Emirates ATP Rankings Update: What Shanghai means for Milan and London

Oh, to be burdened with the problems of youth. Alexander Zverev, the talented 20-year-old who has won five ATP titles this season—including two ATP Masters 1000 tournaments—and is fourth in the Emirates ATP Rankings, has secured entry into both the Next Gen ATP Finals (in Milan, November 7-11) and the Nitto ATP Finals (in London, November 12-19).

Will this still-rising star attempt this unique, season-ending double?

"Obviously I haven't talked to anyone of my team yet because I just qualified for London 15 minutes ago," Zverev said following his quarterfinal win last week in Beijing. "Obviously that's a big impact on all the scheduling.

"But I think Milan is a great event. I think the ATP is doing a great job in promoting us young guys. So far that's the plan."

It didn't take long for Zverev to be considered a sure thing for Next Gen ATP Finals qualification this season, and by the time the clay-court swing had concluded—which included his maiden Masters title in Rome—the German had been penciled in for a spot in the tour's year-end Top 8. For Zverev, the only suspense left is whether he'll attend both tournaments.

Now, with those formalities out of the way, let's get down to the real questions: who will claim the remaining spots in Milan and London?

Besides Zverev (1st, 4,310), only two other 21-and-under players have amassed at least 1,000 ranking points this season: Andrey Rublev (2nd, 1,174 points) and Karen Khachanov (3rd, 1,010 points). It would be a shock if either player, along with Denis Shapovalov (4th, 926 ranking points) fails to qualify for Milan, given that Frances Tiafoe—currently in ninth place—has 572 ranking points.

This week's Masters event in Shanghai could shake up the standings, however. The early returns are noteworthy:

—Tiafoe (9th, 572 points), who qualified for Shanghai, won his first-round match over Benoit Paire.

—Hyeon Chung (8th, 695 points), currently holding the final qualifying berth, upset No. 9 seed Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-4, 6-3.

—Stefanos Tsitsipas (16th, 375 points) defeated Khachanov. The 19-year-old from Greece earned 45 points for the result, with Isner or Dusan Lajovic up next.

—Jared Donaldson (6th, 825 points) won his first-round match against Pablo Cuevas and now gets a shot at Rafael Nadal, who hasn't lost since before the US Open.

—Shapovalov (4th, 926 points) will face Viktor Troicki in the first round; Rublev won his first-round match against Damir Dzumhur and will face Juan Martin del Potro. If Rublev reaches the semifinals, he'll qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals.

It's somewhat surprising to see so many young players even participating in a tournament of this caliber, and their early success is even more unlikely. But given this opportunity, the stakes, and how much one big week can impact the Next Gen ATP Finals race, Shanghai is just as important to this set of pros as it is to the top tier.

Tennis Channel's Court Report looks at Alexander Zverev, who will make his Nitto ATP Finals debut in November:

There's a tight race for the last two spots in London—we'll get to that—but let's get three things out of the way:

—Dominic Thiem (4th, 3,715 points) can clinch a berth by reaching the Shanghai final.

—Grigor Dimitrov (5th, 3,275 points) can clinch a berth by winning the Shanghai title.

—Marin Cilic (6th, 3,175 points) can clinch a berth by winning the Shanghai title.

Behind those three players is David Goffin (8th, 2,740 points) and, technically, Stan Wawrinka (out for the season due to injury). Goffin just won his second tournament in the last two weeks in Tokyo.

"I'm a bit tired from two demanding weeks," Goffin was quoted as saying by Belgian press. "[Now] I'm going to go to Shanghai. Happily, I'm not mentally tired."

Right behind Goffin is Pablo Carreno Busta (9th, 2,595 points), Sam Querrey (11th, 2,435 points) and Kevin Anderson (12th, 2,380 points). (And, technically, Novak Djokovic, who is out for the season with injury.)

The American is in a quarter of the draw with Nadal and Dimitrov, with the South African and Spaniard in the same quarter. With 180 points given to quarterfinalists, a hypothetical third-round match between Carreno Busta and Anderson would be gigantic.

*For the full Shanghai draw and ranking-point distributions, click here.

For detailed standings of the Next Gen ATP Finals, click here.

For detailed standings of the Nitto ATP Finals, click here.*