Alexander Shevchenko advanced to his maiden tour-level final on Friday at the Moselle Open, where he overcame French wild card Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 6-4 to continue his dream week in Metz.

The 22-year-old defeated Karen Khachanov to reach his first ATP Tour semi-final and backed up that win with a dominant display against Herbert to become the youngest Metz finalist since Lucas Pouille, 22, in 2016.

“It means the world to me,” Shevchenko said. “I have dreamt of this moment since I was a little kid. Going to sleep I thought maybe I could play in an ATP final and I did it. I will always remember this moment and it is something special.”

Shevchenko broke Herbert’s serve three times and struck eight aces to advance after 77 minutes at the ATP 250 event. He will face Italian wild card Fabio Fognini or fourth-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the title match.

Shevchenko is up 14 places to No. 49 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings and is set to move to a new career-high on Monday. Earlier this year, the 22-year-old won two ATP Challenger Tour titles and advanced to the quarter-finals in Basel.

Jack Draper became the youngest Briton to reach an ATP Tour final since Andy Murray in 2009 when he defeated third-seeded German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-4 on Friday at the Sofia Open.

The 21-year-old played front-foot tennis throughout the 84-minute clash, firing 10 aces to extend his winning streak to nine matches at all levels, having triumphed at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Italy last week.

“He is a player who has had an incredible year, won a lot of matches. I had to really dig deep today and I am proud of my performance,” Draper said. “I have made a couple of semi-finals and came short and especially after the year with the injuries and wanting to be back stronger, I have really achieved that and my game is in a great place.”

Draper has yet to drop a set all week in Sofia and is up 22 spots to No. 60 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his 19th tour-level win of the season.

The lefty, who reached tour-level semi-finals in Eastbourne (2022) and in Adelaide (2023), will face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the final on Saturday at the ATP 250.

Mannarino moved past Pavel Kotov 6-2, 7-6(2) to move to within one win of his third tour-level title of the season. The second seed, who has earned a personal-best 42 tour-level wins this year, saved the one break point he faced to advance to his fourth final of 2023 after 87 minutes.

Earlier this year, the World No. 25 won trophies in Newport and Astana.

Did You Know?
A then-21-year-old Murray advanced to his maiden tour-level title match in Miami in 2009.

Innovations and rules have been unveiled for the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM (28 November – 2 December). The tournament’s first edition in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia continues its role as a leading showcase for innovation in tennis.

Changes for 2023 are set to accelerate the event’s fast-paced format, enhance the fan experience, and enrich data and analytics for players, coaches and fans:

• No on-court warm-up: Matches will start immediately after the coin toss, with a separate practice court available for warm-ups.
• Shot-Clock Reductions: A new maximum of eight seconds will be introduced between first and second serves. This also applies after a let on first or second serve. As in previous editions, time between points will be reduced from 25 to 15 seconds if the previous point includes fewer than three shots.
• Wearables: Players will be able to track and visualise biometric data during matches via wearable devices – providing a comprehensive overview of their physical performance and stress responses.
• Insights: A new Physicality Index, developed by Tennis Data Innovations and Kinexon, will capture physical exertion through player and ball-tracking technology. Existing TDI insights such as Shot Quality will be leveraged in stadium for the first time.
• In-match analytics: The newly launched Tennis IQ platform will be available to coaches sitting courtside along with data-tagged video footage, with match data updated in real time and visualised in stadium.
• Basecamp: A new pre-event, off-court competition, Basecamp, will measure the skills and physicality of players through a series of tests, creating new ways for fans to analyse the game’s rising stars.
• Lower umpire chair to reduce the visual obstruction for fans in the arena. Live Electronic Line Calling remains in place on all line calls.
• Simplified scoreboard for improved fan engagement and understanding.

Continued from previous editions:

• Scoring format will be best of five tie-break sets. Each set will be first to four games with a tie-break played at 3-3. Games will be played using the No-Ad scoring format with the server choosing the service box.
• Free fan movement allowed in stadium, except behind the baselines.
• Reduced changeovers: No change of ends after the first game of a set. At the end of the set, players will sit down for 90 seconds (down from 120 seconds).

A host of premium international and national brands have partnered with the tournament in its first year in Jeddah. The impressive roster is headlined by NEOM, as the event’s presenting partner. NEOM is a region in north-western Saudi Arabia developing a new model for exceptional livability, an innovative economy with a focus on environmental conservation.

Other partners include Emirates Airline, Hilton and Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors Co. (Platinum Partners), Dunlop, Xerjoff, and Al Arabia (Gold Partners) and J-B, Delta Fitness and Aquafina (Silver Partners). The event is hosted in partnership with the Saudi Tennis Federation.

The 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM will take place at the King Abdullah Sports City from 28 November-2 December 2023, with a record US $2 million prize money on offer.

Stefanos Tsitsipas is a holding serve machine.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the eight players competing in the Nitto ATP Finals next week identifies the Greek as the toughest player to break based on his superior serve performance this season.

Tsitsipas has averaged being broken once out of every 8.4 of his service games in 2023, making him the leader of the pack chasing end-of-season glory in Turin. The other two players who elevated over the seven-game threshold were Novak Djokovic (7.9) and Jannik Sinner (7.6).

2023 Season: Average Service Games Per Break
1. Tsitsipas – 8.4
2. Djokovic – 7.9
3. Sinner – 7.6
4. Alcaraz – 6.6
5. Medvedev – 6.4
6. Rublev – 6.2
7. Zverev – 6.1
8. Rune – 5.7

If you postulate an average set score being 6-3, Tsitsipas will typically be broken just once in a straight-sets match. Holger Rune, on the other hand, is nudging closer to twice a match—especially if the score is tighter, such as 6-4, 6-4.

Not surprisingly, Tsitsipas leads the ATP Tour in percentage of service games won in 2023, at 88.72 per cent (826/931). Djokovic is in second place at 88.53 per cent (625/706), while Sinner sits in sixth place overall at 87.06 per cent (747/858).

Djokovic was outstanding in this department last week in capturing the Rolex Paris Masters title, only being broken six times out of 69 service games for a stunning average of one break every 11.5 service games. Tsitsipas reached the semi-finals and was broken four times out of 48 service games for an even better average of one break every 12 service games.

Returning
If you apply the same metrics from the return side of the equation, it’s Carlos Alcaraz who breaks serve at a faster clip per game than the other seven players competing in Turin.

Alcaraz is breaking serve every 3.08 games, closely followed by Medvedev (3.13) and Sinner (3.36). Tsitsipas now sits in last place, breaking serve on average once every 5.05 games.

2023 Season: Average Return Games Per Break
1. Alcaraz – 3.08
2. Medvedev – 3.15
3. Sinner – 3.36
4. Djokovic – 3.38
5. Rublev – 3.98
6. Zverev – 4.26
7. Rune – 4.58
8. Tsitsipas – 5.05

Djokovic toiled through three tough three-set matches to reach the final in Paris, mainly due to his inability to break serve as often as normal. Djokovic has broken every 3.38 games throughout the season, but that dropped down to an average of 4.93 games in Paris. The match against Andrey Rublev, in particular, was a tough nut for Djokovic to crack. He only broke twice in 18 return games from a total of eight break points.

Analysing holding and breaking serve in this slightly different light provides insights that you can benchmark against while watching these end-of-season blockbuster matches in Turin. It will be fascinating to see who is going to punch above their weight and who may struggle to post their season averages against the cream of the crop from the 2023 season.

Novak Djokovic has arrived in Turin and is ready to chase the record books at this year’s Nitto ATP Finals.

The Serbian star, who trained on Thursday at the Pala Alpitour, headlines the Green Group at the Pala Alpitour. He will compete against home favourite Jannik Sinner, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune at the season finale.

There is a lot at stake for Djokovic, who is currently tied with Roger Federer for the most titles in tournament history with six. One more and the 36-year-old would stand alone with the most trophies in event history.

Novak Djokovic” />
^{Photo Credit: Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour}
Djokovic is also close to securing his record-extending eighth ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honour. Two years ago he broke a tie with Pete Sampras (6) for the most year-end No. 1 finishes in history.

Should he accomplish the feat again this year, the week after the Nitto ATP Finals Djokovic would become the first player in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history to reach 400 weeks at World No. 1. The only other man to hit the 300-weeks mark is Federer (310).

Djokovic is trying to win his 98th tour-level title, which would bring him to within two triumphs of joining Jimmy Connors (109) and Federer (103) as the only players on record to earn 100 tour-level crowns.

The World No. 1 begins his 2023 Nitto ATP Finals campaign on Sunday evening against Holger Rune in a rematch of their recent Rolex Paris Masters quarter-final.