They are among the many brightest younger stars on the ATP: Ben Shelton, Chun-Hsin Tseng, Jack Draper, Jiri Lehecka and Holger Rune. And all 5 are nominees for the Newcomer of the Year within the 2022 ATP Awards, to be introduced later this month.
Selected by gamers, the award goes to the #NextGenATP participant who entered the Top 100 for the primary time in 2022 and made the largest influence on the ATP Tour this season.
| Player | Age | Career-High (Date) |
| Ben Shelton | 20 | No. 97 (21 November) |
| Chun-Hsin Tseng | 21 | No. 83 (8 August) |
| Holger Rune | 19 | No. 10 (7 November) |
| Jack Draper | 20 | No. 41 (7 November) |
| Jiri Lehecka | 21 | No. 59 (8 August) |
Ben Shelton, 20
From NCAA school tennis to the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Tour, Shelton made his mark at each degree in 2022.
The American clinched the celebrated NCAA singles title in U.S. school tennis in May, representing the University of Florida. That achievement kick-started a meteoric rise for Shelton, who subsequently earned a 35-8 document in Challenger occasions both aspect of upsetting Lorenzo Sonego and Casper Ruud to succeed in the third spherical of the Western & Southern Open.
That run in Cincinnati prompted Shelton’s choice to show skilled previous to the US Open in August, and the 20-year-old has barely stopped successful since. He made 4 Challenger finals in six tournaments to spherical out his yr, and in November turned the youngest participant in Challenger historical past to raise three trophies in as many weeks. Having began 2022 at No. 573 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Shelton ended it a career-high No. 97.
“It’s undoubtedly gone fast,” mentioned Shelton after ending his season with 15 straight wins. “I’m going to take this offseason and decelerate a bit, get pleasure from myself, and in addition concentrate on some issues I can enhance.”
Chun-Hsin Tseng, 21
Perseverance paid off for Tseng in 2022.
After loads of laborious graft and toil in his bid to make his mark on the prime degree, the 21-year-old loved a breakthrough season this yr. A collection of robust performances on the ATP Challenger Tour mixed with the primary three ATP Tour match wins of his younger profession propelled Tseng greater than 100 spots to a year-end No. 86 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
“For me it was an unimaginable journey as a result of after I was round 280 or 300, I used to be caught there for 2 or three years,” Tseng just lately advised ATPTour.com. “For me it was powerful, however instantly [this year] I turned Top 100. I used to be very stunned as a result of at that second I didn’t actually anticipate that I might go that quick.”
Tseng reached three ATP Challenger Tour finals between February and April and got here away with the trophy in Bengaluru and Murcia earlier than notching his maiden ATP Tour main-draw victory in August towards Nick Chappell in Los Cabos. His performances finally earned him a spot at November’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, the place he was the primary Asian participant to compete on the 21-and-under season finale since Hyeon Chung in 2017.
“There was a time I used to be all the time confused on courtroom and made some flawed selections and issues simply didn’t go properly,” mentioned Tseng of his journey to the Top 100. “But I simply maintain making an attempt to work laborious on daily basis and attempt to enhance myself as a result of I consider that can carry me to the highest degree.”
Tseng in motion in Milan in November. Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour
Holger Rune, 19
Two red-hot streaks of kind outlined a shocking 2022 season for Rune.
If a string of top-quality wins in the course of the European clay-court season had been an indication that the Dane had the sport to compete with the perfect on Tour, his late-season cost on indoor laborious courts proved his potential to transform these attributes into title-winning performances towards the perfect on the earth.
Rune lifted his maiden ATP Tour title on the BMW Open by American Express in Munich in May, simply two days after turning 19, earlier than upsetting Stefanos Tsitsipas en path to his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros. The Dane then responded to a reasonable run of mid-year outcomes like a seasoned professional, claiming two additional titles whereas successful 19 of his ultimate 21 matches of the yr.
That elegant run included championship match appearances in Sofia and Basel, and Rune defeated World No. 5 Tsitsipas in straight units to win the Stockholm Open. He capped off his yr with the largest title of his profession, battling previous Novak Djokovic in an exciting Rolex Paris Masters ultimate to interrupt into the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the primary time.
“I’m feeling pretty to be trustworthy, it’s the most effective feeling,” mentioned Rune after his run to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Paris, the place he defeated 5 Top 10 opponents in a row. “If you advised me 4 weeks in the past, I might be Top 10… I might be like ‘What, sorry?’ Now I’m right here and I’m tremendous proud.”
Jack Draper, 20
The checklist of Draper’s 19 tour-level victories in 2022 makes spectacular studying. It consists of wins towards Top 10 or former Top 10 stars Taylor Fritz, Diego Schwartzman, Tsitsipas, Dominic Thiem and Felix Auger-Aliassime. Perhaps much more notably, he beat all of them in straight units.
Having claimed 4 ATP Challenger Tour titles within the first three months of the season, it didn’t take lengthy for Draper to show that his highly effective lefty recreation was able to do injury on the ATP Tour. He reached the semi-finals in Eastbourne, the quarter-finals on the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Montreal and the third spherical on the US Open earlier than rounding out his yr by reaching the semi-finals on the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals.
“I believe probably the most satisfying run was [at] the US Open,” Draper advised ATPTour.com in November. “I really feel I beat two gamers in [Emil] Ruusuvuori and Auger-Aliassime who’re prime gamers and other people I’ve been watching the previous couple of years… The Tsitsipas win as properly in Montreal. Playing these prime gamers and getting wins and feeling snug is essential.”
Draper’s exploits helped the 20-year-old leap from No. 265 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings firstly of 2022 to No. 42 by the yr’s finish, an ideal springboard for the Briton as he seems to be to hit new highs within the 2023 season.
Jiri Lehecka, 21 (Czech Republic)
It didn’t take Lehecka lengthy to interrupt new floor in 2022. The Czech certified for his first Grand Slam foremost attract January on the Australian Open, the place he pushed Grigor Dimitrov to 4 units within the first spherical.
Three weeks later, Lehecka arrived on the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam because the World No. 137 searching for to succeed in his maiden ATP Tour foremost draw. This time, nevertheless, he did extra than simply qualify. Then 20, he upset Denis Shapovalov, Botic van de Zandschulp and Lorenzo Musetti for his first ATP Tour wins earlier than pushing Tsitsipas to a few units within the semi-finals on the indoor ATP 500 occasion.
1 / 4-final run in Kitzbühel and an ATP Challenger Tour title at house in Liberec helped propel Lehecka to his career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 59 in August and he ended his 2022 season on one other excessive by reaching the ultimate on the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals.
“Now I will focus for sure to keep in the Top 100 and to stay there,” mentioned Lehecka after his championship match run in Milan. “To move on and forward to make that transition from the ATP Challenger Tour level to ATP Tour level, and to [reach the] Top 50 even faster.”