Fils, Mensik headline strong field at upcoming Nitto ATP Finals

The 2025 tennis season is only two weeks away, so the NextGen ATP Finals is more of a preseason tuneup rather than a year-end tournament. It will take place Wednesday through Sunday, December 18-22, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia–the host site for a second time following five years in Milan, Italy. The eight-man field at this 20-and-under event features Arthur Fils, Alex Michelsen, Jakub Mensik, Jerry Shang, Learner Tien, Luca Van Assche, Nishesh Basavareddy, and Joao Fonseca

Here are my three favorite picks to win the NextGen ATP Finals.

Arthur Fils

On paper, Fils is in a class all by himself. The 20-year-old is already up to 20th in the world; no one else in Jeddah is ranked higher than 41st (Michelsen). Fils has won 60 main-tour matches, including 37 this past season. He was in especially fine form during the fall swing, with a 500-point title in Tokyo and a semifinal performance in Basel. After finishing runner-up at the 2023 NextGen ATP Finals (lost to Hamad Medjedovic), the Frenchman will be eager to go one step further.

Jakub Mensik

Mensik first made a name for himself by reaching round three at the 2023 U.S. Open, but he really broke out in 2024. The 19-year-old Czech soared to No. 48 in the world after earning 25 main-tour match wins (previously had three in his career). He made a run to the Doha final in February and his fall swing featured a quarterfinal appearance at the Shanghai Masters–where he upset Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov–and a quarterfinal effort in Vienna as a qualifier. Mensik’s big-hitting game always makes him dangerous, especially on an indoor hard court.

Joao Fonseca

Fonseca may be the lowest seed in Jeddah and more skilled on clay than hard courts, but he is definitely worth a look as a title longshot. After all, Fonseca may be the most naturally talented played in the entire field. He is arguably the most-hyped prospect of all eight NextGen ATP Finals qualifiers–even more than Fils. The Brazilian has played sparingly at the ATP level (not surprising since he just turned 18 in August), but a quarterfinal run in front of the home crowd at the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro flashed his talent. Fonseca should be sharp this week after playing plenty tennis during the fall swing, including three Davis Cup matches for Brazil (2-1 record) in addition to quarterfinal and semifinal showings at Challengers in Brest and Lyon, respectively.