thunderous game, Dominic Stricker reached new heights in 2023.
Stricker, who is a two-time Next Gen ATP Finals competitor, enjoyed a consistent year up until September. He won two Challenger Tour events and earned his maiden major main draw win at Wimbledon. However, he hit the big time in ‘The Big Apple’, advancing to the fourth round at the US Open.
The Swiss stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas after firing 78 winners in a five-set, second-round thriller that lasted four hours, 10 minutes. It was the deep run at Flushing Meadows that propelled Stricker into the Top 100 for the first time on 11 September. The 21-year-old became the youngest Swiss to reach the milestone since 20-year-old Stan Wawrinka did so in 2005.
“I feel better on court than I did last year. I feel like my game has improved again,” Stricker told ATPTour.com in August. “I'm also getting fitter body-wise, so that helps for sure. I think off court everything got a bit more serious. I'm also working maybe a little bit harder than I did before. I think everything is more professional than it was and that helps me for sure.”
The lefty earned another Top 10 victory in October, with this triumph coming in front of Stricker’s home crowd, upsetting Casper Ruud in Basel. Stricker closed the season with a second consecutive semi-final appearance at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM.
As we continue to review the best moments of the 2023 ATP Tour season, we bring you a closer look at one of the year's unforgettable moments, straight from the source.
Holger Rune might have been feeling extra pressure as defending champion at the BMW Open by American Express in Munich this April, but the Dane handled it in stride. After three dominant wins earned him a place in the final, he claimed the opening set against Botic van de Zandschulp to move to the brink of his first successful title defense on the ATP Tour.
But there would be more twists to come — both literally and figuratively.
One year after van de Zandschulp retired in the Munich final against Rune, the rematch at the ATP 250 overdelivered in both the quality of the tennis and the drama of the scoreline.
"I knew the final was going to be the toughest match of the tournament," Rune told ATP Uncovered, speaking ahead of his Nitto ATP Finals debut. "Botic played some of his best tennis in this kind of event, so I knew I had to be really ready. But I was feeling confident."
Rune entered with clear tactics but was "a little bit confused about the game plan" in the second set, which his opponent dominated. The Dane dealt with several physical issues in the final set, including a twisted ankle, but continued to fight on the red clay despite what he felt was a "three, four per cent chance of winning".
He trailed 2-5 in the third set and faced two match points in a match that was recognised in ATPTour.com's Best Of 2023 series.
Watch the full feature above to relive the match — and the dramatic final set — through Rune's eyes and find out how the exhausted Dane changed his tactics and his mindset to push through the finish.
Andrey Rublev is set to lead the field at the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open in Week 1 of the new season.
The No. 5 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings enjoyed a standout 2023 campaign, winning titles at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and in Bastad to finish in the Top 5 for the first time. He will begin the 2024 season at the ATP 250 in Hong Kong, with the first edition of the tournament since 2002 to begin main-draw play on 1 January.
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Other notable names on the entry list include Frances Tiafoe, Marin Cilic, Mackenzie McDonald and Karen Khachanov.
China's Shang Juncheng will also compete in Hong Kong. The rising #NextGenATP star broke into the Top 150 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time in 2023 and will now look to hit new heights before his 19th birthday in February.
The latest staging of the Hong Kong event will add to its rich history, with former champions including Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi Michael Chang, Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Jim Courier and Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi have been voted Coach of the Year in the 2023 ATP Awards for their work with Italian Jannik Sinner.
In 2023, the 22-year-old Sinner captured his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Toronto, reached the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals and became the first Italian man to end a season in the Top 5 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
The World No. 4, who finished the year holding a 64-15 record, also reached his maiden major semi-final at Wimbledon under the guidance of Cahill and Vagnozzi. Sinner won four tour-level trophies in 2023 and received the Fans’ Favourite Award earlier this week.
Vagnozzi has worked with Sinner since February 2022 but has been aware of Sinner's potential for considerably longer.
“I’ve known Jannik from when he was 14. He played against one of my junior players, so I saw him for the first time there,” Vagnozzi told atptour.com earlier this year. “It's really nice to coach him because he's a really funny guy. He has a really good character. It's easy to coach Jannik also because he wants to improve a lot and go on the court always with a smile and everything, so for a coach it’s really good.”
Cahill, who has coached former World No. 1s Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt, joined Team Sinner in June 2022. The Australian has focused on developing the Italian’s mental side.
“My role is more about the experience and how to help him mentally in these big moments, and to make sure that we're working on the right stuff that eventually is going to get him to the place we want to be,” Cahill said earlier this season.
Thanks for inviting me into this Italian team with open arms. An honor to work alongside Simone, Umbe, Jack, Andrea, and with a wonderful young man in Jannik. Bring on 2024! 🦊@janniksin #simonevagnozzi#umbertoferrara#giacomonaldi#andreacipolla
— Darren Cahill (@darren_cahill) December 14, 2023
💚🤍❤️ pic.twitter.com/vwY7WOPzDq
Cahill and Vagnozzi were nominated for Coach of the Year honours along with Craig Boynton (Hubert Hurkacz), 2022 winner Juan Carlos Ferrero (Carlos Alcaraz), Goran Ivanisevic (Novak Djokovic) and Bryan Shelton (Ben Shelton). Fellow coaches vote on the nominees and winner in this category.
Sinner has also been nominated two player-voted awards: Most Improved Player of the Year and the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award, The winners for those categories will be announced later this week.
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Jan-Lennard Struff has been named Comeback Player of the Year in the 2023 ATP Awards after overcoming injury to catapult from No. 167 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings to a career-high No. 21.
Struff was nominated in the Comeback category alongside three other players who have overcome injury to re-establish themselves as a major force on Tour — Dominik Koepfer, Gael Monfils and Alexander Zverev.
Struff started the season outside the Top 150 but soared after standout ATP Masters 1000 results. He reached the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo before he became the first lucky loser in history to reach a Masters 1000 final at the Mutua Madrid Open.
A run to the title match in Stuttgart followed in June, before a hip injury forced the 33-year-old to miss three months of the season, with Struff not holding a racquet for seven weeks.
[SWEEPSTAKES]
He made a winning return in Zhuhai in September, though, edging Cristian Garin in three sets in his first match back before he advanced to his third tour-level semi-final of the season in Sofia in November. He ended the year at No. 25.
“I couldn’t have expected this, going this fast up to the Top 30 from outside the Top 150,” he said. “It was crazy how fast it went.”
Nominees are determined by an International Tennis Writers' Association (ITWA) vote, and the winner is selected by players from the shortlist.
ATPTour.com highlights five doubles teams whose chemistry also produced consistency to enjoy standout seasons in 2023.
Dodig/Krajicek Finish Year-End No. 1
The surface or conditions did not matter, Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek were a winning machine in 2023. Tied for a season-leading five tour-level titles, the Croatian-American team finished as Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by Pepperstone for the first time.
The right-handed Dodig and lefty Krajicek won their first major title together at Roland Garros one year after reaching the championship match in Paris. The duo claimed all five of its titles at or above the ATP 500 level and won on all three surfaces, triumphing in Rotterdam, Monte-Carlo, London/Queen’s Club and Beijing.
Finishing 2023 with a 39-15 record, 38-year-old Dodig and 33-year-old Krajicek also made finals at ATP Masters 1000 Miami, Adelaide-2 and Eastbourne, and advanced to the semi-finals of the US Open.
“We had a great year, played very consistent,” Dodig said. “All the hard work we put in this year, it's just amazing to finish the year as the number one team and really proud and happy about that."
Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek celebrate after clinching the Roland Garros title. Credit: Emannuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images
Ram/Salisbury Earn US Open Hat-trick, Defend Turin Title
If the stakes are high, you better watch out for Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, who find their best level when it matters most. Prior to the US Open, the American-British duo had endured a modest season by their standards. They held a 20-16 record on the year heading into the season’s final major and were 16th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings.
Ram and Salisbury then made history at the US Open when they became the first team in the Open Era (since 1968) to win at Flushing Meadows three consecutive years.
The four-time major champions extended their New York winning streak to 18 matches and maintained their form for a late-season surge. Ram and Salisbury collected the Vienna crown and successfully defended their title at the prestigious Nitto ATP Finals, where they survived three Match Tie-breaks.
“This partnership is really special. It has been five years and we have gotten pretty close,” Salisbury said. “Especially on the court and we know we are going to give it our all. Fight hard and give it our best until the very end.”
Bopanna/Ebden Prove Age Is Just A Number
Quick success and history made.
Teaming for the first time this year, Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden wasted no time entering the winners’ circle. The Indian-Australian pair triumphed in Doha and at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where the 43-year-old Bopanna became the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion.
“Even at our ages we're still improving, still gelling as a pair, our execution, our chemistry,” the 36-year-old Ebden said in March.
In the second half of the season, Bopanna and Ebden made deep runs at almost every tournament they competed in, making the final at the US Open, in Shanghai and Paris. At the season’s final major, Bopanna became the oldest Grand Slam doubles finalist in the Open Era. Not bad for someone with no cartilage in his knees.
The duo also reached the last four at Wimbledon, where Ebden won in 2022 alongside Max Purcell, and at the Nitto ATP Finals.
Koolhof/Skupski Win Maiden Slam
In just two seasons as partners, Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski enjoyed great success. Last season, the Dutch-British duo captured seven-tour titles and finished as the year-end No. 1 doubles team. Yet one thing was missing from their trophy cabinet: a major title. Until this year’s Wimbledon, where they dropped just one set en route to winning the grass-court major.
“I don’t know what to say,” Skupski said in disbelief. "Growing up watching this amazing championships, starting off a young boy at Palmerston Tennis Club in Liverpool. Going out there with my dad, and then obviously growing up with my brother [Ken Skupski] who has been very influential in my career.
“This feeling at the moment doesn’t get better. Me and Wesley came together 18 months ago, and this year this was one of our goals, to win a Grand Slam. Now we’ve done it, it feels very special.”
Skupski became the first Briton to triumph in the Wimbledon men’s doubles since Jonathan Marray in 2012, while Koolhof was the first Dutchman since Jean-Julien Rojer in 2015.
Hijikata/Kubler Treat Home Crowd To Title
For the second consecutive season, a wild card Aussie duo embarked on a fairytale run to triumph at their home Slam. After Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis’ secured the Australian Open title in 2022, Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler followed in January.
Despite teaming for the first time, Hijikata and Kubler dropped just two sets across six matches to be crowned champions. With vocal home support feeding off Hijikata and Kubler's energy, the duo became just the fifth unseeded team to win the Australian Open trophy.
“[Rinky] was the reason we teamed for this tournament,” Kubler said. “I wasn’t sure and then Rinky asked me and I said yeah and decided to play. Two weeks later and we have the trophy, so a big thank you to Rinky.”
Former doubles World No. 1 Leander Paes is set to become the first Indian player to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
The eight-time men's doubles Grand Slam champion, who first reached the summit of the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings in 1999, will receive tennis' ultimate honour at a ceremony in Newport on 20 July 2024. He will be joined by broadcaster and promoter Vijay Amritraj and renowned journalist Richard Evans, who are both set to be inducted in the Contributor Category.
Paes and Amritraj will become the first two Indians to be induced into the Hall of Fame, and the first Asian men to be elected in their respective categories.
“It has been my life’s honour to play for my country for over three decades in a sport that has given and taught me everything,” said Paes, who won a Davis Cup record 45 doubles rubbers in addition to an Olympic bronze medal in men's singles in 1996. “This acknowledgment is indeed the ultimate accolade for every tennis player. Induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame belongs not just to me, but to our billion-plus Indians. Receiving this honour culminates a professional journey of a lifetime, standing on the shoulders of greats and sets the tone for other youngsters in Asia and around the world.”
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Paes spent a total of 462 weeks inside the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings, including 37 weeks as No. 1. With 10 mixed doubles Grand Slam titles in addition to his eight in men's doubles, he is one of only three men in tennis history to capture a career Grand Slam in both disciplines. His 10 mixed crowns are tied with his former partner, Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova, for the most in history.
Amritraj, a former Top 20 player, has become the face of tennis broadcasting in Asia and the Middle East. He has also helped expand professional tennis in India as an administrator, following a playing career that helped popularise the sport and inspire a new generation of players in his nation.
Evans has been a preeminient voice on tennis for more than six decades. A historian of the sport, he has reported on over 200 Grand Slams and wrote 23 books in his career. Evans was also a key player in the ATP Tour's growth in the early stages of the Open Era; he became Wimbledon's first press officer in 1973, served as ATP European Director from 1974-77 and was voted onto the ATP Board of Directors for two years in 1977.
“I am thrilled to congratulate Leander Paes, Vijay Amritraj, and Richard Evans on their election to the International Tennis Hall of Fame,” said Hall of Fame president and Class of 2017 inductee Kim Clijsters. “These three legends have served as trailblazers in their impact on tennis, and in spreading the sport worldwide. We are excited to celebrate the Class of 2024 in the coming year.”
The ATP Tour will return to Hong Kong in the first week of the 2024 season with the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open, which will be held from 31 December 2023-7 January 2024 at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium. The tournament, which will be played for the first time since 2002, has a rich history.
Dr. Edward Hardisty, who will be the referee for the 2024 edition, served as a supervisor for the Men’s Tennis Council before the formation of the ATP Tour in 1990, and then continued on as a supervisor for the Tour for 16 years after that, until 2016. Dr. Hardisty looks back on his memories from an event that helped shape his career.
When Dr. Edward Hardisty was lured to Hong Kong half a century ago, he was excited by the prospect of expanding the minds and expertise of locals working in a flourishing industry. But a chance encounter soon after his arrival sparked the opportunity of a lifetime, with Dr. Hardisty instead shifting his focus to a sport requiring him to impose rules and restrictions.
An Englishman by birth, Dr. Hardisty moved to Hong Kong with his wife Janet in 1973 to work with a polytechnic organisation seeking experts to upgrade the skills of local workers. Possessing a keen interest in tennis, he was thrilled to learn Hong Kong was running a tournament in November that year featuring one of his all-time favourite players.
“A certain gentleman by the name of Rod Laver was playing and he was one player that I'd always idolised, not only because he's another left-hander like myself, but because he was so good,” Dr. Hardisty said.
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Fate intervened at this point and set Dr. Hardisty on a starkly different path — one that allowed him one of the best seats at Victoria Park to watch Laver compete and also changed his life.
“I wanted to go and buy a ticket to watch the match and this friend of mine said, ‘You know there is no need to buy a ticket? Why not work as a linesman instead?’ ” Dr Hardisty said. “That was it. I attended a course on line-calling and I thought, ‘Well, as long as you know the rules of tennis, this is easy.’
“So I became a linesman and I called serve for Rod Laver that week and worked the final and it was a brilliant experience.”
Fifty years on from that chance encounter, Dr. Hardisty recently joined the Hong Kong, China Tennis Association Board and will serve as referee in the 2024 Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open.
Between 1991 and 1999, Dr. Hardisty — who recently refereed the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships, which stands as the second leg of the Greater Bay Double — worked as executive director of the organisation.
When the Hardistys departed Hong Kong at the end of 1999, the South China Morning Post described them as the “first couple of tennis” given their love of and devotion to the sport. Dr. Hardisty has since served in senior officiating positions at the four Grand Slams, in Davis Cups and Asian Games, and also enjoyed an extended run as the referee of the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
“I was so lucky to have the opportunity of being in the right place at the right time,” he said. “It is obviously an adage that is very appropriate concerning my career, because if I'd stayed in the U.K. or in Canada, I would never have had the opportunity to do it.”
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His intrinsic knowledge of the tennis landscape in China, extensive Hong Kong links and vast global experience sparked the approach to join the HKCTA board. With Hong Kong becoming one of only three cities in the Asian region to host ATP and WTA Tour events alongside Beijing and Tokyo, Dr. Hardisty’s expertise is considered invaluable.
“My wife and I have kept in touch with various tennis people over the years in the city and up until 2020 we made annual visits back to Hong Kong,” he said. “I have attended tournaments all over the world, so I have a lot of experience with running events and officiating. I also have many contacts across the tennis spectrum which may be useful to Hong Kong.”
Dr. Hardisty retains a particular fondness for the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open, which returns to the ATP Tour calendar after a hiatus of 21 years to start the 2024 season. This fondness is scarcely surprising given the greats who have excelled in Hong Kong. Grand Slam champions Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Michael Chang featured among the former winners when the event was played under the ATP Tour banner.
“Hong Kong has been blessed. If only that tennis court could talk, it would have a lot to say,” Dr. Hardisty said.
As impressive as the Victoria Park site is, thankfully Dr. Hardisty is on hand to relay some of his memories of officiating at the tournament through to the last championship in 2002, which was won by former world No.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero over his Spanish countryman Carlos Moya.
[SWEEPSTAKES]
Laver plays a starring role in another favourite memory, with the anecdote serving as a reminder of how significantly professional sport has changed in terms of access to the stars. Dr. Hardisty recalls that when he first became involved with the tournament, a public washroom with showers and changing rooms also doubled as the players’ locker room.
“Laver was competing in the singles and the doubles final and in between matches, he was sitting in that room, in a segregated area, having a cup of tea,” Dr. Hardisty said. “And people were walking straight by him to go to the toilet, and he’s just there having a cup of tea. I mean, it was remarkable. I loved that.
“I don't think any of the top players would put up with that sort of behaviour now, but you know, it was water off a duck's back to Laver. He didn't have a care in the world.”
Given Dr. Hardisty's service to tennis in Hong Kong, and the excellence of a career spent officiating the world’s best players, he was elevated to the HKCTA’s Hall Of Fame in 2016. He is delighted to be back working for an organisation that has given him so much joy on what is another historic moment given the return of elite men’s tennis to Hong Kong.
“I don’t see it as work. It is a pleasure and I feel very lucky to be doing it,” Dr. Hardisty said.
Many of the year's most memorable upsets came on the Grand Slam stages, including big wins from a home favourite at the Australian Open and a pair of rising stars at the US Open.
As we continue to look back at the 2023 season, ATPTour.com counts down the five biggest shocks at the majors this year — all of which came in five sets.
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5) Roland Garros R1, Seyboth Wild d. Medvedev 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
Brazilian qualifier and Roland Garros debutant Thiago Seyboth Wild scored his first Grand Slam main-draw win in style with a upset of second seed Daniil Medvedev — who entered on a six-match clay-court winning streak after claiming his first tour-level title on the surface in Rome.
Coming into the match at No. 172 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, an aggressive Seyboth Wild made a dream start and held two set points for a two-set lead. But after cramping earlier in the second set, the 23-year-old could not prevent Medvedev from levelling the match and storming through set three soon after.
Undeterred, Seyboth Wild rediscovered his attacking game to surge through the final two sets. After four hours, 15 minutes, he closed out the upset with a big forehand winner, finishing with a 69 per cent win rate (38/55) on net points.
"I have watched Daniil play for my entire junior career, up until today. Playing on this court against this kind of player and beating him is a dream come true," said the Brazilian. "Walking on court I just wanted to get to the net as much as possible and use my forehand against his and it worked pretty well."
Seyboth Wild won four ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2023 — two either side of Roland Garros — and reached a career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 74 in September.
What an upset! 🤯
— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 30, 2023
Qualifier Seyboth Wild 🇧🇷 takes out the No. 2 seed, Daniil Medvedev, in 5 sets! 👏@rolandgarros | #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/hiUHTRwZR7
4) US Open R2, Zhang d. Ruud 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2
Zhang Zhizhen continued his rapid rise on the ATP Tour with a helping of Grand Slam revenge against returning US Open finalist Casper Ruud.
Earlier in the season, the Chinese star was beaten by Ruud at Roland Garros, where the Norwegian reached the final for the second straight year. But Zhang ensured there would be no repeat final run for Ruud in New York by notching the biggest win of his career against the fifth seed.
With the help of 59 winners, including 18 aces, Zhang became the first Chinese man to earn a Top 5 win since the start of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 1973. By riding his powerful forehand and serve, Zhang made up for his US Open heartbreak in 2022, when he missed out on seven match points in a first-round defeat to Tim van Rijthoven.
"Last year at the US Open, I can say it was a bad memory. But this year is a little bit different," said the 27-year-old, who went on to finish the season inside the Top 60.
Photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images
3) Roland Garros R1, Altmaier d. Sinner 6-7(0), 7-6(7), 1-6, 7-6(4), 7-5
In a five-hour, 26-minute marathon, Daniel Altmaier saved two match points in the fourth set before Jannik Sinner erased four in the match's final game. The German claimed the first five-set win of his career by serving out the victory at the second time of asking, ending the Roland Garros run of the in-form eighth seed, who reached the semi-finals in Monte-Carlo and the quarters in Barcelona.
Altmaier showed nerves of steel to save 15 of 21 break points and supreme endurance to recover after Sinner appeared to take command of the match in a one-sided third set. The victory also avenged a five-set defeat to the Italian in the pair's only previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting at the 2022 US Open.
"The competition says it all," Altmaier said after moving on to the third round in Paris for the second time. "We’ve had historic matches with so many match points… I don’t know if you can call this an ‘historical’ match, but I think it was one to remember."
Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images
2) Australian Open R2, Popyrin d Fritz 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-2
There was a wave of American success this year in Melbourne, but on his home turf, Alexei Popyrin made sure Taylor Fritz did not join the party. The fiery Aussie scored the standout shock of an upset-filled Australian Open with a big-serving display in Melbourne — a result made all the more surprising by the opponents' contrasting fortunes in the previous season.
Popyrin earned just five tour-level wins in 2022 but kickstarted the new campaign with his fourth Top 10 win and his second at the Australian Open (d. Dominic Thiem in 2019). Behind 19 aces, Popyrin reached the third round for the third time at his home major. He faced just two break points in a match of razor-thin margins — one in the fourth and fifth sets — and recovered after missing out on a match point in the fourth-set tie-break.
"This is the dream for me, and I don't want to wake up at all," he said in an emotional on-court interview. Just before that, he addressed the crowd as they chanted his name: "You guys were just incredible. Oh my god, this is crazy. I really couldn't have done it without you guys. This win means so much to me."
1) US Open R2, Stricker d. Tsitsipas 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-3
On the same day as Zhang's Ruud upset, Dominic Stricker scored his maiden Top 10 win to add to Stefanos Tsitsipas' US Open woes. The 21-year-old qualifier, who capped his breakthrough season at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM, advanced to the third round at a major for the first time with a gutsy performance in his New York main-draw debut.
In a four-hour, 10-minute epic, the lefty battled back from 3-5 in the fourth set and played his best tennis down the stretch to keep the seventh-seeded Tsitsipas in search of his first US Open fourth-round appearance. Stricker lost just four points on his first serve (19/23) in the final set and struck 78 winners in the marathon match.
"I came out today pretty well. I felt good from the first set on. It was a tough battle but I am just super happy right now," said Stricker, who rose from World No. 128 in New York to a year-end finish inside the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. "I was down 3-5 and then I came back in the fourth set. I don't know how, but I did it somehow and then I kept playing very high level tennis. I am a bit speechless but it is a great day."
Photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images
