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An executive summary of what every fan should know about the coming week on the ATP World Tour
The Winston-Salem Open welcomes 19 of the Top 50 players in the ATP Rankings and more than 40 men who will compete in the US Open main draw, including #NextGenATP players Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev and Taylor Fritz. Reigning Nitto ATP Finals runner-up David Goffin, last year’s finalist Damir Dzumhur and Americans Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey are also in the field.

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1) De Minaur Developing: #NextGenATP De Minaur has achieved a career-high ATP Ranking 15 times in 2018, rising from No. 208 on 1 January to No. 43 this week. The 19-year-old saved four match points to defeat Rublev in the Washington semi-finals on 4 August. De Minaur’s loss to Alexander Zverev one day later marked the youngest ATP World Tour final since Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic at the 2007 BNP Paribas Open.


2) Damir Pushing For More: A year ago, Dzumhur reached his maiden ATP World Tour final in North Carolina, falling just short against Roberto Bautista Agut. Since then, he has triumphed three times at tour-level: in St. Petersburg and Moscow in 2017 and Antalya this year.

3) Youth Movement: #NextGenATP players Zverev, De Minaur, Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas comprised the semi-finals in Washington, marking the first ATP World Tour event since Buenos Aires in 1995 to feature four semi-finalists under the age of 22. Although Rublev lost to De Minaur, the Russian won his first title in Umag last year as a 19-year-old and also advanced to the Doha final this season.

4) Phenomenal Fritz: Before the breakthroughs of Rublev and De Minaur, an 18-year-old Fritz advanced to the 2016 Memphis final in the third tour-level event of his career. Two-and-a-half years later, Fritz remains the youngest finalist on the ATP World Tour since Kei Nishikori, 18, at the 2008 Delray Beach Open.

5) ATP Race To Milan: If the season ended today, Fritz, Rublev and De Minaur would all qualify for the second Next Gen ATP Finals, where Hyeon Chung won the title in 2017. Chung went on to defeat Zverev and Djokovic en route to this year’s Australian Open semi-finals. He is the No. 6 seed in Winston-Salem.

6) American Made: No. 8 seed Johnson and No. 9 seed Querrey share a coach in Craig Boynton and are separated by one spot in the ATP Rankings (No. 33-34). While Johnson has won titles at Houston and Newport this season, Querrey’s is pursuing his first trophy of 2018.

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7) Goffin At The Top: World No. 11 Goffin is the No. 1 seed in Winston-Salem. In eight prior tournaments as the top seed, Goffin has reached a final only once, in Gstaad three years ago. The Belgian returns to Winston-Salem for the first time since qualifying in 2014 and eventually reaching the quarter-finals.

Past Champion Carreno Busta: The only former champion in the Winston-Salem field is No. 2 seed Pablo Carreno Busta, who won the title in 2016. Like Goffin, Carreno Busta is seeking his first final of the season. He reached semi-finals in Miami, Barcelona and Estoril earlier this campaign.

9) Breakout Year: No. 1 Brit Kyle Edmund reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open, first ATP World Tour final at Marrakech and first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final in Madrid. Edmund, who is ranked a career-high No. 16, accepted a wild card into Winston-Salem.

10) Hewitt In Action: Former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt is competing in doubles alongside John Peers, who has won back-to-back Nitto ATP Finals titles with Henri Kontinen. Hewitt is 5-7 in doubles this year.