The Salzburg-based beverage manufacturer Red Bull will hold its own tennis tournament starting in 2019. The event is to take place in Milan, Italy.
According to ubitennis, the so-called Red Bull Next Gen Open will take place as part of the ATP Next Gen Finals. In the “Next Gen Finals”, the seven best players plus another U21 player equipped with a wildcard fight for the tournament victory. The rules used are somewhat different from the usual rules, for example a tiebreak is played at a score of 4:4.
In line with this event, another U21 tournament will take place in the Fiera Milano next year. Qualifying tournaments are played throughout the year before the grand finale in November.
Only players ranked between positions 400 and 1000 are eligible to participate. World ranking points are not awarded according to ATP. “It’s not an ATP event, it’s a Red Bull event,” it says officially.
The model for the Red Bull Next Gen Open is the “Neymar Jr’s Five” tournament, played by world-class footballer Neymar. The World Cup will take place throughout the year between two teams, before the World Championship title is awarded at the end of the year.
For Red Bull, the new event is a further pillar in top-class sport. While the beverage group has been well established in extreme sports and football for years, the partnership with tennis player Dominic Thiem was only announced in September. In terms of tennis, the commitment has so far been limited to the presence at the Next Gen Masters.