Tennis: Look no further than the Next Gen finals in Milan for the next controversy and champion

The draw ceremony for the Next Gen finals in Milan drew heavy criticism and accusation of sexism. It ended up showcasing the event and its organizers as sexist rather than highlighting Milan’s status as a fashion center of the world. What went wrong?

Controversy at the Next Gen finals in Milan

As if many of the characters in the Next Gen group weren’t controversial enough that the event organizers had to step into spice things up further and create this mammoth blooper which, Andy Murray’s mom, Judy Murray termed as “awful.”

Chris Kermode, the executive chairman and president of the ATP, tried to salvage the situation and apologized for the models provocatively revealing the letters picked by the players, and a player was even asked to pull the gloves off a model with his teeth.

The players, however, were spared the embarrassment of facing awkward questions about the event, as Chris Kermode refused to allow them to respond to such questions. “We take full responsibility for what happened,” Kermode said. “We put them out there and we apologize. In no way was it anything to do with the players here.”

The Next Gen stars

The Next Gen finals which start on Tuesday has Denis Shapovalov, Andrey Rublev, Chung Hyeon, and Gianluigi Quinzi drew in Group A; and Group B includes Borna Coric, Jared Donaldson, Karen Khachanov, and Daniil Medvedev.

The ATP is quite desperate to find that next bunch of stars with all of its current super-stars hitting their 30s and the biggest of them approaching 40. Alexander Zverev, the most promising of the Next Gen stars has opted to play the real tour and will be competing in London. However, Dennis Shapovalov is another one of those superbly talented players who may establish himself ahead of the pack either at this event or some other within a year or two.